Rainbow Over The Potomac

There is hope! Wild Bill is clean and sober and sees a rainbow through his window.

While Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was giving the Europeans a taste of good old American common sense and a bit of a schoolmarm tongue lashing that they just have to put all those bad feelings about Iraq behind them and get with the program, we have to realize dear readers that the scolding was for consumption in the American hinterland. And Rush and Sean and Ann and G. Gordon and all the rest will use Condi’s words as bedtime stories of the faithful.

Red staters will cheer as Condi tells “old Europe” just what must be done to spread the Bush doctrine of freedom throughout the world and why they better leap to our side. The message for consumers in Fargo and Lincoln is that Jacques Chirac should simply ignore the past and get on with life.

But there is another message being sent to the international community, a serious and somber one. Yesterday, in watching Donald Rumsfeld interact with both wounded Americans and Iraqi police recruits, I was struck by how old and weary he appeared. The always ebullient Rummy just plodded through his obligatory hand holding and moved on to the next bed. Reading Doonsebury this morning – I get my Sunday comics a day early – I was stunned to see that Gary Trudeau had picked up on this even earlier than me.

When Rumsfeld returned to Europe for a conference on security in Munich, it was clear that Rummy speaks for a badly chastened administration. He openly acknowledged that the U.S. will be unable to sustain the war on terror without outside help. Bloomberg reports that for Rumsfeld, force is, “always the last resort.” And that in the fight against terror there will be a need for contributions from “many governments.”

“It must be clear that one nation can’t defeat the extremists alone,” Rumsfeld said. “Neither can any one nation successfully combat the asymmetrical threats of this new era. It will take the cooperation of many nations to stop the proliferation of dangerous weapons.” This is hardly the Rummy of two years ago when “Mission Accomplished” was the marquee headline.

Beneath the surface of the bold and brave rhetoric of the president and the Secretary of State there is a realization that there are limits to American power and that we were wrong in Iraq. What we need now is cover from our real allies as we are forced to withdraw from Baghdad. Rummy was almost begging for it, and I think that Gerhard Schroeder and Jacques Chirac are clever enough to provide it.

So while we bask in the glow of the January 30 elections in Iraq, we are preparing those who supported the adventure for the idea that the Iraqis will have to sink or swim on their own. We can cover them for a while with troops and aid, but it will be up to them to survive on their own. Democracy and freedom are great words for Inaugural Addresses, but when the rubber hits the road in Baghdad, the government and constitution in place will bear only slight resemblance to our own. The government may well have the consent of the governed, however, and that’s the best we can do..

So while Condi gives the French what for and as Rush and the rest rail at the United Nations, reality is setting in at the Pentagon and – you may be sure – in other buildings in Washington. There is hope for the nation this morning.

Blog on!

Wild Bill