George Bush Grows Up on Foreign Policy



(image via world-maps)

What a long, strange learning curve it has been. That The President is an extraordinarily hard-headed man who learns at his own molasses-slow circadian biorhythm is obvious to any keen -- or even not-so-keen observer of the political psychology.

It is not inconceiveable, by the way, that those moribund traits either led to or are the ancillary result of his past alcoholism. Whatever the case, his position on Turkey is exactly right for a President of the United States to take (The Corsair cannot believe that we said that either). Whether or not this heralds a new life as a Morganthauish Realist -- Doubtful! -- he has at least proven capable of undertaking the great compromises one must make at the International Levels of Power to maintain stability in volatile regions at a precarious historical moment.

This is not to knock the curious actions of Nancy Pelosi, by the way. Both the President and the Speaker of the House are correct (And it makes us "politically happy" to say that for the first time in 6 years). Pelosi is not the President, but represents the sentiment of the American majority. The Constitutional role of the Speaker is in natural opposition to Tyranny. It is GOOD and NATURAL that The Speaker of the House of Representatives wants to cast opprobrium on the Armenian holocaust, one of the most filthy and craven acts committed in an already baleful 20th Centuury.

But what Pelosi has the Freedom to say and what the President of the United States ought to say ... are ...a different kettle of fish altogther. Understand?

International politics is profoundly complicated. Pelosi speaks from the position of American soft power -- maintaining the Principles and Ideals of our American civilization. The President, however, as leader of the nation, protector of the commonwealth, has a different role altogether, different responsibilities and limitations on his speech, namely: maintaining regional stability. Cultivating Turkey as an ally in the War on Terror -- an unfortunate term, yes -- is of infinite importance to the United States of America.

If Turkey were to fall to the Fundamentalists -- a nightmare scenario, to be sure -- then the Saudi Arabia and Egyptian governments (and the word's oil supply) would be profoundly vulnerable to overthrow by Fundamentalist regimes. As much as we detest the disgustingly misogynistic royal family of Saudi Arabia and the thugocracy of Egypt, the alternative, dear readers, is a hundred-thousandfold worse. These are the Great Compromises -- for the time being -- that Statesmen must suffer to maintain stability and, most important, to limit the number of lives lost that will live to fight for the improvement of their Motherlands another day (And with, in the fullness of time, U.S. aid and backing).

And so, both Speaker and President are essentially correct. Turkey thus has now enough maneuvering room to rattle their sabres -- not scimitars -- proudly, to show the planet and the region what the Japanese call in their infinite masculine wisdom "Face"; America, also, keeps its crisp and shining Ideals intact. The Corsair would counsel The President to schedule an impromptu visit (a goodwill gesture) to Turkey to extol its history, its people and its ancient culture and confirm our mutual friendship in order to placate the internal situation there. And, The Corsair suspects, The President understands exactly what just happened. Turkey is our friend. Bush gets it.

Finally.

After 6 years. A light is going off in his head as we speak. Everything on the planet is not a Manichean/Born-Again black-and-white. Nuance, for lack of a better word, is good.