George W. Bush -- grand strategist

townhall.com ^ | 2/11/04 | Tony Blankley

[BOBTHENAILER]

You can put me on the side of the professor.

Me too.

Great article and I agree with it's premise.

[Dog Gone]

This article doesn't measure another incredibly important action by this President, the change in course by Pakistan. That nation was becoming increasingly radical, using the Taliban as an instrument of foreign policy, and on an inevitable collision course with India, which certainly had the potential to become a nuclear exchange.

Today, Pakistan is a valuable ally in chasing down terrorists and is mending fences with India. It's a remarkable turnaround, and it's directly a result of the President putting pressure on Pakistan in no uncertain terms.

[hchutch]

Gotta go with the professor, too.

And I wish I were a fly on the wall at the next faculty meeting he's at. :)

[The Wizard]

trememdous

[Grampa Dave]

Absolutely, before 9/11 Pakistan was very close to being another Afghanistan.

Now they are helping us to route out the al Qaeda and Taliban thugs in both countries.

Their change of policies re nuclear tactics, safe keeping and other scary nuclear aspects is an incredible change.

[Grampa Dave]

Absolutely, before 9/11 Pakistan was very close to being another Afghanistan.

Now they are helping us to route out the al Qaeda and Taliban thugs in both countries.

Their change of policies re nuclear tactics, safe keeping and other scary nuclear aspects is an incredible change.

[goodnesswins]

THANK YOU for your very cogent response. I esp. liked the "conservative incrementalism."

[macrahanish #1]

God Bless Ronald Reagan!!!

[Eva]

bump

[RightWingMama]

thanks for the ping.

[BOBTHENAILER]

And I wish I were a fly on the wall at the next faculty meeting he's at. :)
LOL

[windchime]

Bump!

[reformed_democrat]

Great response. I'm going to copy-and-paste it to my desktop so I can steal appropriate parts of it as needed.

I promise to give you credit.

[FBD]

Many of us have a problem with Pres. Bush's domestic agenda. However, if Professor Gaddis is correct, he won't be remembered for his big govt. spending. He will be remembered for this:

---

{snip}:
"That brings the professor to George W. Bush, who he describes as undergoing "one of the most surprising transformations of an underrated national leader since Prince Hal became Henry V." Clearly, Professor Gaddis has not been a longtime admirer of George Bush. But he is now.

"...In assessing Bush's progress to date, The Boston Globe article quotes Professor Gaddis: "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."

In another recent article, written before the Iraqi war, Professor Gaddis wrote that: "(Bush's) grand strategy is actually looking toward the culmination of the Wilsonian project of a world safe for Democracy, even in the Middle East. And this long-term dimension of it, it seems to me, goes beyond what we've seen in the thinking of more recent administrations. It is more characteristic of the kind of thinking, say, that the Truman administration was doing at the beginning of the Cold War ... "

[Poser]

Bumpity Bump. My thoughts expressed well.

[Mudboy Slim]

I'm 100% behind Dubyuh's perfromance on foreign policy...my constructive criticism of his presidency focuses solely on domestic policy, and I remain hopeful that he will shift course and start minimizing the growth of the Federal Leviathan and abandon his wrong-headed non-amnesty AmnestyferIllegalImmigrants position.

FReegards...MUD

[FBD]

I am in agreement with you Mud.
My only point is, in a hundred years from now, will any of his domestic policy be remembered?

Well...the illegal immigrant stuff may well be, especially if some terrorists get in here, via the amnesty deal...

But the budget stuff will be forgotten by everyone other than folks wearing green eye shades.

[Mudboy Slim]

"...in a hundred years from now, will any of his domestic policy be remembered?"

Well, we've worked our butts off fer 50+ years to get a GOP POTUS with a GOP-controlled Congress, with the hope being that we will finally be able to rein in the relentless growth of the Federal Leviathan. Unfortunately, imho, Bush has so far rebuffed efforts to pursue a more conservative fiscal policy, and I fear that the result may end up being a discouragement of the RightWingBase, which could in turn result in the RATS regaining control of Congress or the White House, or both. Then, where would we be and how long would it take us to regain control of both of these branches of government to take another swing at instituting some fiscal sanity? If we fail to take advantage of our presently dominant situation, I do think folks will look back at this period of history 100 years from now and see it as a unique opportunity lost.

FReegards...MUD

[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.

[FBD]

"I do think folks will look back at this period of history 100 years from now and see it as a unique opportunity lost."

If that were the case, folks would be taking a totally differant look at FDR. Instead, he is praised (by the majority) for starting Social inSecurity, and for successfully prosecuting the war.