Watch the entire foreign policy segment of Governor Palin’s interview with Katie Couric.

The Governor gets a little tongue tied when asked about her comment that Alaska is close in proximity with Russia.  I think Sarah Palin is being a little too handled by the McCain campaign and that’s causing her to parse and stumble.  The point she was trying to make with Charlie Gibson originally is that it is a small world and like it or not, our national interests are often global interests.  We can not let the Russian Bear spread its claws again without countering it every step of the way.  That may seem abstract for us in the continential United States who are far removed from the Russians… but when you can litterally see Russian soil from your home state you have a different perspective on the threat an aggressive Russia poses.

As for the last little bit about Israel.  What the heck is Couric trying to do?  Of course we are not going to prevent Israel from defending itself and we would never publicly tell them what they can or cannot do.  Doing so with an ally would jeopardize our own sovereignty and we should not be interferring with their own self defense unless we would accept the same interference if the roles were reversed.  Nonetheless, as an ally, of course we work with them to strengthen their position and thus strengthen our own.  Of course we seek to find a common point to counter the spread of evil.  But if Israel ever feels the threat from Iran is immediate and imminent, you can bet we neither could nor would stand in their way.  Nor should we.