Changes

[[Chas Freeman]]: [https://youtu.be/zgfWODxluXk The Collapse of American Diplomacy]

[[Chas Freeman]]: [https://youtu.be/zgfWODxluXk The Collapse of American Diplomacy]

:''President Trump says that this is not his war, but it is the United States war. The fact that he does not recognize the difference between his own personality and leadership and that of the [[US government]] is one of the problems we have [[constitutional]]ly in the [[United States]] at the moment. The United States has been a co-[[belligerent]], very much so, in this war. You cannot instantly then assume, chuck that identity and become a mediator, a neutral mediator. We're not neutral, a neutral mediator. We're still arming Ukraine. We're still supporting Ukraine. And so the notion that somehow we are mediating, as the Turks and Israelis did at one point between Ukraine and Russia, is simply preposterous. And it doesn't have any credibility. Second, I believe there is an unstated, very [[naive]] presupposition at work here. And that is that there is a dichotomy - you're either fighting or you're negotiating. But as we saw in [[Korea]], we saw in [[Vietnam]] and elsewhere, in fact fighting can continue while negotiations proceed. And indeed the level of combat becomes an element in

:''President Trump says that this is not his war, but it is the United States war. The fact that he does not recognize the difference between his own personality and leadership and that of the [[US government]] is one of the problems we have [[constitutional]]ly in the [[United States]] at the moment. The United States has been a co-[[belligerent]], very much so, in this war. You cannot instantly then assume, chuck that identity and become a mediator, a neutral mediator. We're not neutral, a neutral mediator. We're still arming Ukraine. We're still supporting Ukraine. And so the notion that somehow we are mediating, as the Turks and Israelis did at one point between Ukraine and Russia, is simply preposterous. And it doesn't have any credibility. Second, I believe there is an unstated, very [[naive]] presupposition at work here. And that is that there is a dichotomy - you're either fighting or you're negotiating. But as we saw in [[Korea]], we saw in [[Vietnam]] and elsewhere, in fact fighting can continue while negotiations proceed. And indeed the level of combat becomes an element in the negotiation. It is a support for your position.''

the negotiation. It is a support for your position.''

:Amb. Freeman served as the translator between [[President Nixon]] and [[Chairman Mao]] in 1972 in [[Beijing]].

:Amb. Freeman served as the translator between [[President Nixon]] and [[Chairman Mao]] in 1972 in [[Beijing]].