The Baker-Hamilton Recommendations—Too Little, Too Late?
By Leon Hadar | December 12, 2006
The highly touted Iraq Study Group, meant to be a deus ex machina that would save U.S. Mideast policy, was in the end the mouse that roared. Though many of its ideas might have worked three years ago, today the “Realist Manifesto” is based on some unfortunately unrealistic assumptions. Read full report.
ISG Report Finds Few Friends
By Jim Lobe | December 13, 2006
Within days of its release, the long-awaited report of the Iraq Study Group already seems destined for the dust bin. Read full report.
ALSO NEW THIS WEEK ON RIGHT WEB
Right Web Profile: Jeane Kirkpatrick (1926-2006)
The combative former UN ambassador who recently passed away will be remembered for her influence on neoconservative arguments.
Right Web Profile: Kenneth Adelman
The man who once said that the Iraq War would be a “cakewalk” has recently decided that the war wasn’t such a good idea after all.
Right Web Profile: Stephen Hadley
A long time associate of Cheney and company, National Security Adviser Hadley is the administration’s front man in the effort to blunt the impact of the ISG report.
Right Web Profile: Roger Noriega
One of the newest additions to the right-wing American Enterprise Institute’s stable of ideologues, Noriega would like to see regime change in Latin America.
LETTERS
Re: John Bolton and letter to the editor about John Bolton's resignation, Right Web News, December 8, 2006
Regarding the suggestion that John Bolton handled well the job of UN ambassador, I'm curious to know what led the letter writer to draw that conclusion. Bolton once said, “There is no United Nations. There is an international community that can occasionally be led by the only real power left in the world—that's the United States—when it suits our interests and when we can get others to go along.” A man with that attitude might well represent the Bush administration's politics, but he wouldn't be my choice to represent my country at the UN.
--Robert Roth
I, too, am a Democrat, one who worked for 15 years as a non-governmental representative at the United Nations. One would be hard pressed to find anyone at the UN who would agree that John Bolton was rejected on purely political grounds. ;His belligerent attitude had doomed him to failure before he arrived at the UN. He failed to achieve his own administration's goals there because of his bull-in-the-china-shop manner.
--Gerry Puelle
I felt John Bolton's arrogant and combative approach—plus his obvious scorn for the United Nations—made him a poor representative of the United States. His strong-arming certainly achieved some of our policy objectives, but it didn't contribute to an atmosphere which fostered cooperation. I was delighted to see him go and hope that he will be replaced by a diplomat who will achieve more by building real support and consensus.
--Bert Golding
Re: Kenneth Adelman
During a recent appearance on The Week in Review, Ken Adelman applauded the decision to remove Saddam Hussein while lamenting the gross incompetence that followed. The problem is that you could not remove Saddam Hussein without making plans for the future after him. If those plans showed gross incompetence, then that should be a reason not to go to war. Call it the “Three Stooges Principle:” Nothing that is turned over to incompetent people will come to a good end. If the people in charge of implementing changes in Iraq were the equivalent of Curly, Larry, and Moe (not forgetting Shemp), then it would be elemental prudence to make sure that they never be given the chance to reveal their incompetence. So, was it a good idea to invade Iraq and remove Hussein? Only if a way could be found to keep the Three Stooges at a safe distance. If that could not be done, then it was a lousy idea.
--Adriana Pena
IRC encourages feedback and comments. Send letters to rightweb@irc-online.org. IRC reserves the right to edit comments for clarity and brevity. Be sure to include your full name. Thank you.
