The 3 AM moment came and went, and it told us all what people outside the United States have known forever: That no matter who wins the general elections, foreign policy will more or less be the same.
It must have been around 3 AM when news reached the North about Colombia bombing a rebel camp in Ecuador just when French negotiators were on their way to meet with them in an effort to secure the release of high-profile hostage Ingrid Bethancourt. And ALL presidential candidates responded in favor of Colombia's narco-president choosing bombs over talks.
This is especially embarrassing for Obama who showed poor judgement in answering this 3 AM call. First, he missed an opportunity to set himself apart from Clinton. It was, namely, part of Clinton's long expertise in her husband's White House to start "Plan Colombia", a multi-billion dollar effort to prop up the Colombian military in the war on the left "War on Drugs" that has had absolutely no effect on drugs but plunged Colombia only deeper into civil war with thousands of victims and refugees.
Of course it was, then, no surprise that Hillary Clinton supported the bombing. It is consistent with US foreign policy that usually prefers bombs and gunboats over diplomacy, and where diplomacy translates into revealing magic laptops surviving the bomb attacks (soon: Mohammad Atta's laptop found at Ground Zero, chock full with ultra-secret information! Read it on AP!).
But why did Obama support it, if he stands for "change"?
Because he, as some will no doubt argue, "needs to win the elections"? But what happened then to his promise that he would say what America "needs to hear"? Doesn't America need to hear that it is not okay to go around and bomb rebel camps in foreign countries in the midst of negotiations? What if Cuba started to do the same in Florida?
At the very least, this has been a bungled opportunity and not a very strong move in all the hubbub about 3 AM calls. As it stands now, it doesn't make a fucking difference who answers it - something I, were I Ralph Nader, would be pointing out right now on YouTube.
