Trust and the International Community

I was at a meeting tonight featuring Joe Solmonese, CEO of Emily's List. A woman who had just returned from Europe talked about the intensity of the European disdain for the Bush Administration. This reminded me that our reduced credibilty in the Internationial Community has decreased rather than increased our standing in the world ... not to mention our security. Here are some well chosen words from Zbigniew Brzezinski, former Secretary of State. His most telling story is "American leadership worldwide is dependent on our credibility. When President Kennedy faced the Cuban missile crisis, he sent [former secretary of State] Dean Acheson to Europe to talk to [French President Charles] de Gaulle to tell him there are Soviet rockets with nuclear weapons targeted on the United States, and the U.S. would use force to remove them if necessary, which means massive nuclear war between the West and the East. When he finished making that presentation, Acheson said to de Gaulle, “Let me now show you the evidence.” De Gaulle responded by saying “I don’t want to see your evidence. I trust the President of the United States. Tell him we stand with him.” Would any foreign leader do that today? Probably not."