Bush's foreign policy foibles.

• Author: Howell, Llewellyn D.
• Position: World Watcher - United States President George W. Bush - Column

THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION inevitably resorts to name-calling whenever it is in trouble. As The New York Times noted in a March 26 editorial concerning the accusations of former top counter-terrorism official Richard Clarke, "The White House is so thin-skinned and defensive ... that it simply cannot bring itself to join what ought to be a grown-up national conversation of how best to deal with terrorism." This childish exercise, they continue, makes the President appear to be "far more interested in undermining Mr. Clarke's credibility than in addressing the heart of his critique."

Having seen the handwriting on the wall of his 2000 campaign, I opened my March 2001 World Watcher column titled "Terrorism: The 21st Century War," with "Welcome George W. Bush to the presidency and the 21st century. It's a new word with many corners turned at the onset of a new millennium. Among the most critical of corners is in the conduct of war."

I went on to note that 21st century warfare would be changed such that "the weapons of choice have become backpack bombs, computer and biological viruses, and chemicals. Military units are no longer divisions and battalions, but teams of two or 10.... The tactic of choice is now the dramatic explosion or chemical attack that generates fear and destroys economic functions.... Terrorists frequently target office buildings, marketplaces, and transportation facilities, shifting away from detended, secure installations."

The point of repeating this forecast of what an attack would look like--rid how close it was to what occurred on 9/11--is not to congratulate myself, but rather to note that many others besides Clarke were suggesting to the new Bush Administration that a different type of defense had to be conceived, one that moves away from the conventional shields and state-centric constructs of the past. and toward a control of terrorism from nonstate, unconventional actors.

Totally apart from any charges by Clarke, the question is whether there was any shift by the Bush Administration before 9/11. The answer clearly is no! And not much of one afterwards, either. Where was attention focused in that first eight months of the new Administration? My next World Watcher dealing with the President's overseas outlook was in September 2001, just before the 9/11 attacks. Titled "Bush's Foreign Policy: Just Say No!" it listed the instances in which the new Republican elite in Washington had withdrawn from international cooperation...