Howard Dean Has The Answers, Forgot The Question

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean was speaking at San Diego State University and offered the following:

"If you think what's going on in the Middle East today would be going on if the Democrats were in control, it wouldn't, because we would have worked day after day after day to make sure we didn't get where we are today. We would have had the moral authority that Bill Clinton had when he brought together the Northern Irish and the IRA, when he brought together the Israelis and the Palestinians."

Let's put aside the poll taken in 2000 when:

58 experts on the US presidency were asked which of the 41 occupants of the White House held the greatest moral authority. Clinton finished 41st, one place below Richard Nixon, who, following the Watergate scandal, was the only president ever to resign.

Instead, let's go to a joint press conference featuring Secretary of State Colin Powell and British Secretary of State of Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Jack Straw.

Powell described the process that led to the resolution of the conflict with the IRA in Northern Ireland:

I hope what we have seen in Northern Ireland in the last 24 hours, which culminates a process that took many, many years long to get to this point, is an example of what can be achieved when people of good will come together, recognize they have strong differences, differences that they have fought over for years, but it's time to put those differences aside in order to move forward and to provide a better life for the children of Northern Ireland.

And then Straw just completely undercut him:

Could I just add one thing to that, if I may? Of course, negotiation is far, far better -- infinitely better -- than military action. As far as Northern Ireland is concerned, we welcome hugely the progress that has been made following the Good Friday Agreement. It also has to be said that before that happened, there had to be a change of approach by those who saw terrorism as the answer. And that approach partly changed because of the firmness of the military and police response to that terrorism. And if there had not been that firm response by successive British governments and others to the terrorist threat that was posed on both sides, we would not have been able to get some of those people into negotiations. We would not be marking what is a satisfactory day in the history of Northern Ireland today. [emphasis added]

In essence, Howard Dean simply gave an exquisite example of how the Democrats would have--and some day might--botch the situation in Middle East, unless they develop a completely different approach.

Something Bush should consider doing as well.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Howard Dean and Bush and Ireland and IRA.