A President's three jobs are running foreign policy, running domestic policy, and running for President.
What motivates this diary is a new revelation about how President Bush has been running our foreign policy into the ground, from an interview with NBC News correspondent Richard Engel.
- Bush admits to Engel that going to war was a decision based on his personal instinct and not on any long-range strategy for the Mideast:
"I know people are saying we should have left things the way they were, but I changed after 9/11. I had to act. I don’t care if it created more enemies. I had to act."
I don't care if it created more enemies.
How foolish can a President be?
There are a few things George apparently never learned about how to do the foreign policy part of his job. Someone needs to teach him. I have a spiel on national strategy that employs some sports analogies, so it might hold his attention. It goes like this:
I'm the kind of person who gets a huge kick out of watching teams and athletes who dominate their sports. These days I'm a fan of Tiger Woods, and I was fortunate to be at the University of Miami when their football team was at the peak of its glory.
So, the question is, how do you know which country is dominating the foreign policy arena? And if you get the chance to lead a country, how do you run your foreign policy in a way that makes your country not just a winner, but a champion?
Having military and economic strength sure doesn't hurt, but an even more important indicator of power is having lots of reliable allies and a minimal number of enemies so that you can be influential with anyone, whenever you need to be, without firing a shot.
And that's what makes diplomacy so important. I'll never forget a radio interview I heard with a UM defensive lineman during Miami's record-setting streak. He said that most of the defensive players found the games pretty boring. They didn't get to spend much time on the field. A strong win meant that UM's offense would control the clock for drive after drive. The defense would occasionally get on to force a quick three-and-out, and then go back to the benches while the offense racked up more scores.
What I mean is this: Successful diplomats are able to keep the military folks off the field, and successful soldiers, sailors and marines make it possible for the diplomats to get back out as soon as possible. Metaphors can only go so far, so there's no need to indulge talk about starting positions and special teams, but the bottom line is that it's foolhardy to rely on your defense to score all your points.
The point is clear enough. If you're making enemies, you're falling behind. And if you've lost as many friends and made as many enemies as this President, you're getting your ass kicked.