Some of his allies – the Prime Minister of Britain – have overcome their squeamishness to regime change. Some of his opponents – the Prime Minister of Canada – were still objecting to regime change even after the regime had changed. But it was Bush’s position that counted: one of his strengths is that he won’t sacrifice the objective to the process. By contrast, it wasn’t always apparent that his predecessor had objectives: what exactly was the desired end when Mr Clinton bombed that aspirin factory in the Sudan? In foreign policy, Clinton had tactics, not strategy: his inability to reach what the special prosecutor Ken Starr called “completion” extended far beyond Monica’s gullet. On his tax cuts, on missile defence, on Saddam, Bush is completion- focused.
That’s certainly how the UK could interpret the apparent fact that Russia was spying on them and giving the intelligence to Saddam. There’s little doubt, of course, that they were doing the same thing to us. Or that the French were involved as well. What’s truly amazingly stupid about it is that it did him no good whatsoever–Russia (and perhaps France) has sundered its relationship with the Anglosphere for no apparent benefit.
Now that they’re sure that he’s out of power, and not coming back, a brave stand has been taken by this group of people–they are denouncing Saddam Hussein to be “tyrannical” and “treacherous.” Problem is, it’s the same group of people who a few weeks ago wasted the taxpayers’ time and money passing a resolution against going to war with him. Yup, it’s the Los Angeles City Council.
I hope that this sends a message to the jihadists all over the Arab world. I suspect that it will also make for a more pro-American and anti-Arab-dictatorship government in Iraq when one is eventually formed. They’ll remember who their friends, and enemies, were for at least a generation.
Boy, that Marine light colonel does have an unfortunate last name, though, doesn’t he?
What’s the deal with all of the repeat trackback pings? I’ve gotten them from N.Z. Bear, Dean Esmay, Joe Katzman, and probably others in the last few days.
Are you guys using the most recent version (2.63)?
[Update at 11:02 AM PDT]
I just got a third ping from Truth Laid Bear on this post. And he’s using 2.63. Anyone know what’s going on?
The FBI is finally admitting that last summer’s El Al counter shooting at LAX was a terrorist act.
[Update at 10:05 AM PDT]
Not counting the DC sniper (which is still a little fuzzy as to motivation), by my count this was the last actual act of terrorism on US soil to date. Since then, there’s been nothing, even with the war. Has “homeland security” really improved that much, did we kill a lot of the potential perps in Afghanistan, was Al Qaeda a paper tiger, or some or all of the above?
For those who think that everyone at Free Republic is a knuckle-dragging troglodyte, here’s an interesting thead about a woman pilot of a Warthog, who is admired by most, and the one who whines about women in combat is firmly put in his (or her, though unlikely) place.