After balking at its first diplomatic test over revelations of spying on Indonesia last year, there was still a reasonable expectation that the new government would quickly find its foreign policy feet.
With Macedonia on the brink, the Bush administration still finding its foreign-policy feet, and hackles raised in Washington by some European leaders' aspirations to self-sufficiency in defence, European governments should be extra-careful to pull their full weight in the Balkans.
Cuba blames Washington's "wet foot, dry foot policy" for encouraging migrants to risk their lives.
Under the "wet foot, dry foot" policy, Cubans who arrive on American soil can stay in the United States.
In particular, the letter urges Mr. Bush to revise the "wet foot, dry foot" policy that President Bill Clinton negotiated with Fidel Castro in 1994.
Those patrols were increased after the 1994 exodus, which led the Clinton administration to adopt the "wet foot, dry foot" policy.
By comparison, the Coast Guard intercepted just 2,861 Cubans crossing the Florida Straits in fiscal 2007, and 4,825 others eluded American authorities, reached United States soil and, under the "wet foot, dry foot" policy, applied for residency, according to the Coast Guard.
Cubans interdicted at sea are most often returned, while those who make it onto dry land -- the so-called wet foot, dry foot policy -- are still most often granted asylum.
That's a stark difference with how we treat Cuban immigrants, who benefit from the cold war-era "wet foot dry foot" policy, which guarantees legalization to any immigrant from Cuba.
Under the "wet foot, dry foot" policy adopted by the Clinton administration, Cubans who reach land in the United States can stay, but those who are intercepted in the water must be sent back.
They just walk right up to United States authorities at the border, benefiting from lax Mexican enforcement and relying on Washington's "wet foot, dry foot" policy, which gives them the ability to become permanent residents if they can reach United States soil.
