We Need More Cowboys, Not Fewer

 They called him a loose canon, a cowboy who was despised by European pundits. He pressed the American vision by building up our military presence and our nuclear capability. Despite public criticism of his policies, his predictions proved prescient. George W. Bush? No. Ronald Reagan in the 1980's.

 With the Soviet Union nearing collapse due to a forced military buildup (though no one knew it at the time), Reagan sent US SS-20 missiles into Europe. He then said no to Gorbachev's offer of total disarmament in return for dismantling SDI, the so-called "Star Wars" missile defense program. The Soviet system was spent. A few short years later, the "evil empire" was relegated to the "ashheap of history" just as Reagan had predicted. He had been alone in forecasting this, but even he could not have forseen how swiftly it came to pass.

 President Bush's speech before the American Enterprise Institute last Wednesday was reminiscent of Reagans unpopular vision. While everyone else was occupied with detente, containment, nuclear freezes and arms control, Reagan was looking beyond incrementalism to the ultimate solution, namely freedom and democracy behind the iron curtain. Similarly, today the world is occupied with weapons of mass destruction, UN resolutions and alliances or the lack thereof.

 But Bush on Wednesday, in Reaganesque fashion, looked beyond all the sound and fury to a future day of spreading democracy and freedom in the Middle East. "There was a time when many said the cultures of Japan and Germany were incapable of sustaining democratic values. Well, they were wrong. Some say the same of Iraq today. They are mistaken. The nation of Iraq, with its proud heritage, abundant resources and skilled and educated people, is fully capable of moving toward democracy.... A liberated Iraq can show the power of freedom to transform that vital region, by bringing hope and progress into the lives of millions."

 Bush, like Reagan, sees his opponents less as objects of confrontation than as future embracers of liberty. Both men believe that if given the choice of freedom and democracy, most nations will take it. Yes, Saudi Arabia and Iran were went unmentioned in the speech, but they were heavily implied. And yes, it is clear Bush does not see freedom and democracy breaking out overnight in the Middle East. But he sees something far more important, namely that freedom is an irresistible force that cannot be stopped, even in the Islamic world. Robert Kennedy said, "some men see things that are and ask why. I see things that never were and ask why not?" Bush not only sees the "why not." He believes it will come to pass.

 In the end, the Middle East may become to George W. Bush what the Soviet Union was to Ronald Reagan, his greatest foreign policy triumph. Undoubtedly, each of the countries behind the "sand curtain" will achieve freedom in different ways, with perhaps different kinds of engagements from the United States. It is clear, however, from Bush's speech that he sees Iraq as more than an enemy turned into a friend, but a beachhead for democracy in the region. He may just be right. If so, perhaps we need a few more cowboys in the White House.

  John Pendleton