Gonyea Nonsense

NPR really needs to find sharper analysts. This morning Don Gonyea analyzes the relationship of the EU to the Bush administration and offers us unsubstantiated fantasy. Steve Inskeep, noting that many European allies were unhappy with the invasion of Iraq, asks Gonyea, "are they any closer to the Bush administration than they have been in the past." Gonyea responds, "They do seem to be getting closer; the fights over the war between the US and EU, all the rancor that we saw in recent years has subsided significantly and shouldn't really play a role in this summit...." How odd; my understanding is that the debacle in Iraq continues to thoroughly influence US/Europe relations. Yes, the public insult and rancor coming from Washington toward European countries who didn't support the war has stopped due to the disastrous outcome of the invasion, but one could factually argue that the Europeans have moved further from the Bush administration, and that the Bush folks have just had to adjust--and this is exactly what an analyst from Time magazine did in this piece back in Feb. 2005. (BTW, Time is no bastion of left/liberal perspectives.) For a more updated analysis that also notes reasons why Europe (not the people but the leaders) and the US administration are "closer" take a look at this piece from the Council on Foreign Relations (also no left-leaning organization).