FOREIGN POLICY WATCH….Taylor Owen watches a gaggle of foreign policy worthies on Sunday’s Meet the Press and comes back depressed. The highlight, courtesy of Richard Haass, is The Incompetence Dodge 2.0. Here is Taylor’s summary:
To paraphrase Haas: The Iraq war is all but lost. There is a very limited chance of success. This has to be admitted. The purpose of American foreign policy over the next year must therefore be to shift the perception that the problem lies not with US staying power or bad foreign policy decisions, but rather with the Iraqi?s. This shifting of blame is essential, says Haas, in order to ensure the perception of America military superiority; the worst case scenario being chaos in the Middle East, and America being blamed and deemed incompetent.
Well, there you have it. This is the realist version of the neocon’s incompetence dodge ? foreign policy free from moral constraints. This is the Incompetence Dodge 2.0.
The rest of Taylor’s post is a decent rundown of the current thinking behind the various schools of serious beltway foreign policy thinking these days (where “serious” = no lefties need apply). To summarize:
Haas wants to blame Iraqis, Adelman wants to blame the administration, Cohen wants to cross his fingers and hope things work out, and Ricks thinks we (Iraq, region and US foreign policy) are in an ever tightening downward spiral.
Personally, I prefer to sleep in on Sundays. This is why.
