The latest Paul Krugman diatribe isn't anything we haven't heard before. Krugman has three basic columns: the economy's bad and it's Bush's fault; our foreign policy is bad and it's Bush's fault, and; I stubbed my toe and it's Bush's fault.

I understand that Krugman doesn't feel bound by the most basic journalistic principle: accuracy. So, I'll set one lie that he continues to repeat straight.

Still, even the government of a superpower can't simultaneously offer tax cuts equal to 15 percent of revenue, provide all its retirees with prescription drugs and single-handedly take on the world's evildoers — single-handedly because we've alienated our allies. In fact, given the size of our budget deficit, it's not clear that we can afford to do even one of these things. Someday, when the grown-ups are back in charge, they'll have quite a mess to clean up.

"Single-handedly?"

Well that would ignore these facts reported just this week:

Most nations standing firm in Iraq

VIENNA, Austria - They're talking tough - and standing firm.

Nations that have sent forces to help keep the peace in postwar Iraq have no immediate plans to draw down or pull out despite mounting casualties, eroding security and a growing wariness of the potential for a quagmire.

From Slovakia to Singapore, coalition governments are steeling their resolve. Others are offering more than troops, such as Hungary, which says it's open to a U.S. proposal to train up to 28,000 Iraqi police cadets at one of its military bases.

"To run away from this conflict only means to turn a blind eye to reality," said Cyril Svoboda, foreign minister of the Czech Republic, which has 312 personnel stationed at a military hospital in Basra, in southern Iraq.

"It is important for us to stay in Iraq," he told the Pravo newspaper this week. "One must confront terrorism. No country today is considerably safer or less safe than another."

And this:

Bulgarians take control of Karbala

Military control over Iraq's second holiest Shiite city, Karbala, has been handed over to a Bulgarian military governor as Washington again reaches out to the so-called new European democracies for help.

U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Matthew Lopez handed over control of Karbala to Bulgarian Lt. Col. Petko Marinov, whose 250-member force will begin patrolling the city, according to reports on Tuesday.

"We welcome you today for the transfer of authority of the city of Karbala between the Marines of 3rd Battalion 7th marines and the Bulgarian battalion," said Lopez.

As well as the 250 Bulgarian soldiers stationed in Karbala, which is 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Baghdad, Marinov will be in charge of Polish troops and U.S. marines serving in Karbala.

And from earlier this month:

In handover, Polish troops see chance to shine

Camped in the shadow of one of Saddam Hussein's grandiose palaces, adjoining the maze-like ruins of ancient Babylon, a vanguard unit of Polish soldiers is preparing the way for that country's biggest military deployment since World War II.

Three hundred Polish officers are already here, and a total of 2,300 Polish troops are scheduled to arrive soon in south central Iraq to help relieve the US First Marine Expeditionary Force, which seized this ground during the war and has watched this heavily Shi'ite region south of Baghdad become relatively stable.

Beginning Sept. 1, the Polish soldiers will lead a peacekeeping force of 10,000 troops from 18 countries that will monitor this region of Iraq during the nation's hoped-for transition to a democratic government.

Single-handedly? Obviously not.