Word: blusterer
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...could be done. Nor is it likely, on the evidence of the past year, that he knows. Since the U.S. drive to oust Noriega began last summer, Washington has once again demonstrated how the Law of Unintended Consequences can lead to a foreign-policy disaster. Through bureaucratic backbiting, uninformed bluster and gross miscalculation, the Administration did not merely fail to depose Noriega. It also managed to cripple Panama's economy, weaken the local democratic opposition, undermine pro-American attitudes, damage U.S. prestige in Latin America and exacerbate concerns about the stability of the Panama Canal. Moreover, the fiasco could easily...
Noriega's bluster could not conceal the bitter truth that most Panamanians want the general out, and they want him out now. Yet the country has not been gripped by the same volatile passions that ignited mass protests in Haiti, South Korea and the Philippines in recent years. Last summer's protests by hundreds of thousands of fist-shaking Panamanians have given way to muted anger. "We're not a violent people," said a middle-class woman in the capital. "We want to do it peacefully, like Gandhi...
...Journal's contentious editorials are a throwback to the era of opinionated press lords, but with one crucial difference. In the old days, hired editorial guns often mimicked or tried to give literary plausibility to the proprietor's every prejudice, cynically crafting synthetic bluster. Journal editorial writers have more autonomy to frame policy. But before hiring them, the Journal tests to make sure their views are genuinely conservative (liberals need not apply) and that they will not be (in Phillips' words) "preoccupied with trying to find the middle of the road." Provocative opinionating, Phillips believes, "makes a stronger contribution...
Despite that attack, Western diplomats in the region believe Iran's militant rhetoric masks a policy of caution, at least toward the U.S. For all its bluster, Iran has shown no inclination to confront U.S. forces directly. So far, that taunt-and-run strategy has paid off nicely. The U.S. presence has stopped Iraqi air attacks on Tehran's oil tankers, allowing Iran to increase its shipments out of the gulf and thereby accumulate much-needed cash. "The Iranians would like things to stay the way they are for as long as possible," says a Western diplomat. The mines...
...bluster, Khomeini is adept at turning the fears and jealousies of rival nations to his own advantage. "Look at Iran's position today," says a senior Israeli. "No one can ignore it. And many will even admire it." Part of that success stems from Khomeini's shrewd cynicism and ability to size up opponents. Speaking of Washington two years ago, the Ayatullah dryly observed, "It is clear that if we take one step toward the U.S., they take 100 in return...