CAN'T SPELL INCOHERENT WITHOUT C-O-H-E-N :

Kristol's Unwelcome Message (Richard Cohen, June 11, 2002, washingtonpost.com)

Much of Europe still sees [George Bush] as a unilateralist, the president who came into office determined to abrogate this or that treaty and who, either in word or manner, considered Europeans to be wimps.

What's more, the Continent is suffering from an inferiority complex. For years, it was so stingy with defense funding that its militaries were almost entirely ignored in the planning -- not to mention the execution -- of the war in Afghanistan.

Still, Europe cannot be ignored. Whether formally constituted as NATO (with the Russians?) or merely as a community of nations that shares our values, it has a role to play vis-ý-vis Iraq. Bush will never be able to assemble the alliance his father did for the Gulf War, but if only for appearances, America must not be seen as going it alone.

This column is frightening enough for the spectacle of Richard Cohen endorsing Bill Kristol's foreign policy, which resembles that of Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper. But then take a look at those three paragraphs above.

(1) It's not an inferiority "complex" when you actually are inferior. It's a simple recognition of fact.

(2) The European militaries which couldn't even be of assistance against Afghan tribesman is suddenly going to play a vital role against Iraq, which by current low world standards has a decent military.

(3) Europe share our values? They're post-Christian, socialist, anti-immigration, anti-American, and the like soccer Which values do we share?

(4) "America must not be seen as going it alone", yet Europe sees us as going it alone and we're doing just fine.

Maybe Mr. Cohen should transfer to the NY Times.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 11, 2002 6:02 PM