The bombing of the USS Cole has reinforced Republican campaign rhetoric about a re-infusion for the US military, as if any added amount of manpower or military hardware could stop this kind of attack. But the incident is also the occasion to question the wisdom of US ‘engagement’ policy, says the Christian Science Monitor‘s Cameron Barr.

The idea, warmly embraced by President Clinton, is that a government

should cozy up to its potential adversaries in the hope of winning them

over.

Indeed, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh hardly seems a likely friend

of the United States. He is Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s warmest

political supporter, his country has long been a home away from home

for a variety of militant groups, and his brand of politics is a good

distance short of fully democratic.

Isn’t isolationism always the refuge of some after a U.S. tragedy, or misadvanture, abroad?