Those who predict that Bush 43 will not come up with an effective diplomatic strategy to support a new Gulf War may be dealing in a self-fulfilling prophecy. If Bush cannot show that he has convinced Colin Powell of the wisdom of his Iraq strategy, how can he convince the nation and the world? That is the question that needs to be asked openly and debated clearly, not in sub-rosa fashion.
Good column by Hoagland. But consider for a minute, Bush may be stupid like a fox here. If he had just come out for new inspections, then war if needed, that would be the hawk position, and the dove position would be 'no war'.
Now, the hawk position is War Now!, the dove position is No War!, and War, But Inspections First! is a compromise position. And you'll notice that Bush himself (as opposed to Cheney or Rumsfield) has never pushed the War Now! position, he just has said that he's for regime change. What I've heard from Powell in the last two days suggests he's championing the Inspections First! (But Then Probably War) position.
Is this really a position that Bush doesn't want? Or one that would be just fine by him after all?
As Bush keeps saying, he gets a lot of political advantage from having opponents underestimate him (or as he puts it, misunderestimate him). |
