Friday, January 14, 2005 :::
 
Yesterday's blog dumps on conservatives who see the world in black and white, implicitly coming to the defense of Brent Scowcroft. But perhaps it is time to dish a little out to those who see the world in gray, as the foreign policy establishment most emphatically does.

First, the statment by Gen. Scowcroft--that the election may well push Iraq into full-scale civil war--is hardly a radical proposition, and it is interesting that he did not in fact suggest pushing it back, unless it was later in the talk. So apparently the almost complete lack of Sunni candidates is just one of those things we shouldn't worry about.

But Gen. Scowcroft did go on to make an excellent analysis of the reasons that the Bush administration was so adamantly unlitateralist, and how they should now seek to re-establish ties with our "allies." But then he went a bridge too far: You really can get your allies to agree if you just talk to them.

Oh, really? At the first NATO meeting after 9/11, in October of that fateful year, Donald Rumsfeld drew headlines for outlining exactly such a unilateralist policy. And why did the Administration not try conciliation first? Because the French had told us, unilaterally, that they would not help us. Mr. Rumsfeld didn't bother to explain,though. He just stated.

So there is the problem in a nutshell.

Conservative impulses, including a real hesitancy about alliances, can also lead one to have doubts about the current Administration's way of handling things.

But, sorry, General, talking doesn't always get your allies to agree.


::: posted by A Mind That Suits at 1:29 PM


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