Lynn C. Woolsey: “A breath of fresh air filled the Capitol this morning. It happened during the confirmation hearings for Hillary Clinton.…”

“A breath of fresh air filled the Capitol this morning. It happened during the confirmation hearings for Hillary Clinton. The Secretary of State-designate in her testimony said that "diplomacy will be the vanguard of foreign policy" in the Obama administration. This is exactly what the American people have been waiting 8 long years to hear. The current administration never used diplomacy, and the results have been devastating for us and for the world. The occupation of Iraq hasn't made us any safer. It has cost over $1 trillion so far, helping to put our economy into a deep recession. It has devastated our reputation in the world. All of this is clear to just about everyone except our current leaders in the White House. At his press conference yesterday, President Bush insisted that the occupation of Iraq hasn't damaged America's moral standing in the world. But his administration's policy of shooting first, asking questions later, has badly damaged our Nation's moral authority. The use of torture has damaged it even more. Yesterday President Bush called the human rights abuses at Abu Ghraib a disappointment. But in recent weeks we have seen convincing evidence that Abu Ghraib was the result of deliberate administration policy. Talk about disappointment. In February of 2002, the President signed an order stating that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to members of al Qaeda or the Taliban.”