Monday, September 29, 2003
Jackson Diehl makes some interesting observations in his Still Losing at Diplomacy:
The Bush-Schroeder reconciliation has been in the works for months. Germany's foreign policy and defense elite, who were particularly appalled by the split, drew up plans for potentially bold steps to support the postwar mission in Iraq -- including even the dispatch of troops, possibly in conjunction with France or under NATO command.
Still, there is the troubling observation that German public opinion remains "overwhelmingly hostile to Bush." And the galling note that Donald Rumsfeld is refusing to talk to Joschka Fischer - one of our best friends in Germany.
I do have the hope that this may prove a boon for whoever succeeds Bush - particularly if a Democrat wins in 2004. At that point, otherwise intransigent Europeans may be inclined to give a more moderate administration some leeway.
The Bush-Schroeder reconciliation has been in the works for months. Germany's foreign policy and defense elite, who were particularly appalled by the split, drew up plans for potentially bold steps to support the postwar mission in Iraq -- including even the dispatch of troops, possibly in conjunction with France or under NATO command.
Still, there is the troubling observation that German public opinion remains "overwhelmingly hostile to Bush." And the galling note that Donald Rumsfeld is refusing to talk to Joschka Fischer - one of our best friends in Germany.
I do have the hope that this may prove a boon for whoever succeeds Bush - particularly if a Democrat wins in 2004. At that point, otherwise intransigent Europeans may be inclined to give a more moderate administration some leeway.
