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Circling the wagons

Don Rogers

The World Forum – a favorite roost of those now embattled neo-conservatives and regular conservatives – is back at Beaver Creek for the 23rd year this week, under the tightest security ever.You can attribute UFO sightings, traffic blocks while this or that entourage motors up from the airport, steel-eyed men in lumpy suits and all that to the mostly private shindig.”Comedy Central” pollster and pundit Norman Ornstein, television commentator Karlyn Brown and American Enterprise Institute President Chris DeMuth will host a public forum at noon today at the Vilar Center. Then Vice President Dick Cheney, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and possibly the only Democrat allowed in the place, Vail Resorts CEO Adam Aron, will join a raft of world political and business leaders for “candid conversations” about global affairs in private.Last year at the public forum portion of the event, Richard Perle and fellow neo-cons insisted the Iraqi people were very, very happy indeed with our invasion, and those weapons of mass destruction would turn up any day now. In hindsight, that forum would have made a dandy episode on “Comedy Central.” Although assuredly, no one is laughing.This year, the influence of the war hawks and neo-cons has waned considerably. Smug assertions that proved untrue have given way to a comedy star this year. At least today’s public forum should be entertaining, if no more illuminating. Considering how badly the war in Iraq has gone, the neo-cons may well find their influence gone completely by next year’s World Forum. Security won’t be as big a concern if their push for invasion costs Bush his re-election.


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