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St. Patrick’s Day Bipartisanship
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03/15/07 09:48 AM ET
With St. Patrick’s Day coming quickly upon us (it is this Saturday for those of you who aren’t Irish), I am happy to report a real foreign policy success. When it comes to finding peace in the North of Ireland, America played a critical and positive role, and we did it by being bipartisan. That sure would be nice if we could follow this model in other parts of the globe.
Since the Good Friday accords were signed a decade ago, it has been a long, hard slog to get all the parties to finally live by them. But thanks to the hard work of both the Clinton and Bush administrations, and by key congressional advocates like Reps. James Walsh (R-N.Y.), Richard Neal (D-Mass.), Peter King (R-N.Y.) and Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.), the British and Irish governments knew that America was engaged in the issue and that we would not take more war for an answer. And our engagement helped encourage their engagement, making a final deal all but inevitable.
It used to be said that politics stopped at the water’s edge. That is not being said anymore, especially when it comes to Iraq. And I think all the political confusion hurts us in Iraq. I think it weakens our hand and it makes our enemies believe that time is on their side.
Well, when it comes to Ireland, time is on the side of peace. Because we have stayed engaged in Ireland, because we haven’t played politics on this issue, because we have shown a united hand, we have done some good there. There is a devolved government in Belfast, which means more democracy and hopefully less violence.
So if you are going to have a pint of Guinness at the Dubliner this weekend, toast to the Irish peace process and America’s positive role in achieving it
Since the Good Friday accords were signed a decade ago, it has been a long, hard slog to get all the parties to finally live by them. But thanks to the hard work of both the Clinton and Bush administrations, and by key congressional advocates like Reps. James Walsh (R-N.Y.), Richard Neal (D-Mass.), Peter King (R-N.Y.) and Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.), the British and Irish governments knew that America was engaged in the issue and that we would not take more war for an answer. And our engagement helped encourage their engagement, making a final deal all but inevitable.
It used to be said that politics stopped at the water’s edge. That is not being said anymore, especially when it comes to Iraq. And I think all the political confusion hurts us in Iraq. I think it weakens our hand and it makes our enemies believe that time is on their side.
Well, when it comes to Ireland, time is on the side of peace. Because we have stayed engaged in Ireland, because we haven’t played politics on this issue, because we have shown a united hand, we have done some good there. There is a devolved government in Belfast, which means more democracy and hopefully less violence.
So if you are going to have a pint of Guinness at the Dubliner this weekend, toast to the Irish peace process and America’s positive role in achieving it
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