IT'S ALMOST LIKE HE MEANS IT:

US foreign policy puts accent on democracy (Caroline Daniel, March 16 2006, Financial Times)

The US will on Thursday place the promotion of democracy at the heart of its foreign policy as it adopts a tougher stance towards Russia, China and notably Iran.

The move comes in the new National Security Strategy published on Thursday – the first formal review since the invasion of Iraq.

The document marks the first significant revision of the landmark 2002 document that advocated pre-emptive strikes against perceived terrorist threats. [...]

The document places “transformational democracy” as the overriding aim, in spite of rising criticism that the invasion and occupation of Iraq has been an expensive military and political failure.

Although the concept of pre-emptive strikes is now less prominent, the official denied that the US had abandoned the policy. [...]

In the foreword, President George W. Bush says his strategy is based on two pillars: promoting freedom and confronting global challenges by “leading a growing community of democracies”. The struggle against militant Islamism is described as the “great ideological conflict of the early years of the 21st century”.

America’s mission is still one of “ending tyranny in our world” but “our National Security Strategy is idealistic about its goals and realistic about means”, the document says.

Wasn't he supposed to back off and head back to Crawford with his tail between his legs?

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 15, 2006 11:47 PM