THE AUDACITY OF DEFEATISM:

The Democrats' foreign-policy game (Stuart Gottlieb, 7/07/08, CS Monitor)

The message Democrats are sending to the world is clear: You cannot trust America to honor its trade agreements, even with developing nations struggling to enter the global middle class. This is a far cry from Obama's Lincolnesque promise in his Democratic nomination victory speech June 3rd to restore "our image as the last, best hope on earth." [...]

Despite lofty promises, the policies they are most aligning themselves with leave them vulnerable to Republican charges of "defeatism" – that America cannot compete in a world of open markets and cannot successfully finish the job in Iraq. [...]

Stuart Gottlieb was a Democratic foreign-policy adviser and speechwriter in the US Senate from 1999 to 2003.