As Bush Confers With NATO, U.S. Is Seen Losing Its Edge

[NashVegas]

President Bush's trip to the NATO summit meeting in Turkey comes at a time of diminished diplomatic strength, in which international organizations and individual countries have forced his administration into some strategic compromises, foreign policy specialists and diplomats say.

As Mr. Bush tries to press NATO allies to play a greater role in Iraq, he faces resistance from critics of the administration's previously unilateral stances who worry that the Iraq mission may be on the brink of failure, those analysts said.

The resistance from normally friendly countries like Germany, France and Japan, and from international organizations long dominated by the United States, has forced the administration to rethink its plans for security in Iraq and for persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. "What we are seeing is other nations joining to resist U.S. unilateralism and exacting a higher price," said Cliff Kupchan, vice president of the Nixon Center, an institute in Washington created by former President Richard M. Nixon that specializes in foreign policy. "We've seen pounds of flesh being exacted before. Now it's an aggregate pound of flesh."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/28/politics/28DIPL.html?hp

[PROGRESSIVE1]

1. ........

[acmavm]

2. Not good, not good. Thanks to bush* we are losing all our allies. We

are becoming isolated, and that means when we need help, there won't be anyone to turn to. And I'm not talking about Iraq. bush* has played lose and fast over a number of things, like trying to undermine Chavez in Venezuala, the Haiti perfidy, screwing around with Cuba, and a former soviet bloc country, Azerbaijan I think, anyway screwing with their election. It's not just Iraq that bush* has left his sticky little finger prints all over. A number of countries have felt his cold little clammy hands around their throats, just because he thinks he has the military and weaponry of the US to back his sorry ass up with. Paybacks will be heavy, and it's our country, not his fake cowboy ass, that will pay the price.

[Trajan]

3. Fear not ...

Our allies in Europe and around the world recognize our predicament ... and place the blame SQUARELY where it belongs: on the weak, slouching shoulders of the american right wing, and it's neoconservative philosophers ...

It is now up to US, the american people: to set things aright ... and we will this november ...

It will take a few years to re-invigorate the american diplomatic mission and restore our good name and our rightful place as a leader among honorable nations ... John Kerry will get that started as soon as he assumes office come January 2005 ...

Albert Gore: Secretary of State ? ...

Hmmmmmmmm ...

[Johnyawl]

5. It won't take years...

Wesley Clark is well liked and much admired by our NATO allies. The rapprochment with our allies will be quick, and heartfelt. Clark will handle this personally, as either VP or Secretary of State.

[cliss]

4. Agreed.

We've had our fingers in many countries, creating havoc and creating instability around the globe.

And yes -- you're right. We're going to pay. I've written maybe 500 posts pointing that out.

[struggle4progress]

6. What a nerve-wracking game! The diplomats must provide ...

our irritable impatient * with slippery pleasantries lacking substances, avoiding obvious insult and confrontation. It must be a difficult moment for those men and women of good-will, who work for international understanding.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Diplomats unite against Bush

Swanee Hunt: Diplomats unite against Bush

Decades of work, gone in three years. It's no wonder a group of distinguished retired diplomats and military commanders want Bush out of office.

By SWANEE HUNT, [e-mail]
June 28, 2004

Diplomats look after our country. That's their job. They have to stay out of politics during their appointments and usually continue that practice after retiring. In fact, after representing the U.S. government, they bring more wisdom to the foreign policy debate back home.

So when I heard that Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, a group of 27 former senior diplomats, military and state officials, are calling for George W. Bush's defeat in November, I took notice. Citing poor policy and national security concerns, they're condemning Bush and speaking out against this "incompetent administration" (their words, not mine). This is extraordinary: so many high-tiered former officials coming out publicly against a sitting president.

"We felt things were so serious," explains the Hon. William Harrop, who describes himself as "essentially a Republican." "America's leadership role in the world has been so attenuated to such a terrible degree by both the style and substance of the administration's approach."
(snip)

These 27 former ambassadors, officials and commanders have served under every president since Truman. Some voted for Bush in 2000. They're registered Republicans, Democrats and independents, and many are new to partisan politics. They spent their lives building respect, relationships and influence for our country, and now they're watching their carefully constructed edifice crumble. Decades of work, gone in three years. It's no wonder they're speaking out. It's no wonder they want Bush out of office.
(snip/)

Swanee Hunt, who lectures at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, is the former U.S. ambassador to Austria.

http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/pe_columnists/article/0,2071,NPDN_14960_2994908,00.html

[Eye and Monkey]

8. Edge? not usually much edge on a blunt instrument, is there?

[natrat]

9. they really are

stupid white men

[dusty64]

10. Thats funny, my local

rag spun this on the front page as a BIG "victory" for our regime's diplomatic skills.

[devinsgram]

11. You don't send an idiot to do a real mans job.

[w4rma]

12. Worst. "President". Ever. (nt)

[gratuitous]

13. Gee, just like we all predicted last year

But no, Cowboy George and his Pusillanimous Posse said over and over again that the rough-n-tough U S and A didn't need no "international" help to set out and do what was right. Nosiree bob, we'd just hitch up our pants, set our jaw, and with righteousness and the favor of the Almighty we'd smite down upon the terrorists with the vengeful wrath of a people wronged. Anyone who said we needed "allies" or "partners" was just, well, it pained them to say it, but just not a real man--a real American, that is. {Insert manly wink here -- not the fruity come-on kind} You know what they meant.

And here we are, hundreds of dead soldiers, thousands and thousands of dead civilians later, the Treasury depleted and the country more vulnerable to attack than it has been since the 19th century, or perhaps more vulnerable than it's ever been, and Cowboy George is still riding his stick pony around, shouting, "Bang! Bang! Gotcha, ya dad gummed terraists!!"

But nobody else wants to play with him.

[DeepModem Mom]

14. Note that the expert quoted is from the NIXON Center n/t