From the Wall Street Journal, “Bush Toughens Up” by the Editors Like many conservatives, the Journal’s editors have been hard on the administration’s dilatory response to the situation in Georgia. Also like many conservatives, they are now pleased that the Bushies have rediscovered their spine. The following little aside in the editorial especially caught my eye:
When I was guest-hosting the Hugh Hewitt Show on Tuesday night, several callers expressed the same thought in response to my critiques of the administration – how could I criticize the administration without knowing what was going on in the back-channels? By way of response, I offered that general Russian behavior didn’t suggest that any back-channel communications had been particularly effective. But I also pointed to recent history. Over the past several months, the administration has responded to our enemies by combining dithering with a search for appeasement. Both North Korea and Iran have been fortunate enough to receive the not-so-tough-love that has come to embody the administration’s foreign policy in its final days. Somewhere in hell, Saddam Hussein is probably lamenting that he had to deal with the George W. Bush of 2003 rather than the kinder and gentler version currently on display. When it comes to foreign affairs, there’s hardly anything more provocative than irresolute conduct. The Russian leadership took a look at recent history and concluded that they could get away with this stunt. Was their analysis mistaken? As the Journal points out, it is indeed a relief that the administration has toughened up. Yesterday, both the president and the secretary of state spoke firmly and unequivocally, a happy change of course. What’s more, they backed up their words with action. For eventually getting it right, the administration deserves credit. And perhaps the administration also deserves credit for providing the next administration with a teachable moment regarding the consequences of conducting a weak-kneed and vacillating foreign policy.
