Forecast

While by no means the power behind the Bush throne, Vice President Cheney played a key role in formulation of foreign policy for the new administration.

President Bush, a rich man in his 50s, hadn’t traveled abroad beyond Mexico and, reportedly, London.

Cheney presented Bush with the project for the new American century, the neo-conservative agenda for U.S. global dominance, beginning with hegemony in the Middle East, a goal that the president evidently deemed worthy. He appointed its authors to key posts in his administration.

Bush had told Bob Woodward in the 2002 book “Bush at War” that he trusted his gut and his instincts. In Woodward’s next book, “Plan of Attack,” the president talked about his instincts again and his sense that God wanted him to be president at this time.

He confirmed his policy direction in his April 14 press conference: “… I fully understand the consequences of what we are doing … We are changing the world.”

This messianic mindset, untempered by critical thinking and study of history, gives a frightening forecast for future U.S. ventures by this administration.

Dorothy E. Prince, Auburn