Jonathan Steele (The Guardian): Bush just has to face it: he is wrong

[Jack Rabbit]

From The Guardian Unlimited (London)
Dated Friday February 3

Bush just has to face it: he is wrong and Chirac is right
The crises over Hamas and Iran underline the collapse of the neocon mission and the end of a one-superpower world
By Jonathan Steele

George Bush's presidency still has three years to run, but this week's state of the union address had an unmistakably ebb-tide air. Its tone - "chastened, deferential, modest" in the words of the Los Angeles Times - suggested that the president felt the waves of power were flowing against him.

This is not the same as being a lame duck. The moment when second-term presidents start to face severe problems in getting legislation through Congress or convincing foreign allies to support controversial measures normally comes later in the cycle. The last midterm elections (in this case November 2006) are the usual peak before the White House incumbent's domestic authority declines. On foreign policy the slippage comes even later. It may be delayed as far as the final weeks of office, as Bill Clinton found when he tried to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians in January 2001.

Nor does the change in Bush's demeanour this week result mainly from fading support among Americans for what will be remembered as the central decision of his presidency, the mistaken war on Iraq. His unprecedentedly low poll ratings certainly affected his mood on Tuesday night, and one sharp-eyed New York Times reporter noted that "he smiled seldom and only winked once". But the reason for Bush's gloom goes much deeper.

Like missionaries who find that the heathens are refusing to be converted, he and his neocon colleagues are beginning to realise that their mission of freedom is not as convincing as they expected. It is also having unpredicted effects, forcing them to confront awkward choices: carry on elaborating grand principles, or adjust the message and feel guilty of sinful backsliding.

Read more.

[bemildred]

1. Jack!

:hi:

This fellow is much too kind. I did find it interesting that the subject of "isolationism" has come up again, after a long period of inattention; and like Mr. Steele I took that to mean that the notion that we ought not to meddle overseas has become an issue again, in at least a small way.

[robbedvoter]

2. "Has to?" Who's gonna make him? The Guardian and whose army?

The facts are of course accurate - In fact I remember Clark testifying to the Congress predicting the very consequences from W's policies.
But W DOES NOT HAVE TO DO ANYTHING ANYMORE
he is de facto the emperor of the world.