Stupid Dubya

“BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan on Wednesday characterized President Bush's comments on Iraq in his State of the Union address the night before as "stupid."

"This statement of President Bush is stupid and a statement that does not befit the leader of the biggest state in the world," Ramadan told reporters after speaking to a legal conference.

Ramadan was referring to Bush's description of Iraq as part of "an axis of evil" along with North Korea and Iran because of their pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and support of terrorist groups.

"By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger," Bush said.

"They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic."”

“Is this Trail Talk or CNN?”

“The world was indifferent to Germany and Japan in the 30's..think how many lives it cost..just a little prevention..at the right place and time could have saved the world immeasurable pain and suffering. Bush is paying heed to history's hard earned lessons..which is good.”

“"We have peace in our time."

--Neville Chamberlain.”

“Dubbya is just trying to avoid the mistakes of his father he has no mind of his own and has his lens focused on war, regardless of the object of inspection.”

“Better to err on the side of sabre rattling than to let these rogue nations think they can act with no consequence.Gw's military stand is about the only thing i can give him credit for :)”

“Good Dave good...at least we have a staring point for ya.”

“There was a good dose of fear mongering in the state of the union address.

How about the U.S. being smart for a change and dealing with these morons(Iraq, Iran, N Korea) in a rational way..........they can be bought and it should be less expensive than bombing them to sand.”

“Did you notice how many times Dubya used the word "Evil" in the speech? By all accounts a record.

Dubya is not an evildoer, as long as you don't find out about what happened with the Cheney Energy meetings. Hehe”

“In Tehran the Iranian official news agency IRNA quoted President Mohammad Khatami as saying: "The American president's remarks not only showed that he does not have the ability to learn from history ... but also that U.S. policy is now worse and more unrealistic than under his predecessors."

Iraq meanwhile was even more blunt in its assessment with Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan describing the U.S. president's remarks as "stupid".

Bush's comments have also received a mixed reception from around the world with analysts pointing out that while it may have played well with a domestic audience, his speech contained nothing in terms of a plan, strategy or any other detail on how the U.S. might tackle this perceived threat.

Several critics have added that the grouping together of Iran and Iraq -- two long-standing regional rivals in the Middle East -- with North Korea is simplistic and risks alienating allies in the fragile anti-terror coalition.

Meanwhile others have repeated an often-stated position that it is arrogant for the U.S. -- which itself maintains a massive nuclear arsenal -- to seek to bar other countries from holding similarly powerful weapons.


JUST MORE REPUBLICAN HYPOCRISY! More of DUBYA's foreign policy will ensure lots more disaters for America in the future. It's time to take control of foreign policy away from retards like Dubya, and let foreign policy be the domain of the SENATE.”

“disaters = disasters”

“Yeah Tom, real smart using the "fear mongering" whine gag. Let me guess, if something DID happen and they didn't use the fear mongering, you'd be the first one jumping on the "cover up" band wagon, wouldn't ya?

Ya just can't win with you conservatives. 8)”

“LONDON, England -- UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has been accused of "mocking" U.S. President George Bush.

Two leading national newspapers made the accusation over Straw's interpretation of Bush's State of the Union address in which he warned of the danger posed by so-called rogue states.

In his speech, Bush said that states such as North Korea, Iraq and Iran formed an "axis of evil" against which the West must guard itself.

Straw, who is in Washington, suggested that he believed the President's words to be pre-election political rhetoric rather than a genuine warning about a serious threat.

Speaking after talks with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Straw said Bush's comments were "best understood by the fact that there are mid-term congressional elections coming up in November."”

“BEIJING, China -- China has criticized U.S. President George W. Bush for calling North Korea, Iran and Iraq an "axis of evil" during his State of the Union address.

"The Chinese side does not advocate using this kind of language in international relations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan told a news conference on Thursday, adding that China believes all countries should be treated equally in international affairs.

"Otherwise it will damage the atmosphere for seeking solutions to relevant problems and it would not be conducive to world and regional peace and stability," he said.

During his address on Tuesday night Bush said that Iran, Iraq and North Korea were trying to develop weapons of mass destruction and sponsored terrorism, singling them out as an "axis of evil."

Bush's comments are seen as marking a sharp shift in Washington's approach toward North Korea -- away from a gradual diplomacy based on seeking common ground and increased dialogue.”

“Personally I found the description of this "Axis of Evil" to be very disconcerting. It sounded like tone deaf bluster. I'm OK with him using that kind of rhetoric with Iraq. I don't see where it is helps, but I don't see the harm and if he thinks it will win him votes thats OK. I'm a little more concerned about Kore, but I don't know enough to have a strong opinion.

I'm dismayed about this rhetoric with respect to Iran. Iran's elected leaders are reasonably progressive and are locked in a power struggle with the fanatical clerics (who follow their late leader the Ayatollah Khmenei) who have a great deal of power according to Irans'Islamic constitution. Bush's statement failed to differentiate between the elected leaders and the clerics. This kind of broadside attack can only help strengthen the hand of the Islamic right (i.e. the clerics).

By the way, who sees the the Islamic fundamantalists of the Taliban, Al Qeda, Khomenei and others as being - in some importnt ways - varieties of Fascists?”

“Fascist describes those people rather well.

I believe it is folly to poke at the likes of N Korea and Iran with a sharp stick.

Iran has made some movement in the direction of liberalization......that is, the elected government is bucking the conservative religeous wack-jobs who foster such conservative fascist non-sense as "Morality Police" to make sure that young men and women don't do such horrible things as holding hands or kissing in public.

NOT talking to the N Koreans is foolishness.
Yeah, let's piss them off too!”

“ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (Reuters) -- The United Arab Emirates criticized President Bush on Tuesday, saying his remarks that neighboring Iraq and Iran belonged to an "axis of evil" would trigger more tension.

"We must not condemn or criminalize a country just because we have differences with it or because we have political objectives aimed at changing certain things in that country," UAE Foreign Minister Rashid Abdullah al-Nuaimi told reporters.

In his state of the union address last week, Bush said Iran, Iraq and North Korea formed an "axis of evil" and accused the three countries of developing weapons of mass destruction.

"I believe that such categorization, in fact, is pursuing a very cooperative policy in fighting terrorism," said Nuaimi, whose country has close ties with the United States.

"As for Iraq, it is seeking to open a dialogue with the United Nations to resolve its outstanding problems. We hope this effort will be capped with success," he added.

Political leaders of U.S. allies including France and Russia have expressed concern over Bush's comments.

Nuaimi was addressing a seminar hosted by the Zayed Centre for Coordination and Follow up, but Bush's comments dominated the debate attended by Arab officials, foreign diplomats and journalists.

"You just cannot describe someone as being evil or the devil himself just because you have differences with him," Nuaimi said. "Such categorization lacks diplomatic courtesy and cooperation that should exist between countries."”

“PYONGYANG, North Korea -- In its latest sideswipe at the U.S. following President George W. Bush's "axis of evil" speech, North Korea has accused the United States of plotting a war to occupy the communist state.

Saying that it has "powerful offensive and defensive" means at its disposal Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, warned the U.S. against any military action saying North Korea "is neither Afghanistan nor Yugoslavia nor Iraq."

Last Tuesday, during his first State of the Union address, Bush labeled North Korea, along with Iran, Iraq and their "terrorist allies," part of an "axis of evil" which he said "threatens the peace of the world."

North Korea has described Bush's comments as "little short of declaring a war."”

“ROME, Italy -- Italy is hopeful that the U.S. will not spread its war against terrorism beyond Afghanistan, Italian Defence Minister Antonio Martino told a NATO conference.

"I am optimistic that there won't be another operation like the one in Afghanistan. The rogue states have learnt their lesson," Martino told Reuters.

U.S. President George W. Bush said last week that the U.S. war against terrorism may expand, and he singled out Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an "axis of evil."

Martino's comments came at a NATO-Russian convention on combatting terrorism attended by NATO Secretary-General George Robertson and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov.”

“ROME, Italy -- Italy is hopeful that the U.S. will not spread its war against terrorism beyond Afghanistan, Italian Defence Minister Antonio Martino told a NATO conference.

"I am optimistic that there won't be another operation like the one in Afghanistan. The rogue states have learnt their lesson," Martino told Reuters.

U.S. President George W. Bush said last week that the U.S. war against terrorism may expand, and he singled out Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an "axis of evil."

Martino's comments came at a NATO-Russian convention on combatting terrorism attended by NATO Secretary-General George Robertson and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov.”