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WITH ALLIES LIKE THESE . . .



Feb 12, 2002




MARINA DEL REY, CA--President Bush's unilateral condemnation of Iran, Iraq and North Korea as an axis of evil has brought protests from many of our European allies. Why? And should we care?



According to Robert Tracinski, senior fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute and columnist for Creators Syndicate, 'multilateralism,' the idea that in order to take action abroad we need the approval of an international consensus, turns out to be a one-way street--a street that consistently runs against American interests. The attempt to make any unilateral words or actions by America seem irresponsible or dangerous is tying America's hands in the War on Terrorism.



Tracinski condemns multilateralism as a surrender of American interests and security--putting our survival in the hands of countries that embrace a policy of appeasement. Even worse, those countries that do not want us to act against Iraq and Iran are the same countries that asked us to intervene on their behalf in Bosnia. Tracinski observes, They have gotten us bogged down in an unwinnable quagmire in the Balkans, a region where the United States has no important interests. But now that we ask them to help fight terrorist states, a danger that threatens America (and Europe), they start whining about unwinnable quagmires. We don't have allies in Europe; we have parasites.



President Bush has promised that he 'will not wait on events while dangers gather.' Let us hope that he also refuses to wait on our illusory allies in Europe.



Ayn Rand Institute senior fellow Robert Tracinski is available for interviews.

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