Interesting Times: Bush's lost year

Saul Singer of the Jerusalem Post asks an important question of President Bush:

Was the relative paralysis of 2004 the result of election jitters, or does it reflect burn-out that will continue deep into Bush's second term?

He answers his own question with:

First, by bringing back moral clarity. Branding Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as the "axis of evil" was the right thing to do. But saying that and then not having a policy, much less implementing it, toward Iran is worse than not having said it in the first place. Since then it seems that Bush has learned not to set such bold markers. That's the wrong lesson; we need more markers and more follow-up. ...

Second, Bush has to show that the 82nd Airborne is not the only arrow in his quiver. ...

Bush has plenty of underutilized and underestimated levers. Imagine if the US started talking about democracy in Saudi Arabia. Or if Bush held a press conference with Iranian dissidents. Or if the US proposed sanctions against Iran and Syria in the UN Security Council.

Such measures would not be as easily deflected by France and Germany as it may seem. more

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