10 October 2006

Axis of Failure




















The foreign policy fiascos just keep multiplying for
President 34%.


Washington Post:

Nearly five years after President Bush
introduced the concept of an "axis of
evil" comprising Iraq, Iran and North
Korea, the administration has reached
a crisis point with each nation: North
Korea has claimed it conducted its first
nuclear test, Iran refuses to halt its
uranium-enrichment program, and Iraq
appears to be tipping into a civil war
3 1/2 years after the U.S.-led invasion.

Each problem appears to feed on the
others, making the stakes higher and
requiring Bush and his advisers to make
difficult calculations, analysts and U.S.
officials said. The deteriorating situation
in Iraq has undermined U.S. diplomatic
credibility and limited the administration's
military options, making rogue countries
increasingly confident that they can act
without serious consequences. Iran,
meanwhile, will be watching closely the
diplomatic fallout from North Korea's
apparent test as a clue to how far it might
go with its own nuclear program.

[...]

Political strategists debated the domestic
implications of the North Korean test with
midterm elections four weeks away. Some
Republicans predicted it would take the
focus off the Mark Foley congressional
page scandal and remind voters that it is
a dangerous world best confronted by
tough-minded leaders. Some Democrats
argued it would be seen as another failure
of Bush's foreign policy and moved quickly
to try to pin blame on the Republicans. "Is
this going to help Republicans?" asked Jim
Manley, spokesman for Senate Minority
Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.). "The answer
to that is absolutely not. This is another
significant foreign policy failure for the
administration."