On the occasion of a visit to Russia by secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, the IHT headlined (21-4-2005): "Russia must guarantee freedoms, asserts Rice". So what exactly is America going to do about Russia? Invade? The disorientation of American foreign policy continues unabated. The USA, cloutless after its adventurist and dangerous actions in the recent past, cannot go around telling the world what it must and mustn't do. This is a symptom of extreme delusion, and for a power such as America to be so out of touch with reality is either self-demeaning or disquieting. As America can do nothing about Putin and his policies, which aren't that awful, it is being made to look foolish again by the Bush administration, a real glutton for global derision.

Another curious sign of American cluelessness is the State Department's list of states which sponsor terrorism. The first six in the list are North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Cuba, and Iran. Abhorrent though its political system may be, North Korea is not sponsoring terrorism. Sudan ceased to sponsor international terrorism a long time ago and now it is mostly terrorizing people in Darfur, where incidentally the USA is obstructing UN intervention because of its arrogant rejection of the International Criminal Tribunal. The inclusion of Libya and Cuba is incomprehensible. Libya caved in recently about its nuclear program, but it had been on its best behavior for a long time now. Cuba has never sponsored international terrorism. Quite the contrary, the USA has many times contemplated assassinating Castro. There is no proof that Iran is sponsoring terrorism. It does back Hizbollah, which is mainly an anti-Israel force in southern Lebanon. A case could be made for Syria because of the recent assassination of the former anti-Syrian Lebanese prime minister Hariri. But that's as far as the list makes any sense, which would be given a significant twist if it included the USA itself and Israel.