Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., accused President Bush of launching “a false political attack” against him in his Thursday speech to Israel’s Knesset. The president, who is touring Israel in honor of the 60th anniversary of its creation, told members of Israel’s legislature that he sees a transition to peaceful coexistence between Israel and neighboring territories such as the Gaza Strip and Syria.
In his speech, Bush took a possible swipe at the Democratic presidential front-runner’s promise to meet with hostile foreign leaders such as Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.
“We have heard this foolish delusion before,” Bush said without citing Obama by name, according to the Associated Press. “As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: ‘Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.’ We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”
Obama reacted immediately, calling the attack “sad” and saying, “George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the president’s extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel.”
Bush’s comments carry the same tone of criticism typical of presumptive GOP nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who in February called Obama’s pledge to meet with Cuban leader Raul Castro “dangerously naive in international diplomacy,” the New York Times reported.
McCain backer and close friend Sen. Joe Lieberman said Thursday the president “got it exactly right” by rejecting the notion that “if only we were to sit down and negotiate with these killers they would cease to threaten us,” Reuters reported. The independent Connecticut senator did not mention Obama by name.
Obama has also taken similar heat from Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Clinton, who last summer also called her opponent “irresponsible and frankly naive” for his promise to meet with hostile leaders in July’s CNN/YouTube debate.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said the president’s comments were not in reference to the presidential hopeful.
“I understand when you’re running for office you sometimes think the world revolves around you,” she told reporters, according to the AP. “That’s not always true. And it is not true in this case.”
The worst part of Bush�s attack was standing before the Knesset and at one point in his speech going so far as to say that there were some Americans who wanted to end the close relationship we have with Israel in order to appease militants and decrease the risks to America. This is fearmongering at its worse and shows a failure on the part of the president to perform the roles of our head-of-state. To tell the Knesset that there are divisions in our country by implying that only some of America�s own legislators want to maintain our 60 year relationship with Israel is inexcusable. It betrays those who trust our head-of-state to build relationships with other nations, not to erode other nations� confidence in America�s own political process.
I've long been kind to George Bush, charactrizing him as among the tragically stupid (and a thus puppet of the morbidly evil Dick Cheney), but during the past year I've had an increasingly difficult time sustaining that argument. His power agenda has eclipsed his love of country and its people.
George Bus is unAmerican.
There are plenty of people in America who want to undercut the 60 year relationship between the US and Israel.
Take for instance a Chicagoan by the name of Kalidi who had Obama over to dinner on numerous occasions.
Or how about Bill Ayres and his followers in the Weather Underground or the Revrd Wright--- all people with close ties to Obama.
But it now turns out that Bush was refering to Carter who did talk to Hamas and appease them-- though to listen to some radio stations, you'd never know.
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The worst part of Bush�s attack was standing before the Knesset and at one point in his speech going so far as to say that there were some Americans who wanted to end the close relationship we have with Israel in order to appease militants and decrease the risks to America. This is fearmongering at its worse and shows a failure on the part of the president to perform the roles of our head-of-state. To tell the Knesset that there are divisions in our country by implying that only some of America�s own legislators want to maintain our 60 year relationship with Israel is inexcusable. It betrays those who trust our head-of-state to build relationships with other nations, not to erode other nations� confidence in America�s own political process.
I've long been kind to George Bush, charactrizing him as among the tragically stupid (and a thus puppet of the morbidly evil Dick Cheney), but during the past year I've had an increasingly difficult time sustaining that argument. His power agenda has eclipsed his love of country and its people.
George Bus is unAmerican.
Josh Tierney is wrong.
There are plenty of people in America who want to undercut the 60 year relationship between the US and Israel.
Take for instance a Chicagoan by the name of Kalidi who had Obama over to dinner on numerous occasions.
Or how about Bill Ayres and his followers in the Weather Underground or the Revrd Wright--- all people with close ties to Obama.
But it now turns out that Bush was refering to Carter who did talk to Hamas and appease them-- though to listen to some radio stations, you'd never know.