That treasonous NY Times is at it again today. Today they report on the
reaction of the G8 leaders to the current middle east crisis and a proposal by Kofi Annan and Tony Blair to send a UN Peacekeeping force to the region. The most interesting bits, however, are the snippets of conversations between Bush, Blair and other leaders that were picked up by a microphone
accidentaly left on. The picture that emerges from those conversations is one of the so called 'leader of the free world' detached and uninvolved as the middle east spins out of control.
Leaning over the back of Mr. Bush's chair, Mr. Blair first brought up trade discussions, as the president chewed thoughtfully on a roll.
Mr. Bush then abruptly changed the subject to the Mideast, complaining about Mr. Annan's approach to the crisis, and for holding the view -- which is shared by many of the leaders here -- that Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah should halt the violence and then hash out their differences. The Americans have said that Israel would likely only stand down if Hamas and Hezbollah returned the soldiers they have kidnapped and ceased their shelling of Israeli towns.
"I don't like the sequence of it,'' Mr. Bush said. "His attitude is basically ceasefire and everything else happens."
He went on to say the U.N. should directly enlist the Syrians to intervene. "I feel like telling Kofi to get on the phone with Assad and make something happen," he said to Mr. Blair, referring to Syria's president, Bashir Assad.
"See, the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over," Mr. Bush said. [Audio Excerpt mp3]
Mr. Blair reiterated his argument, made earlier in the day with Mr. Annan, for an international force to be dispatched to the area.
"I think the thing that is really difficult is you can't stop this unless you get this international presence agreed," Mr. Blair said. "You need to get this done quickly otherwise this thing will spiral out of cont...''
Mr. Bush interrupted to say, "Yeah, she's going. I think Condi's going to go pretty soon."
Mr. Blair then argued that it would be less risky for him to take the lead in a visit to the region instead of Ms. Rice, saying her presence could put America's prestige on the line. "If she goes out she's got to succeed as it were, where as I can just go out and talk," Mr. Blair said.
At that point, Mr. Blair appeared to notice the nearby microphone, and leaned over to turn it off.
I'm not sure if another UN force in Lebanon would work or not. What frightens me about this report is Bush's utter ignorance of diplomacy and unwillingness to get personally involved in resolving the crisis.
Bush could easily stop in Israel, Jordan or Egypt on his way back from the G8 summit and meet with regional leaders to work out some sort of solution to at least halt the violence long enough for cooler heads to previal. Instead he "chews thoughtfully on a roll" and thinks "Condi is going to go pretty soon."
It's like Bush is completely detached from the reality that this conflict will have profound effects worldwide, not just in Lebanon and Israel. The price of oil hit another record high last week as the stock market plunged over 300 points.
But of course, there's always more from this President...
In another segment Mr. Bush told an aide asking him about his upcoming remarks, "I'm just going to make it up, right here -- I'm not going to talk too damn long like the rest of them."
He added, "Some of these guys talk too long." A foreign counterpart was heard to agree, but it was unclear who that was.
Good to know that Bush realizes his remarks at the G8 summit are so important that he gives them so much thought. At a time like this, not only is the U.S. looking for a leader, the world is too. Sadly for us all, while George W. Bush may indeed be President, he is no leader.
Don't worry though, sounds like Bush has some sort of big plans for tonight.
At another moment, Mr. Bush was clearly itching to return to the White House, saying to someone, "Good job, gotta keep this thing moving -- I gotta' leave at 2:15 -- you'll want me out of town so to free up your security forces.'' .
"Gotta go home. Got something to do tonight," Mr. Bush said, then, apparently turning to Mr. Hu, adding, "How about you? When are you going home?"
One can only wonder at what is so important to our President that he's in such a hurry to shrug off his responsibilities as President. Whatever his priorities are, they are not the priorities of the rest of us.