The Untouchables

Vice President Cheney as "Charles III" the original by Anton Raphael Mengs 1761, The Prado, Madrid

 

Have you noticed the subtle new trend of calling for ways how the U.S. can help its allies.

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel is just the latest beneficiary of this new direction.

The best kind of partner for America is a country that is growing. [...] Her [Merkel] own instincts are in the right direction. She lacks the support in the Bundestag to rule without the Social Democrats. No wonder she has had a good time while in the States. She can talk about the sort of change she likes here and find an audience that understands her. No doubt she wants to take those ideas back to Germany and apply them. The challenge for Mr. Bush is to find a way to help her.

And plenty of help is needed, especially on the joint effort in the war on terror and to reign in Iran: Loyal friend Tony Blair is on his way out, Jack Straw has been demoted away from the Foreign Office, and there is plenty of uncertainty surrounding the succession. Porter Goss, the Director of the CIA has just resigned as a part of the White House shake up, and the left are already busy spinning the scandal. France is caught up in what seems akin to pre-1789 atmosphere - who knows, there may even be some positive change somewhere down the line. Roman Prodi, the new Italian Prime Minister, has yet to come out and show his true colors despite his dovish remarks in the recent past; whether he'll do a u-turn on Berlusconi's hawkish stance remains to be seen. Spain's Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero still sticks in our minds for pulling all Spanish troops out of Iraq the minute he was elected in 2004 - although he increased the troops in Afghanistan, he still is a far cry from his predecessor Prime Minister Aznar's staunch support in the war against terrorism. I could go on...

Mother Russia needs a different kind of help. Its by now one-party leadership needs to know where to draw the line. Putin has done much good for his country since Yeltzin, but his ambitions must not be allowed to be furthered at the expense of U.S. interests and those of our allies, which is exactly what he has been doing in the recent past. Vice President Dick Cheney is leading the charge and the Times is right to claim: "Thank goodness someone is speaking plainly about Russia".

Mr Putin has been very publicly accused of international blackmail and of trampling on individual rights by Mr Bush’s deputy, Dick Cheney. [...]

The list of US concerns about the Kremlin includes not only its creeping authoritarianism and brazen use of energy as an instrument of foreign policy, but also its pointedly obstructive stances on Iran’s nuclear programme and UN reform. [...]

In the absence of robust European criticism of the Kremlin, largely because of Europe’s dependence on Russian gas, it is better that someone in the West challenge Mr Putin’s relentless accretion of power than no one at all. It is better for the US to do this openly and bluntly than, for example, by assisting Moscow-based pressure groups, only for them to become unwitting fodder for Russian nationalist conspiracy theorists. And it is better to challenge Mr Putin now than when it is too late. [...]

Mr Putin’s suppression of political opposition and critical media have gone much farther than the reimposition of order required. His is now effectively a one-party state, shorn of Soviet ideology but not of the systemic corruption that helped to destroy Sovietism. [...]

The US and the European Union can still stop that truculence blurring into paranoia, but only with straight talk. Mr Cheney’s example is worth following.

I say, this is the kind of leadership we can be proud of.

Comments

[Mike Andreyakovich]

At least we're getting some straight talk from the White House.

Hell, Bush even called the GWoT "World War Three" recently - a sentiment I approve of - and it put the lefty blogs into conniptions. Gerard has the story at... http://americandigest.org/mt-archives/006363.php

[RL]

"I say, this is the kind of leadership we can be proud of." Alexandra

Yup.

It would be refreshing to see more of this sort of leadership (ie. swimming upstream), in all three branches of our leadership-shortage federal government. The leadership void and lack of unity on Capitol hill, especially on the GOP side, is very dissapointing. it's going to be very interesting to see what happens in the upcoming elections; i just hope that our country doesn't tilt in the leftward direction. Once again, voter turnout is going to be a very important factor, and i hope that alot of conservatives don't choose to "sit-out" this important election, because this would not be good for America.

hey Alexandra, who knew that VP Cheney could look so Statesman like ? Nice job et bonsoir.
God bless you and God bless America.

"Everybody Loves to do the Chachacha" Sam Cooke

: )

[Darrell]

I would suspect he is leaving because he wasn't allowed to take out the trash, do the job he signed on for. Bush sometimes hesitates when it comes time to pull the trigger. And election year politicians(those wailing to Bush) sometimes get weak in the knees figuring it is better to be everyone's friend, especially with the pesky press having all that airtime at their disposal. The question to be asking now is why Ray McGovern was ever in the CIA in the first place, not why they let him go. Do the job we elected you to do, President Bush. We gave you the power to use. Make friends after Jan. 20-something 2009. If you need an example look at John McCain. His friends on the Left are only their when he is pushing their agenda or when he is criticizing you. When he's pitted against one of their own they can't seem to find a good word for him to save his life.

[weekenderman]

First of all, tell us where you heard such a crazy accusation, Michael? I listened to the MSM all day yesterday and heard nothing of the sort.

[Will Sheward]

Re "Loyal friend Tony Blair". Relax. His probable successor, Gordon Brown, though a bit of an old style socialist, is far more of an Atlantasist than Blair has ever been. Brown hates Europe, Blair loves it. And as for Straw(man), one of the reasons Blair demoted him was Straw's refusal to understand that in the end military action against Iran may be the only option for the West.

[Michael Galien]

I just heard that Porter Goss has resigned due to the stories about having contacts with prostitutes. Can anyone confirm that?