The first 100 days, Part III

Charles Krauthammer explains how John Kerry will go about rebuilding our alliances so the world will come to our aid, especially in Iraq. He will do so by giving in to the demands of erstwhile allies such as France with respect to Israel. The main demand will be to re-start the “peace process” in its Clintonesque form — in other words, bringing Arafat back into the game, and extracting Israeli concessions in exchange for nothing.
Krauthammer isn’t merely speculating, nor is he relying entirely on the logic of Kerry’s predicament, although that logic is compelling. Consider this statement by Sandy Berger when he was Kerry’s foreign policy adviser:

As part of a new bargain with our allies, the United States must re-engage in . . . ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. . . . As we re-engage in the peace process and rebuild frayed ties with our allies, what should a Democratic president ask of our allies in return? First and foremost, we should ask for a real commitment of troops and money to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Or consider the statement I quoted this morning by Democratic foreign policy insider Marc Ginsberg:

The new president would outline a series of foreign policy initiatives reflecting his commitment to forge a new international alliance against terrorism. . . .[He would] attempt to “de-Americanize’ our intervention [in Iraq] by convening a global summit on Iraq. . . .He believes that Muslim hostility toward the United States will be reversed only when Arabs consider the United States fully reengaged in promoting peace in the region and upholding its own moral principles in its dealings in the region.

Actually, sacrificing Israel might only be the first concession Kerry would make in the name of rebuilding our alliance with the Europeans. As I pointed out here, the number one goal of the Europeans, even ahead of their anti-Israeli agenda, is to curb the power (or hyper-power, as they see it) of the U.S., and ultimately to undercut U.S. sovereignty through international organizations and treaties. Thus, we can expect, for example, that France and its partners would insist that the U.S. submit to the Kyoto accords and to the International Criminal Court before they make conciliatory noises that Kerry could use to establish his credentials as an alliance builder.
Kerry seems to believe that, because he and his wife are sophisticated and cosmopolitan, the French wouldl be so thrilled with them that the U.S.-Franco alliance will rebuild itself. In reality, Kerry would be an innocent abroad. The French would play him like one of those accordions you hear on the streets of Monmarte.

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