May 14, 2007 4 min read

On March 27, 2003 the Bush administration proclaimed the “Coalition of the Willing” was comprised of 49 countries. And that, according to the White House Web site, http://whitehouse.gov, “This number is still growing.” Well, that number has un-grown to 21 nations since then. And it promises to un-grow even further. Instead of the “Coalition of the Willing,” they may as well call the countries still clinging to the Bush Doctrine, “The Bush League.”

And so far Canada and Germany still haven’t joined the Bush League. They’re waiting on the sidelines, despite Ann Coulter’s revelation that the leaders of those countries have become George W. Bush’s new best friends.

Coulter claims Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany is pro-American. But she’s not pro-American enough to join the Bush League. There aren’t any German troops headed for Iraq.

Coulter gives an enthusiastic thumbs-up to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper for being nothing more than conservative. Canada has lost 54 troops in Afghanistan, but Harper still hasn’t sent any troops to Iraq.

Any notion that George W. Bush is enjoying some kind of newfound rock star popularity among world leaders is a stretch. Oh, he’s got the enduring support of Britain’s Tony Blair. But as I write this, he’s busily announcing his retirement.

That’s after facing constant criticism at home for his sometimes curious allegiance to his buddy George W. Bush. Blair, by the way, has steadily diminished his military obligation in Iraq, from 40,000 troops, to 8,500. But he’s still leaving office being openly called “Bush’s poodle.”

But let’s back up a bit. I’m not really trying to beat up on George W. Bush here. I’m merely stating that he’s no more popular around the world this year than he was last year. I’m only responding to the claim that world leaders are standing in line to become Bush puppets.

Ann Coulter seems to think that they are. But she’s not the only arch-conservative to have started down that path. Bill O’Reilly called off his “boycott of France” because they’d recently elected a new conservative, Nicolas Sarkozy.

According to O’Reilly, the riots that followed Sarkozy’s election are a good thing. They’ve burned 1,200 cars in protest across France since last Sunday’s election. O’Reilly claims, “If these animals don’t like Sarkozy, then he must be doing something right.”

Well I’m wondering if Sarkozy hadn’t been quoted as calling protesters (many of whom were from Arab immigrant families) “scum” – would O’Reilly be so gleeful about calling off his boycott.

According to Sarkozy, when he was met by about 200 rock throwers in a French suburb in 2005, he’d used the word. But, as he told PBS’ Charlie Rose in January, he only used it in response to a woman who’d called them that. He hadn’t initiated the insult.

But that hasn’t stopped Ann Coulter and Bill O’Reilly from declaring his victory a victory for George W. Bush and some sort of twisted defeat for liberals and Democrats.

I’m not sure that if you’d been a follower of O’Reilly’s daffy French boycott, that you should be ready to vacation in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower this summer.

That’s the very same Nicolas Sarkozy who seemed to be scolding the Bush administration’s policies when he told Charlie Rose, “Get interested in the world and the world will learn to love you. The world is not just the American empire. There’s more to it than that.”

But what’s an Ann Coulter column, without an Ann Coulter bending of the facts? As you let her tell it, a couple of newly elected conservative world leaders is clear proof Bush-think is catching on around the world!

I’m sure those world leaders can read. They’re probably not ready to do the goose step with a fellow world leader who’s only enjoying a 28 percent approval rating in his own country.

They’re also watching, with some degree of interest, an otherwise bright and charming leader like Great Britain’s Tony Blair get tagged as George Bush’s lackey. That just may be his legacy. I’m sure other world leaders don’t want it to be theirs.

There are now only 21 of the 194 countries on Earth making up “The Bush League” in Iraq. And the last time I checked, the leaders of Iraq probably wouldn’t even join it.

Edward A. Owens of Uniontown is Webmaster of “Red Raider Nation: Where Champions Live.” You can e-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net