Bush On Keeping Tyrants At Arm’s Length

President Bush gets it dead right.

The correct response to evil is ostracism, not engagement.

From the Washington Times

Mr. Bush, in his first White House press conference of 2008, described in detail why he thinks the idea of meeting personally with leaders of rogue nations such as Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba is a bad idea. “It’s a theory that all you got to do is embrace and these tyrants act. That’s not how they act. That’s not what causes them to respond,”

Mr. Bush said. “Sitting down at the table, having your picture taken with a tyrant such as Raul Castro, for example, lends the status of the office and the status of our country to him,” Mr. Bush said. “He gains a lot from it by saying, ‘Look at me, I’m now recognized by the president of the United States.”

Hat tip Crusader Rabbit

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15 thoughts on “Bush On Keeping Tyrants At Arm’s Length

  1. Yes. George H W Bush told the Iraqi people to rise up and overthrow Saddam after Operation Desert Storm. Said the Americans would support them. They then allowed the Iraqi military to take to the skies, and the uprising was brutally crushed. They betrayed the Iraqi people.

  2. Hell yea I supported the overthrow of Suddam Hussein by his own people. The US helped stop Suddam from being overthrown in 1980, 1988, 1991 etc.

    The US supported Suddam when it wuited them even when he was killing his own people and using chemical weapons.

  3. “Absolutly Anon, which is why you supported the overthrow of Saddam Hussien.”

    No, because it was obvious from quite early in the piece that Bush was an incompetant surrounded by sychophants and it would turn into a complete and utter disaster. History has proven that belief to be rather accurate, unfortunately.

  4. “Tyrants? Like people that launch illegal wars, engage in torture, hold secret trials, lie to the public, illegally spy on their people etc”

    Absolutly Anon, which is why you supported the overthrow of Saddam Hussien.

    You did,didn’t you?

    EXOCET

  5. and nz will have its free trade deal with china this year, the one with the US wont be far behind.

    any chance u would be on the street in demos against it trev?

  6. I have three questions for Mah.

    1) Is Saudi Arabia a democracy or a dictatorship?

    2) Is Saudi Arabia recognised for having good standards of human rights?

    3) Is Saudi Arabia a friend and ally of the United States?

    Go for it Mah. Don’t be shy.

  7. Anonits right for anyone to keep tyrants at arm’s length.

    That’s my point.

    If you think Bush is a tyrant, by all means shun him.

    Just like NZ should shun the rulers of China, North Korea, Russia, Cuba and Burma, rather than trading with them, exchanging ambassadors etc.

  8. Come on Trevor. You said that Bush was right to keep a tyrant at arm’s length. Then I made the blatantly obvious point that he is a hypocrite due to his coddling of the regime in Saudi Arabia. At this point you scoffed “The point is that tyrants should not be talked around.” No, the point is that people who coddle dictators, as Bush does – and many previous American presidents have done – do not have the right to tell other people how to interact with dictators.

  9. Tyrants? Like people that launch illegal wars, engage in torture, hold secret trials, lie to the public, illegally spy on their people etc

    Oh I completely agree forcing those kind of people from office is a very good idea.

  10. “bush is a tyrant. and oil tycoon who is like john key and trev a climate skeptic and crypto fascist.”

    This is the example of the stupidity of the extreme Left. If Bush were a tyrant, why would folks like Obama, Hillary, Cindy Sheehan, et al all be alive and well? Sheehan freely went to Egypt to support the Muslim Brotherhood notorious for siding with the Axis Powers during WWII, and having Yasser Arafat working with a pro-Axis MB leader in British Palestine along with Ayman al-Zawahiri, a wanted terrorist being an MB student.

    Now please, can you please name any anti-Castro Cuban dissidents living in Cuba whom have as much freedom as that anonymous? To go around and freely be an “Axis Sally”?

  11. Whether Bush is inconsistent or not is not the point.

    The point is that tyrants should not be talked around.

    They should be ostracised and if possible forced from office.

  12. bush is a tyrant. and oil tycoon who is like john key and trev a climate skeptic and crypto fascist.

  13. You must admit that he is more than a little inconsistent. Lecturing Obama becuase he is willing to meet with the leader of Cuba, while Bush steadfastly refuses to. Bush is pretty damn friendly with the despotic Islamic govt in Saudi Arabia. Not much in the way of human rights there, eh? I suppose if Cuba had oil they would rethink their view.

    What about Uzbekistan? CIA works with them all the time. Egypt?

    Bush can flap his gums all he wants on this issue. He just ends up looking like a giant hypocrite.

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