Campaigning Bush plays up US diplomacy

[Nambe]

WASHINGTON (AFP)

mid wilting election-year support for the military campaign in Iraq (news - web sites), US President George W. Bush is distancing himself from the go-it-alone "war president" image he once embraced with relish.

Gone is the commander-in-chief who landed a jet on a moving aircraft carrier to give a speech calling Iraq "one victory" in the war on terrorism in front of a red, white and blue banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished."

"Nobody wants to be the 'war president,'" Bush, who had proudly claimed that label for himself, told supporters at a July 20 rally in Iowa. "I want to be the 'peace president.'"

In February, before polls reflected a steep slide in US public backing for the war in Iraq, Bush had declared: "I'm a war president. I make decisions here in the Oval Office in foreign policy matters with war on my mind." ..

Bush, who ruffled feathers in 2002 by lumping Iraq, Iran and North Korea together in an "axis of evil," now trumpets multilateral diplomatic approaches to convincing Tehran and Pyongyang to give up their nuclear programs. ..
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[Kool Kitty]

1. Oh, that is TOO funny!

Seeing the name of Bush in the same sentence as the word "diplomacy". :silly:

[Rose Siding]

2. He's going to get away with this

The press writes, in STONE: "Gone is the commander-in-chief who landed a jet..."

Gone? Because they say so? Gone because they want to write that he's something else now? And WHO THE HELL LANDED A JET?! He didn't land any damn jet and the huckster isn't GONE. He's the same non-jet landing huckster no matter what these clowns write.

He's going to get away with this.

[poliguru]

3. Multilateral?

Yeah, like any country is going to step forward to deal with him. Perhaps he got confused over the meanings of the words "diplomacy" and "multilateral." i wonder if they ever give him speeches that he reads, but then goes back and says, "what did I just say I would do?"

[despairing optimist]

4. Um, uh, Mr. President. Don't mind if I ask some stupid questions, but

remember when a reporter asked you about Iraq and international law last December, and you replied, "International law? What's that? I'll have to consult my lawyer."

And, um, when members of your administration wasted no time declaring the UN irrelevant and France and Germany "Old Europe"?

And I'd like to ask if you've had a chance to jot down just who the president of Pakistan is this time around. You didn't know the answer four years ago.

And do you recall your position on involving the US in nation-building when you ran four years ago? Would you characterize your current position, given US involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, as just a teeny weeny, um, flip-flop?

And, oh, before I forget, how about those treaties you saw fit to declare null and void, like the ABM treaty with Russia and the Kyoto Accords on global warming? And the nullification of the Clinton administration's overtures to North Korea to defuse the crisis there.

Forgive me. I do go on and on. It must be my brain. I'm sorry. I'll go back to sleep now and watch American Idol and be a good shopper. Good night.

[zmdem]

6. Minor point re: Kyoto

Bush could not have declared the treaty null and void, since we were never a party to it. Neither Clinton or Bush offered it to the senate for ratification.

[Miss Marmelstein]

5. He is the peace pResident....

the piece of shit pResident!

[Norquist Nemesis]

7. *sigh* Time for Kerry to say

"I'm pleased this president is once again listening to what I've been saying and is following my plan! This just shows he's flip-flopped and now agrees with me."