Is John Kerry rooting for America's enemies?

John Kerry has a nuanced position regarding the need for more American allies in Iraq. Kerry seems to think that America needs more "real" allies, like the nation of France, which sold weapons to Saddam's military as recently as 2002, but not "bribed and coerced" allies like Australia. According to the Kerry campaign, allies like Australia are needlessly exposing themselves to the anger of terrorists by helping to build democracy in Iraq, because Zarqawi and his fellow head cutters are offended by the democracy concept. Maybe that's why Mark Steyn isn't totally surprised to hear that John Kerry rejected a summary of the situation in Iraq pronounced by the Prime Minister of that embattled nation.

What a small, graceless man Kerry is. The nature of adversarial politics in a democratic society makes George W. Bush his opponent. But it was entirely Kerry's choice to expand the field, to put himself on the other side of Allawi and the Iraqi people. Given his frequent boasts that he knows how to reach out to America's allies, it's remarkable how often he feels the need to insult them: Britain, Australia, and now free Iraq. But, because this pampered cipher has floundered for 18 months to find any rationale for his candidacy other than his indestructible belief in his own indispensability, Kerry finds himself a month before the election with no platform to run on other than American defeat. He has decided to co-opt the jihadist death-cult, the Baathist dead-enders, the suicide bombers and other misfits and run as the candidate of American failure. This would be shameful if he weren't so laughably inept at it.

Marni Soupcoff believes that recent terrorist attacks should convince clear thinking people that appeasement isn't a credible option for the civilized world.

As a result of this repeated targeting of civilians from nations that had not participated in--and had even, in many cases, heartily criticized--the war in Iraq, and of Iraqis themselves, people were finally beginning to see that the worldwide network of Islamist terrorists is not motivated by a benign desire to see all future international decisions vetted by the likes of Kofi Annan.

Hat tip to Jamie for pointing out that last column.