Quote Originally Posted by Aggie Hoopsfan
And before 9/11 I would agree totally with Extra Stout's post, from beginning to end. After 9/11, I'm not so sure we can play it the same way anymore.

We are in the transition from a period of time where mutually assured destruction was something that kept both sides from pulling the trigger.

Now we're dealing with a foe in radical Islam that welcomes death and does everything it can to bring about a response to hasten it. The rules have changed. I'm not 100% convinced that the way we're doing this is the right way, but time will tell.
In his second term, Bush has acceeded to the fact that Islamic terrorism is a threat to everybody, everybody has a hand in doing something about it, and the war on terror can't be executed in a way that benefits only the United States if the U.S. wants allies to participate.

In his first term, Bush wanted to dictate to the rest of the world how the war was to be fought.

I could speculate that the difference has something to do with having somebody whose judgment he trusts serving as Secretary of State now. You notice that the hardcore neocons cannot stand the way Condi is doing her job. The neocons do not have the President's ear on foreign policy the way they did in his first term.

Other countries face a more immediate threat than does the United States from Islamic terrorism. However, American hegemony also poses a threat to their interests. We cannot take for granted that they are going to see things the way we do.