The foreign fumble foot--GW Bush

The Spokesman-Review linked this from its A Matter of Opinion blog for comment by the usual blog blurkers, commenters, etc. For which I thank the S-R. CNN put Admiral Fallon's abrupt resignation following the appearance of the magazine article on TV, buttressed along with the Gov. Spitzer embarrassment and the Mississippi primary. What is probably saddest is that CNN spent more time yakking away in a tabloid sensationalist manner about the supposedly righteous Spitzer getting his when it was discovered that he had taken part in a prostitution ring than in the foreign policy implications of Admiral Fallon's forced resignation. You can follow the above link and read the article for yourself. Because Fallon publicly disagreed with his bosses in the White House, he left the service after 4 decades of distinguished service. He publicly disagreed with GW about Iran and Iraq. Why is that no surprise. GW has always been vindictive toward anyone in his administration who has disagreed with him on policy and critiqued him publicly. I have their books and "60 Minutes" has their interviews. CNN also gave microphones to those who then sought to discredit GW's critics, including Richard Clarke. Admiral Fallon was far more of a scandal for the GW administration and was downplayed in favor of the titillating sex and money scandal of Gov. Spitzer. An embarrassment for New York, to be sure and played to a national audience above and beyond the latest in GW's foreign policy failures.

The next on the list of foreign policy scandals is what Claudia Rosett had to write about Durban II. Seems Durban I involved various democratic states as well as Middle Eastern states that got so rancid with their hate Israel and hate America venue that then Sec. of State Colin Powell ordered a walk out of the American delegation. Regarding Durban II, and according to Rosett's column, Canada has already expressed that it will boycott the event. On the other hand, now Sec. of State Condi Rice seems to think that in 2009 this country should actually attend the main event. Yeah, GW goes off the deep end when a member of the German gvt personally insulted him and was then forced to resign (a matter of public record of some years ago). But this country will attend a meeting where the rest of the participants fully intend to insult the nation? Baoky N. Vu (ref McCain supporter on CNN) should be so proud of the double standards coming out of this administration.

Then we have Trudy Rubin who opines at length on the fact that Afghanistan continues to be a failed nation, the dire financial situation it finds itself in, the fact that the Taliban are regaining control and girl children are killed because they seek to be educated. GW Bush guaranteed that Afghanistan would indeed become a failed state by deciding that Iraq ought to take all of this country's time and resources. We don't want Al Qaeda after all, setting up training bases to launch new attacks against America, Americans and American interests in Iraq. Well, guess what? They do that now in Pakistan which borders the failed state of Afghanistan. And where the Taliban have taken permanent control of various areas of Afghanistan, Al Qaeda can itself proceed to flourish. Senator McCain wants to continue this failure of GW's foreign policy. Would he listen to the likes of Trudy Rubin (republished in the Spokesman-Review print edition) as GW so far has not? Spending money on helping the Afghanis to help themselves, to make of their country a stable democracy, would seem to be a good idea. But GW had also abandoned that idea a long time ago.