You've gotta love it when the Neocons bash Bush.
Its statement, signed by PNAC chairman and Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, PNAC co-founder Robert Kagan, and its executive director, Gary Schmitt, assailed Bush for failing to address Beijing's missile buildup and recent threats by senior defense officials there to go to war if Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province, takes additional steps toward independence.Questioning whether Chen's proposed referendum was designed to change the status quo, the three asked, "Can it be President Bush's position that Taiwan is not permitted to hold any democratic referenda on any subjects whatsoever?"
They then went on to attack Bush's statement as a "mistake", adding the dreaded "A" word that neo-conservatives have bludgeoned their worst political opponents with for the past 30 years. "Appeasement of a dictatorship simply invites further attempts at intimidation," they wrote. "Standing with democratic Taiwan would secure stability in East Asia. Seeming to reward Beijing's bullying will not."
The harsh denunciation, which is unlikely to win them many friends in the White House, caps a period of serious reverses for the PNAC crowd over the past several months as the situation in Iraq has deteriorated. As much as any group's, PNAC's recommendations about how to wage the war on terrorism post-September 11, 2001, had been taken to heart by administration hawks, particularly in Cheney's and Rumsfeld's offices. This began with an open letter produced by the group on September 20, 2001, which called for extending the anti-terrorism campaign to Iraq, whether or not Baghdad had any role in the September 11 attacks, and siding unequivocally with Israel in its own "war on terrorism" against the Palestinian Authority and Lebanon's Hezbollah.
And you've got to be concerned that their heightened shrillness will steer the White House back into the neocon trench. Stay tuned!!