He's sacrificing his war aims to get them to sit on their hands. Mr. Clinton is a clinger. He clings to office despite dishonor, to marriage despite humiliation. Such a man will cling to life with the same tenacity, allowing the utter humiliation of NATO and the collapse of the security system of the west in order not to have to risk an unpleasant death. No wonder he was so upset at Rabin's funeral.
Heroism is a bit out of date.
We have had a mysterious spate of physical cowards in public life. Our President's curious willingness utterly to wreck a relatively favorable world balance of power, a situation which took decades of sacrifice to build-is a reminder that choosing heroes for leaders may not be such a quaint or outmoded idea. JWR contributor Sam Schulman is deputy editor of Taki's Top Drawer, appearing in New York Press, and was formerly publisher of Wigwag and a professor of English at Boston University. You may contact him by clicking here.