The Bad and The Ugly

Leave it to our local papers to have the two worst pieces that I read all day. The Sun-Sentinel is hopeful about US relations with Venezuela. How they managed to write the whole op-ed without mentioning the escalating tensions between Caracas and Bogota, our best ally in South America, is beyond comprehension. Former Ambassador Ambler Moss' vitriolic rant on Bush foreign policy has so many holes and inconsistencies that I don't know where to start. He compares W's actions to Andrew Jackson's "Trail of Tears" and James Polk launching the Mexican-American War. Not even Chirac or Schroeder would accuse Bush of genocide and if Moss is so guilt ridden over the conquest of the west maybe he should join the movement to give it back to Mexico. He notes that our allies were not scared of us when our relative power was even greater just after WWII. Fear of Josef Stalin will make anyone your friend. Heck the Ukrainians welcomed the Wehrmacht just to get away from Uncle Joe. Moss does not appear to have much hope for the Bushies which is why his recommendations are for other countries (like anyone outside of Miami reads Herald op-eds). Fight terrorism he says (how original), nudge the US to work through international organizations (ditto) and finally contain the US where "appropriate and when the United States threatens world security." So what happens if US action is required to protect its citizens but is deemed by other states to "threaten world security"? Reading this made me thankful that Mr. Moss is no longer representing his country in the foreign service.