Contrary to most of the rest of the world, the White House has been saying that the latest Mideast war is really an opportunity:
"This moment of conflict in the Middle East is painful and tragic," Bush said in his radio address Saturday. "Yet it is also a moment of opportunity for broader change in the region. Transforming countries that have suffered decades of tyranny and violence is difficult, and it will take time to achieve. But the consequences will be profound for our country and the world."
That viewpoint is openly mocked by foreign policy experts:
[Richard] Haass, the former Bush aide who leads the Council on Foreign Relations, laughed at the president's public optimism. "An opportunity?" Haass said with an incredulous tone. "Lord, spare me. I don't laugh a lot. That's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. If this is an opportunity, what's Iraq? A once-in-a-lifetime chance?"
Good point. Bush and his foreign policy crew talk a good game. But their track record is one of abysmal failure. What in anything Bush has said or done in foreign policy (or any policy for that matter) provides even a sliver of hope that he's right this time? NOTHING.
