Report: Bush senior calls Saudi leader July 15, 2001 Posted: 5:55 PM EDT (2155 GMT) http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/07/15/bush.saudi.advice.reut/index.html WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Former President Bush called Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah to assure him of his son's good intentions toward the Middle East, the second time in recent months the president's father intervened in a sensitive foreign policy area, The New York Times reported Sunday. The former president told the prince that President Bush's "heart is in the right place" and that his son was "going to do the right thing," a Middle East diplomat was quoted as saying. The aim of Bush senior's call, placed before Secretary of State Colin Powell was sent to the region late last month, was to reassure the prince that the strained relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia were not permanent, the officials said. The crown prince, who effectively rules Saudi Arabia, complained the current administration was too close to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. In another point of tension, Saudi Arabia also has refused to extradite 11 suspects indicted by the United States in the bombing of a U.S. military complex in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 U.S. troops. The president was in the room when his father made the phone call, the Times said. The senior Bush also stepped in last month when the administration was reconsidering U.S. policy on North Korea. The father sent his son a memo arguing the United States should reengage the communist government. All former presidents are entitled to briefings from the CIA, but the elder Bush seeks them far more frequently than any other ex-president, the officials said. The briefings were referred to at the CIA, which Bush senior once headed, as "President's daddy's daily briefing," the paper reported. I figured it was a matter of time before we found out who's really running the country. ------------------ Everything you do, effects everything that is.
If you've got an asset like former President Bush, you'd be stupid not to use him. After the success of Desert Storm, I'd expect that former President Bush is still trusted in Saudi Arabia and thereabouts. ------------------ Why not visit MovieForums.com? Or FilmDallas.com?
You could do much worse than having a former President having your back in the Mid East. ------------------ First the Sopranos and now Eddie Griffin... thank you New Jersey!
My daddy's helping me do my 'presidenting' I can see mrpaige's point... use your resources and all.. but it's so easy to just give dubya a jab or two... rH ------------------ Updated: The Psychedelic Groove House of Rockets Basketball Love! join the club! Rockets Psychedelic Groove House Club on Yahoo! Stop annoying X10 ads!
Former President Bush is definitely an asset when it comes to dealing with Saudi Arabia. I pray to God, Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed and any other deity I can find that Dubya doesn't let Daddy work on domestic economic policy. Junior is screwing that pooch more than enough all by his lonesome! ------------------ "Blues is a Healer" --John Lee Hooker
mrpaige: That statements not as obvious as you think it is. The older Bush is very intelligent and knowledeable concerning foreign policy. But you also have to analyze the grand strategy that he openly has promoted in the past: "pre-emptive hegemony". No, he didn't use those specific words; but conservative and liberal scholars alike often use that phrase to describe his views. Pre-emptive hegemony is premised on the assumption that geopolitics are zero-sum and that the US should expend it's foreign policy capital in preventing the rise of a rival to the US. I believe this strategy is ill-advised for teh following (summary) reasons: 1. Not possible. China or the EU will probably surpass the US no matter what we do in terms of global power. Why alienated the future potential-hegemon? 2. Geopolitics isn't zero-sum. With globalization, power-foci have become increasingly dependent on wealth rather than strength of arms. Comparative-advantage economics mean that we can all win. Granted, relative gain may be made by other countries, but in real terms, the US benefits as well. 3. hegemon theory - some interesting case studies have been done concerning rising new powers-declining hegemons. Unsurprisingly, hegemons rise, struggle, and then fall in the course of history. Hegemons that have strived for friendly relations with the new rising power have historically continued to maintain some level of influence. Great Britain is an example of this type of hegemon; 17th century Sweden is an example of the other type (collapse following the rise of Russia). 4. It's ethically problematic. Is it really right for the US to conspire to keep other countries "down?" While the US has every right to seek the best for its citizens, how machiavellian are you willing to become? Bush sr has advocated some pretty devious, machiavellian strategems in the past. Overall, I favor the grand strategy of "Enlargement" as advocated by Anthony Lake, enacted by Clinton, which is *somewhat* being followed by Bush. The current administration seems caught between enlargement and pre-emptive hegemony. ------------------ Clutchcity.net... source for all your Rockets, Astros, political, music, humor, and Gordita news.
I remember how folx b*tched at the mere NOTION that clinton was using a very capable and intelligent resourse available to him people did not want him using it at all!!! AND IT WAS HIS WIFE!! I guess Dads are ok . . wives are not Rocket River ------------------
Only if you decide to read all sorts of things into it that aren't necessarily there. ------------------ Why not visit MovieForums.com? Or FilmDallas.com?
I never begrudged President Clinton using his wife's expertise and experience in areas she was capable in. I just disagreed strongly with some of the things she came up with (and I would argue that Mrs. Clinton didn't have enough knowledge of the U.S. Health Care system to devise an entirely new plan. Using someone's expertise in an area they are strong in is completely different than using someone in an area where they aren't strong). ------------------ Why not visit MovieForums.com? Or FilmDallas.com?
I have to admit....big word BS smells much sweeter than back country BS. ------------------ stop posting my damn signature
mrpaige: When Bush Sr contributes to foreign policy, all of the assumptions and beliefs he has concerning the topic *are going to come into play*. That's not a knock on him; it's human nature. And I'm not sure you want someone to critically involved in the matter when most scholars on the issue have come to view that perspective as out-dated. ------------------ Clutchcity.net... source for all your Rockets, Astros, political, music, humor, and Gordita news.
Maybe, maybe not. It's just as possible that the former President just made a friendly phone call in order to smooth some ruffled feathers because he has the connection and that the former President has no real input into foreign policy decisions. To assume that things are one way without taking into consideration that things could be something completely different is to make your assuption into a fact when, in truth, your assumption may or may not be anywhere near the fact. ------------------ Why not visit MovieForums.com? Or FilmDallas.com?
Former presidents, when capabale, have been used for this sort of thing before. This is just the first instance of a father and son. Former president Carter made many diplomatic trips to China and other countries, so this is nothing new. ------------------ How the hell should I know why God would allow the Holocaust. I don't even know how the electric can opener works. - from Hannah and Her Sisters
Still, Rocket River has a point. If anything close to this sort of strategy happened during the previous presidency, Clinton-haters would have had a field day. This is why I don't believe in choosing sides. It's all a big 'two kids fighting at recess' joke anyway. Rok ------------------ "Do you know what nemesis means? 'A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent'. Personified, in this case, by a horrible c***: ME." - Brick Top, Snatch
paige, Technically, Hillary had little to do with that whole health care thing..."her plan" was mostly written by 5 g health insurance companies. ------------------ Squatting on old bones and excrement and rusty iron, in a white blaze of heat, a panorama of naked idiots stretches to the horizon. Complete silence-their speech centers are destroyed-except for the crackle of sparks and the popping of singed flesh as they apply electrodes up and down the spine. White smoke of burning flesh hangs in the motionless air. A group of children have tied an idiot to a post with barbed wire and built a fire between his legs and stand watching with bestial curiosity as the flames lick his thighs. His flesh jerks in the fire with insect agony.
Bush senior is very well respected over here. I think he´s done a good job and only failed as far as a good education for his son is concerned. It´s pretty disappointing to see someone like Bush ruling the most powerful nation. He´s a complete joke (missile defence, Kyoto, "Bushisms" etc). ------------------
mrpaige: perhaps pole: If you consider international relations theory bull****... well, that's fine. But even assuming you're correct, you still need to understand that many peole in decision-making positions don't think that way. I can practically guarantee you that the older Bush does no. I can completely guarantee you that the National Security Advisory, Rice, does not. The CIA does not as well. US foreign policy for the entire Cold War can be traced to a theory document by Kennan on "The sources of Soviet Conduct" first sent to the State Department and later published in Foreign Affairs. The truth is that these people act on the same theories that I mentioned, and you immediately (I presume) dismissed. even if they're acting on figments of their imagination, it's still important to understand why they're acting, and what will come of it. ------------------ Clutchcity.net... source for all your Rockets, Astros, political, music, humor, and Gordita news.
