George W. Bush -- grand strategist (Re-post)

Washington Times ^ | 2/11/04 | Tony Blankley

[kattracks]

The Boston Globe

[prognostigaator]

Go tell it on the mountain....

As the Globe article describes in an interview with Mr. Gaddis: "Grand strategy is the blueprint from which policy follows. It envisions a country's mission, defines its interests, and sets its priorities. Part of grand strategy's grandeur lies in its durability: A single grand strategy can shape decades, even centuries of policy."

[Ramcat]

By controlling Bagdad International Airport we no longer have to give away the farm to Turkey or Saudi Arabia to deploy anywhere in the ME.

Put me on the professors side also.

[The Raven]

But, the Dems have a grand strategy, also. Trouble is...they don't tell anybody, since it's really bad news.

[The Raven]

Mr. Bush stands in a select category with presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and James Monroe (as guided by his secretary of state, John Q. Adams) in implementing one of only three grand strategies of American foreign policy in our two-century history.

Correct me if I'm wrong - I thought containment policy came from Harry Truman. Perhaps he doesn't consider this a grand strategy?

[Stallone]

Bush is the best thing to happen to America since Ronald Reagan.

All ye detractors, push off!

[AppauledAtAppeasementConservat]

"Bush is the best thing to happen to America since Ronald Reagan."

This professor is about to be religated to irrelevance by his own and half the country who would rather be like the French and John Kerry of which both never won a war.

Let's see if you like not being blown up you can A) Face the threat down or B) Surrender. I vote for Bush's strategy every time. Too bad alot of Americans are more interested in the freedom of their private parts than the security of our children.

[yeetch!]

Good find. Yes, I believe this is what the war on terror is all about.

[metesky]

bttt

[Fenris6]

"So far the military action in Iraq has produced a modest improvement in American and global economic conditions; an intensified dialogue within the Arab world about political reform; a withdrawal of American forces from Saudi Arabia; and an increasing nervousness on the part of the Syrian and Iranian governments as they contemplated the consequences of being surrounded by American clients or surrogates. The United States has emerged as a more powerful and purposeful actor within the international system than it had been on September 11, 2001."

Not bad for a "stupid cowboy" LOL

[jammer]

I think it was George Kennan through Harry Truman.

[wolicy_ponk]

Anyone who has ever played the game RISK knows that we needed a parking lot (Base) in the Middle East. I know for a fact the we have a lot more credibility than we did before Sept. 11th.
When we say something now, there is weight to our words.
The Professor (Giddis) has discovered the strategery...

[wolicy_ponk]

oops- Gaddis

[jmstein7]

Here is the strategy we need to win (for those of you mad at the Prewsident):

The GOP listen to us when we scream loud enough, lean on them, write to them, etc.

The Dems will never listen to us.

The best scenario for those who are dissatisfied is this:

Vote Bush

In 2006, vote the RINOs OUT in the primaries

In the 2006 general election, vote the conservatives who won the primaries into office

In 2008, we need an open field -- it would be VERY hard to win with an incumbent Democrat in office.


In the 2008 primaries, vote for the conservative.

In the 2008 general election, vote the conservative nominee into office.

THAT is the path to conservative victory. Sitting this one out or writing someone in does more harm than good -- especially because it puts an incumbent (hard to beat) in the 2008 race, whereas we have an open field in 2008 (ripe for a conservative) if we help Bush this time around.

Long-term thinking like this is what we need to REALLY win. Why cut off our noses, and give the Dems wins, to spite our RINOs now when we can retain power and sweep them out COMPLETELY within less than half-a-decade?

[Wright is right!]

""Clinton said as much at one point. I think that was shallow. I think they were asleep at the switch," Mr. Gaddis observed."

X-42(i) - to put it in the briefest of all possible terms - wanted to be The Celebrity President. He wanted to be the ultimate High School Prom King, Frat Boy, liked by all the guys and bedded by all the girls. He saw the White House as the ultimate Pleasure Prize. He didn't really care about anything else.

Of course, a lot more comes with the job, so he had Hillary as an Adjunct to take care of policy that he would merely mouth. Everything not related to whatever policy the two of them developed just glided along on autopilot, heading straight for terrain. The things they ignored hit the mountain on 9/11.

Michael

[jmstein7]

Sign The "Open Letter To Senator John Kerry" HERE!

[AFPhys]

There are times that primary sources are important. Here is a good time to list Mr.Gaddis' sources:

President Bush Graduation Speech at West Point - 1Jun02
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020601-3.html

and: The National Security Strategy of the United States of America - 17Sep02
http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.html

Therein he and his administration lay out the "Liberty Doctrine" which this author is discussing.

[UCANSEE2]

Some here have seen the 'chess strategy' and have been moves ahead (along with the President).

Some are just now starting to see the effects of those preliminary moves.

Some will never see, even if rubbed in their face.

Many will change their attitude in the next 2-3 months, as the information proving the links between AQ/BinLaden and Saddam, the existence of WMD's, the danger the US was in, and how it was stopped will all be revealed.

As they say, everything in it's time. Each move must happen in progression. There is no hurry (now that we slowed the terrorists' progress and cash flow), and President Bush is allowing the opposition to get plenty of rope out, as they will need it to hang themselves by.

Daschle will be DEEPLY, DEEPLY, DEEPLY saddened, again.

[UCANSEE2]

I believe you have come up with the most succinct and condensed summary of the entire Clinton administration I have ever seen.

[Wright is right!]

"I believe you have come up with the most succinct and condensed summary of the entire Clinton administration I have ever seen."

Well, that's all it really was. Policy they had an interest in, they tried a few things. Everything else was just ignored or tended to by flunkies like Halfbright - chosen more for their caretaker approach than for anything else.

Bill was much too busy building his cult following to do much of anything else.

Michael