Has Bush Lost It?

IS BUSH LOSING IT?

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Richard A. Gephardt yesterday criticized the Bush administration's "chest-beating unilateralism" in the Iraq war, which he said weakened diplomatic alliances and squandered global good will following the September 11 attacks.

"Foreign policy isn't a John Wayne movie, where we catch the bad guys, hoist a few cold ones and then everything fades to black," the Missouri congressman said in remarks prepared for a speech to the Bar Association of San Francisco.

"No matter the surge of momentary machismo -- as gratifying as it may be for some -- it is shortsighted and wrong to simply go it alone."

Mr. Gephardt, the former House Democratic leader, reiterated his support for a congressional resolution that authorized the administration to go to war, saying he continued to believe Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction or was on his way to building them. But, Mr. Gephardt said, Mr. Bush's "utter disregard for diplomacy" and lack of a cohesive postwar plan left the United States isolated and vulnerable in an increasingly chaotic, lawless landscape.

For more click on: http://www.washingtontimes.com/...

Technorati tag: foreign policy