Bush's First Term Policies Have Weakened Him -- Fareed Zakaria

[Buzz Clik]

Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria may be the most politically savvy mind in journalism today. His insights into Bush's policies are insightful and disconcerting:

"If you want to see what Bush 2 would look like, look around—it's already happening. On North Korea, Iran and many other issues, the Bush administration is working with allies, using international institutions, preferring diplomacy to force and being patient. Sometimes too patient. The irony and tragedy of Bush's second term might well be that even if force or the threat of force were necessary—to deal with North Korea and Iran, for instance—George Bush would be a paper tiger. He would not be able to garner the minimal support or legitimacy to make good on his threats. Any attempt at another major military strike, and the United States would truly have to go it alone—perhaps without the backing even of Britain." (http://www.fareedzakaria.com/articles/newsweek/111504.html">Writing Prose for a New Term)

Bush's obsession with attacking Iraq has crippled us in many ways. We can only hope we are not faced with a real threat in the near future.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

1. This is one reason why opposed the damn Iraqi War!

We need to be able to deal with the REAL THREATS TO US!
Iraq is NOT one one of them!

[Buzz Clik]

4. Iraq certainly wasn't a threat. We can't say that anymore. n/t

[Kahuna]

5. Yep! If we really NEEDED to go to war with another country..

Where would we get the resources? It's really stupid to expend our resources on a defenseless country like Iraq.

[rockymountaindem]

2. Zakaria has no credibility with me.

He was all for the Iraq war before it happened, suggesting that it might even bring the downfall of OPEC and stating that "I'll take my chances on change". Now he tries to act like a smartass and pretend like he knew we'd end up in this mess all along.

He talks a good game and hopes that his proliferation of articles will make people forget most of them and only remember the ones they agree with.

[Buzz Clik]

6. Well, okay.

Your quote:

"He talks a good game and hopes that his proliferation of articles will make people forget most of them and only remember the ones they agree with."

My memory isn't that soft, but I have not found anyone with whom I agree 100% of the time. However, Zakaria has Bush pegged, and I like that.

By the way, a lot of people were wrong about Iraq, including nearly every Dem in Congress and nearly all of the major media.

[Kolesar]

7. Zakaria should have busted Bush with this essay a month ago

Theresa might be calling a moving truck (& John, too)

[Wright Patman]

3. Legitimacy?

When has the man ever needed that?

He will launch another major military strike, he will go it alone and the U.S. will be defeated, not through the clumsy and bloody miitary methods he uses, but through economic means.

We will then be a large, unstable Third World country with thousands of nuclear weapons, just as the Soviet Union was as the 1990s dawned.

[Catfight]

8. now now, negativity isn't the christian zealot way Patman! Cheer up,

we might live long enough to watch Bush miserably fail AGAIN and we can look at all those dumbya supporters with a new different smirk! The smirk of intelligence over buffoonery.

[Inland]

9. Good news is, Bush has so weakened the nation he can't take us on any

idiotic new missions. Bad news is, Bush has so weakened the nation he can't take us on any good new missions, either.

For those of us who thought the US should be the great hope of the world, Bush's weakening the US is only trumped by the fact he has trashed our ideals so badly that the world is better off with a weakened US. Makes me sick.