Winning Friends and Influencing People

John Kerry continues to say that one of the cornerstones of his Iraq policy will be to bring in allies and internationalize the reconstruction. His idea of allies, of course, is France and Germany. The others just don't count; they are "bribed and coerced". Charles Krauthammer takes Kerry to task for his campaign's (in the form of his sister) recent attempts to influence the upcoming election in America's historically most steadfast ally, Australia.

Of all our allies in the world, which is the only one to have joined the United States in the foxhole in every war in the past 100 years? Not Britain, not Canada, certainly not France. The answer is Australia.
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The terrorists' objective is to intimidate all countries allied with America. Make them bleed and tell them this is the price they pay for being a U.S. ally. The implication is obvious: Abandon America and buy your safety.

That is what the terrorists are saying. Why is the Kerry campaign saying the same thing? "John Kerry's campaign has warned Australians that the Howard Government's support for the US in Iraq has made them a bigger target for international terrorists." So reports the Weekend Australian (Sept. 18).
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This snide and reckless put-down more than undermines our best friends abroad. It demonstrates the cynicism of Kerry's promise to broaden our coalition in Iraq. If this is how Kerry repays America's closest allies -- ridiculing the likes of Tony Blair and John Howard -- who does he think is going to step up tomorrow to be America's friend?

As I have said before Kerry's - and the Democrat's - foreign policy is simply not serious. More importantly, it is dangerous and counterproductive to our War on Terror. Just yesterday, Kerry and a number of Democratic Senators went out of their way to insult the Prime Minister of Iraq, to call him a liar. Doesn't Kerry realize that if he is elected (God forbid) he will have to work with this "liar", and those "bribed", "coerced", and "fictitious" allies?