Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog

ARTICLE: Bush Faces Tough Decisions Ahead, By David Ignatius, November 03, 2006

Great piece by Ignatius that makes me feel hopeful on two fronts: some rapprochement with Iran is possible, ending its continuing veto over our efforts at peace and stability in Baghdad, Beirut and Jerusalem, and that James Baker, our last strong Secretary of State, will be carrying some of the administration's water.

Say! I feel like I've read these words before, perhaps in a magazine.

But I do fear that Bush might dig in his heels if the Dems win is anything less than decisive (both houses), which is why I wrote my weekend column as I did. Witness Bush's declarations of support for Rumsfeld (simple lightning rod) and Cheney (real issue). Still, if anyone should be fired, it's Rice. We've now suffered through two very weak SECSTATES (Powell, Rice) and two non-coordinating national security advisers (Rice, invisible Hadley), both reflecting reality that Cheney really runs U.S. foreign policy, meaning the next fight will really be between the SECDEF (Cheney) and SECSTATE (Baker) from Bush 41.

Which is why I named Baker back in the Esquire piece. Might as well get the real adults involved.

Thanks to kilngoddess for sending this in.