FrontPageMag has an interview with Christopher Hitchens, a former leftist who made an ideological U-turn. He has some interesting observations.

I had to ask myself - is there an international socialist movement worth the name? No. No, there is not. Okay - will it revive? No, it won't. Okay then - but is there at least a critique of capitalism that has a potential for replacing it? Not that I can identify."

"If the answer to all these questions is no, then I have no right to go around calling myself a socialist. It's more like an affectation." But Hitch - there are still hundreds of causes on the left, even if the ?socialist' tag is outdated.

He explains that he believes the moment the Left's bankruptcy became clear was on 9/11. "The United States was attacked by theocratic fascists who represents all the most reactionary elements on earth. They stand for liquidating everything the left has fought for: women's rights, democracy? And how did much of the left respond? By affecting a kind of neutrality between America and the theocratic fascists." He cites the cover of one of Tariq Ali's books as the perfect example. It shows Bush and Bin Laden morphed into one on its cover. "It's explicitly saying they are equally bad. However bad the American Empire has been, it is not as bad as this. It is not the Taliban, and anybody - any movement - that cannot see the difference has lost all moral bearings."

He continues, "I just reject the whole mentality that says, we need to consider this phenomenon in light of current grievances. It's an insult to the people who care about the real grievances of the Palestinians and the Chechens and all the others. It's not just the wrong interpretation of those causes; it's their negation." And this goes for the grievances of the Palestinians, who he has dedicated a great deal of energy to documenting and supporting. "Does anybody really think that if every Jew was driven from Palestine, these guys would go back to their caves? Nobody is blowing themselves up for a two-state solution. They openly say, 'We want a Jew-free Palestine, and a Christian-free Palestine.' And that would very quickly become, 'Don't be a Shia Muslim around here, baby.'" He supports a two-state solution - but he doesn't think it will solve the jihadist problem at all.

He believes neoconservatism is a distinctively new strain of thought, preached by ex-leftists, who believed in using US power to spread democracy. "It's explicitly anti-Kissingerian. Kissinger hates this stuff. He opposed intervening in the Balkans. Kissinger Associates were dead against [the war in] Iraq. He can't understand the idea of backing democracy - it's totally alien to him."

"So that interest in the neocons re-emerged after September 11th. They were saying - we can't carry on with the approach to the Middle East we have had for the past fifty years. We cannot go on with this proxy rule racket, where we back tyranny in the region for the sake of stability. So we have to take the risk of uncorking it and hoping the more progressive side wins." He has replaced a belief in Marxist revolution with a belief in spreading the American revolution. Thomas Jefferson has displaced Karl Marx.

An interesting point here is that Kerry has made several statements in favor of stability, even under a brutal dictator. That makes Kerry the ideological successor of Kissenger.

I only picked a few quotes from the article and, for space, I didn't always include the entire quotes. Read the article.

International Reactions to the Debate.

Kerry keeps saying that he will get new international support for Iraq just by virtue of not being Bush. The French have said that they will not send troops, no matter who is in the White House. What is Kerry's fall-back plan? What will he do about Iraq if he cannot get any other countries to take it over from us? I'd love to hear this in a debate. It doesn't even count as hypothetical.

Presumably Kerry thinks that he can get new allies because he knows how to get along with other countries better than Bush does.

Then there is Kerry's idea of giving nuclear fuel to Iraq in exchange for them shutting down their own enrichment program. This is such a non-starter that they already rejected it.

Foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said it would be "irrational" for Iran to put its nuclear program in jeopardy by relying on supplies from abroad.

"We have the technology (to make nuclear fuel) and there is no need for us to beg from others," Asefi told a weekly news conference.

Does Kerry have a fall-back policy here? Maybe he will use his charm to convince them otherwise just like he will with France.

So how is Kerry the internationalist doing with foreign leaders?

President of Poland Calls Kerry 'Immoral'

Reacting to John Kerry's omission of Polands efforts in Iraq, President of Poland Alexander Kwasniewski said, "I find it kind of sad that a senator with 20 year parliamentary experience is unable to notice the Polish presence in the anti-terror coalition."

When asked about Kerry's derogation of non-U.S. coalition countries fighting in Iraq, Kwasniewski said: "I don't think it's an ignorance. Anti-terror coalition is larger than the USA, the UK and Australia. There are also Poland, Ukraine, and Bulgaria etc. which lost their soldiers there. It's highly immoral not to see our strong commitment we have taken with a strong believe that we must fight against terror together, that we must show our strong international solidarity because Saddam Hussein was dangerous to the world."

"That's why we are disappointed that our stance and ultimate sacrifice of our soldiers are so diminished", President Kwasniewski commented Kerry's speech during the debate.

"Perhaps Mr Kerry, continues Kwasniewski, thinks about the coalition with Germany and France, countries which disagreed with us on Iraq."

Poland has contributed greatly to the efforts in Iraq. Their troop contribution tops 6,500 and 13 have given the ultimate sacrifice, in order to assist the United States liberate Iraq.

What seems to be a poor choice of judgment, Kerry, so far, has not apologized to the nations that he denigrated that have supported America, during these times of challenge.

BritishCombat deaths: 25
Non-combat deaths: 39
Italy 18
Poland 13
Spain 11
Bulgaria 6
Ukraine 6
Slovakia 3
Thailand 2
Portugal 2
Albania 1
Denmark 1
El Salvador 1
Estonia 1
Georgia 1
Latvia: 1

Kerry is still just a candidate and he's already insulted every foreign leader who has ever supported Bush. Just think what he will do if he ever gets into office.