Bush, to Congress, on September 20, 2001:
“Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.”
Bush, in his second inaugural, last week:
“The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude, or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies…. All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you…. We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people.”
Bush, in a press conference, on Wednesday:
“I do not think foreign policy is an either-or proposition…. And so in my talks, in my discussions with world leaders to solve the problem of the day, I will constantly remind them about our strong belief that democracy is the way forward.”
The stress of the presidency must be getting to the guy. He doesn’t think foreign policy is an “either-or proposition”? Of course he does. He always has. That’s what conservatives are supposed to love about Bush — he sees the world in the most black-and-white terms imaginable. There are good guys and bad, white hats and black, us and them. In a post-Sept. 11 world, Bush believes we can no longer afford ambiguities or gray areas. Foreign policy has to be an “either-or proposition.”
For Bush to tell the world one week that there is a global, fundamental choice all countries must make between oppression and freedom that will dictate their relationship with the U.S., only to turn around the next week to argue that foreign policy is not an either-or proposition, reflects a man who fundamentally doesn’t understand the nature of leadership.
Indeed, notice what Bush said he was prepared to do with regard to acting on the principles he presented in his inaugural — he’s prepared to “constantly remind” countries like China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, about how he thinks it’d be great if they embraced freedom.
What a relief. Our fearless president — who was elected in part because Americans believe he’s tough and means what he says — insists he will not ignore oppression or excuse oppressors. Instead, he’ll “constantly remind” them about our values. Yeah, that ought to work.
I can hear the ripple of hope going out around the world now, as people living in tyranny take comfort in the fact that the leader of the free world is prepared to “constantly remind” dictators about the downsides of oppression.
“I have come to bring not peace, but to kvetch…”