MEMO FROM THE MORE FOOLISH TO THE REMEDIAL CLASS:

Certain conservative webloggers (Joshua Micah Marshall, September 16th, 2002)

Certain conservative webloggers who happen to be former editors of the New Republic are crowing about how President Bush's assertive stand on Iraq is making former opponents into allies: the Saudis, the French, the Egyptians, et.al. Actually, this line of reasoning -- this interpretation of recent events -- is pretty widespread. But it could scarcely be more foolish.

The opposition of more or less all of these countries was explicitly tied to the president's eagerness to sidestep the UN Security Council and his indifference to the return of inspectors. Has the president bent these countries to his will? Or did they bend him to theirs?

Boy, some folks are amazingly slow learners. Mr. Marshall, for instance, still thinks this is about Saddam's weapons, a notion that President Bush's speech pretty effectively laid to rest.
Posted by Orrin Judd at September 16, 2002 4:04 PM