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Jeb Bush’s Outdated Hawkishness on Cuba

Bush's response to the de-listing of Cuba is unintentionally revealing.
Jeb Bush gage skidmore

Jeb Bush was unhappy about the removal of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism (via Sargent):

Today’s news is further evidence that President Obama seems more interested in capitulating to our adversaries than in confronting them. Iran’s leaders are surely taking note.

It’s not surprising that Bush is a hard-liner on Cuba. He has been for his entire public career, and as a hawkish Florida Republican politician it is practically required that he hang on to an outdated position against restoring relations with Havana. However, Bush’s response to the Cuba news is unintentionally revealing, and he unwittingly undermines his own argument. He insists on linking Cuba’s place on the list of terrorist sponsors with its “authoritarian ways” and other abusive behavior inside Cuba. There is no pretense that the state sponsor description is accurately applied to the Cuban government, and it’s clear that Bush doesn’t care if it’s accurate. He favors anything that makes it harder to resume normal relations with Cuba, and that’s all there is to it.

Like so much else in Cuba policy, the designation was a relic of the Cold War and its elimination has been long overdue. It has been part of our policy towards Cuba for so long that hawks such as Bush don’t know how to offer a good defense. Perhaps they never did. What does Bush think that Iran’s leaders will be “taking note” of in this case? That governments that cease to sponsor international terrorism will eventually be removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors? We should hope that they do take note of this and decide to follow the Cuban example.

Bush objects to the larger policy of normalization of relations with Cuba, and therefore he is bound to oppose anything that facilitates it. He doesn’t seem interested in explaining why governments that don’t sponsor international terrorism should be treated as if they do. Instead, he portrays this as a “capitulation” to Cuba.” It is really more of a concession to reality, and Bush has made clear that he will have no dealings with the latter in his foreign policy.

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