Alone Against the World

Dallas Morning News | Editorials:

"While predictable, the nation's latest isolationist streak is a misguided overreaction to an Iraq intervention that hasn't gone as its architects had expected."

It could be that Americans are not unconditionally more isolationist. It could be that they just don't trust the current administration to competently conduct American foreign policy. This administration has alienated our allies. It has confused nation building with a war on terror. Threats posed by globalization, AIDS, bird flu, global warming, Islamic terrorism and many other issues have been neglected because of this administration's single-minded pursuit of war against Saddam Hussein. With a restoration of competent leadership in Washington, American public opinion might again warm to a foreign policy of constructive engagement with the world, working closely with our traditional allies, seeking common ground with rising powers, and isolating the radical elements instead of ourselves.