What would John Kerry’s first hundred days be like?
Writing in the Weekly Standard, Marc Ginsberg, a former Clinton administration ambassador, says all the assumptions of the Bush administration would be swept away overnight:
“The buzzwords of the Bush Doctrine would be swept away,” writes Ginsberg. “Gone would be the ’axis of evil’ and ’preemptive doctrine.’ Gone, too, would be ’coalitions of the willing’ and ’old Europe.’ There would be a total housecleaning of ideologues who consider ’alliance’ a dirty word. Bush’s ’take it or leave it’ unilateralism would give way to the greatest diplomatic charm offensive since Jackie Kennedy wowed Charles de Gaulle. Air Force One and Air Force Two would log a lot of global miles, particularly to Europe and a hostile Muslim world, in an effort to reverse the rising tide of anti-Americanism and put a new, fresh face on America’s tattered world image.”
Gazing into his crystal ball, Ginsberg predicts how this would work out in Iraq, discussions of nuclear proliferation, the Middle East, North Korea, and NATO.
Instead of gazing into his crystal ball, William Tucker, writing in the American Spectator, has a nightmare–it’s about what a Kerry foreign policy would mean for U.S. power (on which our lives depend) in the world at large:
“…By the time President Kerry got back from Europe, things had taken a turn for the worse. Both Sunni and Shi’ite leaders announced that, despite the January election of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, both now regarded his victory as illegitimate. Democracy was a foreign system that America was trying to impose on the Muslim world. Both recommended a return to the Ummah, with religious leaders at the helm. Since each sect claimed to the rightful heirs of Mohammed, each claimed the right to the position.
“The opposition became bolder. Several suicide bombers penetrated the Green Zone and American casualties started to rise. With our allies pulling out, our soldiers were also required to take over key positions in the South. Suddenly we found ourselves stretched way too thin. Rioting broke out in several cities of the Sunni Triangle.
“All the pretty plans of the campaign were evaporating and President Kerry now found himself facing the basic contradiction of his position. Was Iraq the wrong war at the wrong place and the wrong time? Or were we actually undermanned? For two long weeks, Kerry mulled the problem while fierce debate was waged in Congress. Half of Kerry’s constituency called for a pullout and peace demonstrations took place in New York and Washington. Many Democrats in Congress said our troops were endangered, however, and call for a draft….”