When secretary of state Madeleine Albright apologized to Iran last week for America's part in aiding a 1953 Iranian coup, she was merely echoing a popular theme of President Clinton and his administration. It's the gratuitous, usually wrongheaded apology that deals with some alleged sin of a previous administration.
Clinton himself is the master. Early in his administration, he apologized for having raised taxes too much. This was one of the rare times he found himself at fault. But, of course, he never, ever apologizes for having done anything seriously wrong. Perish the thought. In 1998, while visiting Africa, he went on an apology binge. "Perhaps the biggest sin America ever committed about Africa was the sin of neglect and ignorance," he declared. And he said this only after apologizing for the slave trade and for having aided anti-Communist African nations during the Cold War.
Last year, he apologized for America's having backed a military regime in Guatemala. Then, later last year, he apologized for American support for a military government in Greece. All of which set the stage for Albright's apologia. She said the overthrow in 1953 of prime minister Mohammed Mossadegh "was clearly a setback for Iran's political development." Wrong: It was a setback for the Soviet Union and communism. Albright also apologized for U.S. support for the shah, who "brutally repressed political dissent." Actually, the shah mostly repressed violent Islamic extremism.
Oh, well, maybe the time will come when Clinton and company apologize for something they did that was really bad, like appeasing China, trying to cozy up to Fidel Castro, selling the White House, demonizing Ken Starr, trashing any woman who got caught in a sexual engagement with Clinton, or just plain lying all the time. But don't get your hopes up.