Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

Euro critics of US do not understand, nor do her enemies

Gerard Baker:

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In fact while today’s armchair critics in Europe see America as a bloodthirsty warrior, its enemies have always seen precisely the opposite. Hitler thought Americans’ Aryan purity had been fatally weakened by immigration and ethnic diversity. The Russians thought years of capitalist decadence had sapped its resolve. Whatever else bin Laden and Saddam Hussein may or may not have had in common, they both believed Americans were essentially soft, would not have the stomach for a fight once engaged. Hit them hard and they may lash out at first, but they will bend and retreat at the first sign of a serious struggle — as they did in Beirut and Mogadishu.

To European critics the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was irrefutable proof of America’s irredeemable bloodlust. Two years later, however, it is the enemies’ proposition that is being tested....

As it happens, both the critics and the enemies are wrong, or at best, half-right. Americans are more likely to see the use of force as a productive means of achieving foreign policy ends. But they are not trigger happy or warmongering; and their support for a war is not immutable.

Will the Democrats be the party of cut and run, or the party of critics without a plan? What Baker is really describing is Republicans in the US. What Saddam and bin Laden saw was Democrats. The perceived weakness of the Democrats emboldened them and led to their miscalculation. As it turns out it was only a miscalculation while Republicans are in charge. Right now the Democrats are the party of retreat.