For this Russian commentator, the defeat of Bush Co. at the November US Congressional Elections will play out on the world stage for the rest of the Bush presidency and beyond. But, the writer warns, there are dangers in assuming that the United States still holds the wealth, power and influence it once had in the international arena. Too much has changed for this "myth" to remain a common truth.
From Novosti : (excerpts)
The defeat of the Republicans (and, hence, President Bush) in the November elections to the Congress will be analyzed for a long time to come.
In 2006, the system the U.S. neo-Conservatives were trying to adapt to their personal, corporate, group, and finally, national interests, has cracked.During the November elections to the Congress it became overheated due to the efforts of those who misreckoned its maximum capacity. Coercion of the 200 year-old mechanisms of American democracy had its effect, and the fuel which is essential for the system's operation - American voters - went elsewhere. The situation became so serious that the captain had to change without delay his most loyal members of the team, who had gone too far in their miscalculations.
Bush had to part not simply with his buddies but with the symbols of his epoch - Donald Rumsfeld and John Bolton, who, together with Dick Cheney prevailed over Condoleezza Rice - compared to them, she seemed almost a dove of peace. Rumsfeld has been replaced with Robert Gates, who is much closer in his views to Rice than Cheney. The new Defense Secretary openly says that there is no hope for a victory in Iraq.
The Jewish lobby, which determined U.S. policy in the Middle East, is leaving Bush as well. It has come to understand the impossibility of radical plans as regards Iran and Syria.
It is believed that Condoleezza Rice does not object at all to the idea of a peace conference on the Middle East without Israel.
The Democrats conduct sweet conversations with Ahmadinejad's representatives, while Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Avigdor Lieberman complains to the Russian language press in New York during his U.S. trip that America does not have enough public support for the idea of destroying Iran as the world's biggest evil.
Bush's two major projects - Iraq and Afghanistan - have fallen through.
Latin America is drifting away from Bush, too. His idols Reagan and Bush Sr., and his rival Clinton spent a lot of time, trying to conquer it. Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina are posing an obvious threat to the Monroe doctrine.
Results of congressional elections will tell on many regions in the world...
