Quote:
Originally posted by tw
The UN will not come back to a poker table that has been so poisoned by George Jr. And yes, so poisoned that the US has now closed major supply highways into Baghdad because virtually every convoy was attacked multiple times AND many bridges are now gone. We did not even give the troops enough men to protect the bridges. Baghdad troops are now on MREs and airlifted water.
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I agree. The Bush administration is going to have to talk fast in order to get the UN to come aboard. If, for example, France asked for UN help in Algiers when they had a similar mess, and asked again right around election time, would the US really want to commit troops to save someones political ass?
My guess is that the UN is going to hold off on a commitment until after the election. GWB has lost too much international goodwill to be able to get any kind of commitment without making a public deal which would end his political career anyway. Noone would except a secret deal from him since there is a 50/50 chance he will not be president next year, and noone trusts him anyway, no matter how many bibles he swears on.
June 30th or not, I would be stunned if the UN made a
major commitment before November. We really have burned many of our bridges diplomatically. The conservative media can let Bush change his story on the reasons for the war, and his most ardent supporters can put their fingers in their ears like their White House hero and tune out any voices of dissent. However, the rest of the world isn't buying any of it and will not do the heavy lifting to shore up Iraq as a monument to GWB and his 'vulcans'.
I'm really curious as to who Kerry will pick as Secretary of State. That person is going to have the hardest and easiest job of anyone around. Hard because their is a lot of damage to fix. Easy because if it becomes clear that Kerry will actually listen to this person and not leave him out in the cold to listen to a bunch of neocon nut jobs, our allies will be rushing all over themselves to help patch things up.
I think Colin Powell is a good man. And I think he had the right experience for the job. But it seems obvious that he is left to try patching up the great gaping holes Bush and friends have left in foreign relations with the diplomatic equivalent of a putty knife. I cannot believe that he has not accurately assessed the fact that noone will ever admit that a mistake has been made, which might be the sole requirement for this administration to get any significant help.
He could probably serve the public best by publically resigning, preferably close to November, and letting the Bush administration sink beneath the waves, in the hope that a Kerry presidency will be an improvement.