“‘Continued’ and ‘cooperation’ are much better words. There may have been strains, but there have never been any irreconcilable differences among us.”
That may be a low bar in judging the current state of the transatlantic alliance after months of dispute between the United States and some of its major European allies. After all, France took NATO to the edge of an extraordinary rupture by refusing to plan for the defense of Turkey’s border with Iraq ahead of the war. Perhaps that explained why Robertson seemed delighted to report that a meeting of the North Atlantic Council–the decision-making group of foreign ministers–had passed by with “a complete lack of acrimony.”
The marriage counselor in this case was one of the partners who took them to the brink of divorce. Colin Powell ended a frenetic but almost entirely successful day at NATO headquarters during which he scheduled more than 20 meetings or interviews, with a giant Cheshire Cat smile on his face. His mere presence on European soil–and his calming tone–appeared to have blunted the most hostile criticism of U.S. policy, at least from his fellow foreign ministers.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer expressed his hope that the Iraqi regime would collapse–going one step further than French counterpart Dominique de Villepin, who declined last week to state an opinion on who should win the war. NATO officials spoke of “an emerging consensus” on the need for the United Nations to play a role in the reconstruction of Iraq. They even discussed a possible role for NATO in future peacekeeping operations in Iraq, although they made no commitment to do so.
On the way to Brussels, the Turks patched up their relationship with the United States, agreeing with Powell during his stop in Ankara that they would not invade northern Iraq just yet–and certainly not without telling Washington first. Moreover, they went a step further by agreeing to open supply lines to U.S. troops in the north, although they would only allow nonlethal supplies like fuel and food to flow across their border.
Powell even squeezed in time with Serbian leaders to bolster their efforts to rejoin the international community. That meeting in Belgrade took place 20 yards from the spot where Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindic was assassinated last month, and just across the road from the rubble of the former Yugoslav Army headquarters destroyed by U.S. bombs during the Kosovo crisis. Even in such an unlikely setting, Powell’s aides described the session as “uplifting,” as if the experience had restored their own hope in reconstructing rogue states.
Powell’s brief European tour underscored just how much can be achieved through personal diplomacy. It’s not that the Europeans have buried their opposition to the war or to the sight of American power being exercised without U.N. approval. Far from it, in fact. “I don’t think anybody has given up their opinions of what happened in the past,” says Chris Patten, the European Union’s commissioner for external relations. “But I don’t think anybody wants to focus or concentrate on the past.”
The sheer physical presence of the U.S. secretary of State seemed to mark a line in the sand to separate the bitterness of the last U.N. debate over Iraq from the next debate in the Security Council. Of course, the treacherous discussions over the details remain ahead. And there is plenty of room for dispute over the precise wording of the U.N.’s role in Iraq and the exact shape of a new government in Baghdad. That remains particularly true while the administration has yet to decide on its own position on the precise terms of the U.N.’s role and the shape of the new Iraqi government.
Still, Powell was hopeful for a better outcome next time around. “Notwithstanding the disagreements we had within the transatlantic community–serious disagreement, heated disagreement, where we came to opposite conclusions on a very important issue of the day–we now must move forward and align ourselves again with the need to serve the Iraqi people,” he said.
For the moment at least, Powell’s commitment to listen to Europe’s ideas–and take them back to Washington–was accepted whole-heartedly. “I don’t think anybody meets General Powell without being reassured,” says Patten. Europeans may be angry with Washington, but the secretary of State still commands the respect of his colleagues abroad.
title: “Moving On” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-17” author: “George Smith”
He wasn’t talking about Howard Dean’s anti-war activists. In fact Kerry made no mention of the survivors in the Democratic presidential slugfest. After two thumping victories in Washington state (by 19 points) and Michigan (by 35 points), Kerry resisted the temptation to declare he owned what was once Dean Country. Nor did the Massachusetts senator gloat when he won Maine by 19 points on Sunday.
Instead, the clear Democratic frontrunner used the media spotlight on Saturday to launch a pre-emptive strike on the Bush-Cheney ‘04 campaign. The president may have close to $200 million to spend on defining the Democrats during his own (unopposed) primary season. But that didn’t stop Kerry from using a little free media on primary night to land an early punch. Kerry loves rhyming slogans that leave little room for the nuances of the Senate debate (“Like father, like son–one term and you’re done”). Whatever happens in the cultural wars over gay marriage or abortion, we can surely expect an almost endless repetition of the extreme-mainstream line in the months to come.
Is the Democratic primary season already over? In technical terms, the answer is no. We’re still only half way between Iowa and Super Tuesday, so there’s plenty of time for Kerry to stumble. But in political terms, the answer looks like an awful lot like yes. The frontloaded primary season was designed to crush any potential insurgent early in the process, and that’s exactly what’s happening. There isn’t any time for John Edwards, Wesley Clark or Howard Dean to build an effective comeback strategy. Even if one of them wins a state this week, they have next to no time to go national before a third of all delegates come up for grabs on March 2.
Indeed, all three challengers face do-or-die moments in the next week or so. Edwards and Clark must win either Virginia or Tennessee this week, or else lose their claim to the South. Dean must win in Wisconsin next week to have any viability left in the race. If they suffer another three defeats, they run the risk of looking like vanity candidates. And the polls from all three states are hardly encouraging, pointing to strong Kerry victories across the board. In Wisconsin, for instance, Kerry leads by 26 points, while Dean trails in a far-distant fourth place.
Virginia offers Kerry a special chance to bury one remaining question about his candidacy: can he win in the South? Never mind that many of the state’s Democrats live in the Washington suburbs of Northern Virginia. Kerry has already won the support of Virginia’s Democratic governor, Mark Warner, who cited his own victory in 2001 as a game-plan for Democrats in the South–“economic prosperity, educational opportunity and fiscal responsibility.” In the meantime, Warner offered Kerry something more immediately useful: his endorsement. The contrast with Dean could hardly be greater. One day earlier, Dean lost the backing of one of his biggest unions, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Endorsements may count for little when the votes are counted, as Dean discovered in Iowa. But they still cement Kerry’s status at a time when his rivals need all the help they can muster.
Of course, Virginia is still considered a George W. Bush stronghold, even if the state has a Democratic governor. Bush won the state by the relatively big margin of more than 200,000 votes in 2000. But that is unlikely to stop the president campaigning hard there in a matter of days. Before his State of the Union address last month, Bush, according to his aides, was going to remain above the fray. Even though his address was only the day after Iowa’s caucuses, the president would steer clear of partisan politics to concentrate on his vision of the nation at war. That was less than a month ago.
Now the president is following the Democratic field around the country as if he can’t wait to dive headfirst into the battle. After the Democrats left New Hampshire and South Carolina, Bush directed his motorcade to Merrimack and Charleston. Today he shows up in Springfield, Missouri, less than a week since Kerry’s big win in the state’s Democratic primary. Expect a presidential visit to Tennessee or Virginia next week.
Will Kerry succeed in labeling the president as “extreme?” Speaking in Richmond, Kerry cited Judge Charles Pickering, a recess appointment to the court of appeals in New Orleans, accused of racism for his position in a cross-burning case. Message: if Bush stokes up his base with gay marriage, Kerry will do the same with race. And while Bush can trumpet his Medicare prescription drug benefit as a mainstream issue; Kerry dismissed it as “a sham bill”.
As for the White House, the president himself tried to re-launch his election campaign on NBC’s “Meet the Press” yesterday after his State of the Union address fell flat and polls show that his approval rating is continuing to decline. (The latest NEWSWEEK poll found that Kerry would beat Bush by 50 percent to 45 percent in a hypothetical race.) Beyond defending his decision to go to war in Iraq, Bush said his election was about leadership. “I know exactly where I want to lead,” he said. “I want to lead this world toward more peace and freedom. I want to lead this great country to work with others to change the world in positive ways, particularly as we fight the war on terror, and we got changing times here in America, too.” Kerry’s response was not just to question Bush’s leadership, but to attack his credibility, just like the prosecutor the senator once was in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Kerry said Bush was “telling stories” during the run-up to war in 2002, and that “Americans need to be able to trust their president.”
For the record, Kerry isn’t yet the Democratic nominee, and Bush insists he isn’t campaigning. Yet one thing about the 2004 race is already clear. If you thought the short primary season was ugly, you’d better avert your eyes during this year’s race for the White House. Judging by the weekend’s exchanges, that means right around now.
