Needless to say, I will be waiting to see what the former president's people will say about this comment by Bill.
9 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I don't know about you guys, but I don't vote for President based upon what "the rest of the world" will feel about it. I could care less if our policies aren't appreciated by others. The litmus test is whether the person will do what is right for America, even when "the rest of the world" doesn't like it. Guess I'll cross Hillary off my list. Not like I was itching to vote Democrat this year anyway, but this makes it a little bit easier. So, thanks Bill.
By the way, Bubba, I just got done reading "The Looming Tower," which details the myriad ways in which your adminstration failed to stop al Qaeda from attacking our country and murdering thousands of us in our own city streets. Is the reason you failed to kill bin Laden - for example, during his hunting trip in Afghanistan with a group of UAE princes - was this b/c you were afraid of our "standing in the world" and what other countries might think about us? That would explain a lot.
You know what else is interesting about this theory of international relations? Is there a country out there (besides the US) that you folks can remember changing its policies b/c it was concerned with its "standing in the United States"? Like, would France or Germany finally decide to do its part in Afghanistan in order to repair its terrible image in America? Somehow, I think this is another one of those one way streets in international relations....
As with M. Sarkozy, a head of state should pursue the interests of his own people as a prime directive; insofar as he can do that while cooperating with other nations is the ice cream on a piece of apple pie. I do expect our president to be a statesman, but I do not expect him to make the kinds of moral pronouncements as Mr. Bush did with respect to Putin. It was amateurish and patently untrue. As with the encouragements Bush gave to Wahabbists by announcing that Islam is a religion of peace. Clearly, it is not a religion and it not about peace. Had Bush made any of these assertions while running for president, I doubt that he would have been elected—and so what does this tell us about primary and general election rhetoric?
Was listening to the radio a few minutes ago and they said Bush 41 basically poo-poo'ed the comment (in his uniquely gracious way). I think your instincts are correct, LA.
BTW greg, have you read Gerald Posner's book "Why America Slept"? It's selling on Amazon for a penny, but it's worth every, er, penny.
AC: I haven't read that one yet. I let Looming Tower sit on my shelf for almost a year before reading it b/c it is such a depressing topic. However, seeing that I enjoyed Wright's book, I will look at Posner's as well. Thanks for the tip.
AC: I just looked up the book and see the startling information supplied by Abu Zubayda during his "harsh interrogation." I wonder if this is why the tape was really destroyed. I'm definitely intrigued now....
Greg, I've probably read far too many depressing terrorism books trying to understand what the devil is going on. Posner's book was by far the easiest to read, very well-written and easy flowing that summarizes everything from about 1988 onwards (having read other books, he leaves nothing out). For example, I'd completely forgotten about the BCCI scandal and was surprised to see how it related to our present mess, or about Egypt Air 990 (he's not saying it was terrorism, just covering all bases).
9 comments:
I don't know about you guys, but I don't vote for President based upon what "the rest of the world" will feel about it. I could care less if our policies aren't appreciated by others. The litmus test is whether the person will do what is right for America, even when "the rest of the world" doesn't like it. Guess I'll cross Hillary off my list. Not like I was itching to vote Democrat this year anyway, but this makes it a little bit easier. So, thanks Bill.
By the way, Bubba, I just got done reading "The Looming Tower," which details the myriad ways in which your adminstration failed to stop al Qaeda from attacking our country and murdering thousands of us in our own city streets. Is the reason you failed to kill bin Laden - for example, during his hunting trip in Afghanistan with a group of UAE princes - was this b/c you were afraid of our "standing in the world" and what other countries might think about us? That would explain a lot.
You know what else is interesting about this theory of international relations? Is there a country out there (besides the US) that you folks can remember changing its policies b/c it was concerned with its "standing in the United States"? Like, would France or Germany finally decide to do its part in Afghanistan in order to repair its terrible image in America? Somehow, I think this is another one of those one way streets in international relations....
Hello LAS !
Completely OT …
Interesting take by John Vinocur this morning in the IHT …
"Rhetorical excess undercuts the case against global warming."
http://tinyurl.com/36h24d
Best,
L'Amerloque
PS: Have you a private email ?
PPSS: Do feel free to kill this OT message … would've sent the url to your private email …
L'A
As with M. Sarkozy, a head of state should pursue the interests of his own people as a prime directive; insofar as he can do that while cooperating with other nations is the ice cream on a piece of apple pie. I do expect our president to be a statesman, but I do not expect him to make the kinds of moral pronouncements as Mr. Bush did with respect to Putin. It was amateurish and patently untrue. As with the encouragements Bush gave to Wahabbists by announcing that Islam is a religion of peace. Clearly, it is not a religion and it not about peace. Had Bush made any of these assertions while running for president, I doubt that he would have been elected—and so what does this tell us about primary and general election rhetoric?
Was listening to the radio a few minutes ago and they said Bush 41 basically poo-poo'ed the comment (in his uniquely gracious way). I think your instincts are correct, LA.
BTW greg, have you read Gerald Posner's book "Why America Slept"? It's selling on Amazon for a penny, but it's worth every, er, penny.
AC: I haven't read that one yet. I let Looming Tower sit on my shelf for almost a year before reading it b/c it is such a depressing topic. However, seeing that I enjoyed Wright's book, I will look at Posner's as well. Thanks for the tip.
AC: I just looked up the book and see the startling information supplied by Abu Zubayda during his "harsh interrogation." I wonder if this is why the tape was really destroyed. I'm definitely intrigued now....
Greg, I've probably read far too many depressing terrorism books trying to understand what the devil is going on. Posner's book was by far the easiest to read, very well-written and easy flowing that summarizes everything from about 1988 onwards (having read other books, he leaves nothing out). For example, I'd completely forgotten about the BCCI scandal and was surprised to see how it related to our present mess, or about Egypt Air 990 (he's not saying it was terrorism, just covering all bases).
Hi Amerloque,
//Interesting take by John Vinocur this morning in the IHT …//
Wow, I guess there's not even a consensus among the alarmists. Good find, thanks for sharing it.
//Have you a private email?//
I will give it to you on your site, in the comments, on your last post. Since your comments go to moderation, you can get it and delete it.
Hello LAS !
OK, many thanks !
Best,
L'Amerloque
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