Edward Luttwak breaks down the Bush administration's tri-partite "axis of evil" strategy in today's Sunday Times:
Of course in each case the American aim is different: to induce Iran’s turn away from extremism to the moderation so evidently favoured by a majority of the voters in every recent election; to induce the North Korean dictatorship to stop selling its most dangerous weapons; and to end Iraq’s dictatorship, by force if necessary.These decisions may be right or wrong, but they do not derive from the personal quirks of George W Bush. The Bush presidency may yet fail because of its budgetary priorities, which many see as favouring the rich, or because of a too-slow economic recovery, or even because of the Enron scandal. But this presidency is most unlikely to fail because of its foreign policy, shaped by professionals in a very professional way.
Update: this op-ed by Rupert Cornwell makes a similar point. How un-Independent of him. On the other hand, there's this.
Posted by Dr. Frank at February 16, 2002 08:04 PM | TrackBack