Bush goes after Obama in Israel speech

President George W. Bush has said he wasn't interested in getting in the middle of the presidential campaign, but during a speech today before the Israeli parliament - the Knesset - he took dead aim at Sen. Barack Obama's comments about meeting with the leaders of Iran, Venezuela and other countries if he's president.

Bush didn't mention him by name, but it was clear who he was referring to.

During his speech, Bush called such talk "appeasement" and said that it's wrong to even dialogue with nations that he says are sponsors of terrorism.

It didn't take long for the Obama camp to push back.

"“It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political attack. It is time to turn the page on eight years of policies that have strengthened Iran and failed to secure America or our ally Israel. Instead of tough talk and no action, we need to do what Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan did and use all elements of American power - including tough, principled, and direct diplomacy - to pressure countries like Iran and Syria.

"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.”

Sen. John McCain was more than happy to weigh in.

During an interview on his campaign plane, McCain said: "It does bring up an issue that we are will be discussing with the American people and that is why does Barack Obama , Sen. Obama, want to sit down with a state sponsor of terrorism? What does he want to talk about with Ahmadinejad, who said that Israel is a stinking corpse. Who said that he wants to wipe Israel off the map, who is sending the most explosive devices into iraq killing Americans. What does he want to talk about?"

Why is this a big issue? Because of the Jewish vote.

Democrats have a lock on the Jewish vote, and their number one issue is Israel. And with reports suggesting that Jews are uneasy about Obama, even though he has significant Jewish support in Illinois and has said nothing that should give them pause, the Republicans want to exploit the issue.

They also want to make as much hay out of the issue to show that Obama is naive about dealing with the world on foreign policy matters.

Roland S. Martin www.rolandsmartin.com CNN Contributor

Sent from Blackberry

Comments

[Energize]

I hope obama chooses a solid and trustworthy running mate. He's going to need one.

Bush has been the biggest "terist" to this country. No terrorist could have done as much damage as him and his administration has done while they bowed to their corporate gods. All they had to do was wait and watch us fall into an economic sinkhole of failed policies.

[Anti-War-Mongers]

Bush has no credibility even among his own Republicans. He can say whatever he wants and whatever makes those war-mongers happy. American people are tired of their lies and wars, which our children have to die. If they desire wars with Iran, let them send their children, not our own.

Saudi Arabia is the best friend of Bush while Iran should be the enemies of us. Who was responsible for 9/11 – Saudi Arabia or Iran?

Those people believe that American people are their fools. We are not.

[D'Anne]

Bush needs to take it easy...I would be taking it easy these last couple of months if I were him. And let's not get on McCain...Why would Obama want to "sit down with a state sponsor of terrorism?" well is just bombing nations we assume are sponsors of terrorism better. It doesn't cost to talk, but it does cost, more than just money I might add, to go to war. So McCain I ask you "Why not?!"

[Anti-War-Mongers]

15 out of 19 September 11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.
Women have no right to drive in Saudi Arabia.
But Saudi Arabia is the best friend of Bush family.

America went to war in Iraq because Saddam Hussein was the enemey of both Bush family and Israel. Joe Lieberman, the traitor, loves this current war and will like to start another war with Iran. It will never happen.

Millions of innocent citizens of Iraq have been murdered by the current war. Millions of Iraq women are today displaced in Syria, Jordan, and Iran, where they are often abused. Bush is a war criminal!

[Angela]

Bush/McCain are embarassments.... I hope people can see that the McCain of today is different than the McCain of 2000. He is a staunch republican, and he will say and do anything to try to get elected. He is a liar just like Bush. We need to do as much as we can to make sure he doesn't get elected.

[Michael7]

Roland,

Though I am not surprised by anything Mr. Bush says or does, this one is really a doozy! He was trying to score politcal points for his party in Israel by giving false accusations that Sen. Obama would somehow allow Iran to attack and destroy Israel. Well, that dog won't hunt!

It is the same fear tactics that bamboozled most of the electorate in 2000 & 2004, by saying, "Vote for the Democrats and you will die!" That is so played out now.

It is good that Sen. Obama received the endorsement today from key Jewish Senators from California because it shows the Jewish community here and abroad that Sen. Obama will be not only continue the current relationship America has with Israel, but will make it a stronger bond then ever before. McCain will try to exploit this issue in the fall but it really has no legs.

The true test will be in the debates in the fall when both Senators Obama and McCain have the opportunity to spell out their platforms and policies to all of us. We will see the Republican attack machine go to work, trying to paint Sen. Obama has soft on terror, weak of national defense, and naive on foreign policy. The Republicans will use Sen. McCain's Vietnam POW status and his many years of congressional service as being his strong point, but it won't sell.

Sen. McCain never was an admiral, never led a fleet of ships or commanded an air wing, cannot even hold a candle to Colin Powell in commanding troops or conducting large scale military operations and somehow he is this experienced military man? And if his intention of keeping US troops in Iraq for another four years is any indicator of how he would get us out of that civil war, then all of you who have kids between the ages of 14-18 better make sure they go to college, a trade school or anything that will keep them out of the military.

Because if you don't, you may be seeing they go off to fight in a useless war and greeting their coffins when they come home.

[Anti-War-Mongers]

Obama only need to re-run the ads made by Bush against McCain, in which McCain was depicted as a mad man damaged by captivity in Vietnam.

The ads are in public space and can be dug up if McCain believes that we are his fools.

The campaign for the current general election will be different. Any move by the Republicans to play God or games will be matched. They can take this to the bank. It is fire for fire, nobody will taken a prisoner this time around.

[Anti-War-Mongers]

President Bush has said repeatedly that he would not insert himself into the presidential race, but that stance changed dramatically today during his trip to Israel. After likening Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Osama bin Laden, Bush compared Barack Obama to Nazi appeasers:

War Criminal Bush:
"Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along," said Bush, in what White House aides privately acknowledged was a reference to calls by Obama and other Democrats for the U.S. president to sit down for talks with leaders like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"We have heard this foolish delusion before," Bush said in remarks to the Israeli Knesset. "As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American Senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of 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:

"It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 6Oth anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political attack. It is time to turn the page on eight years of policies that have strengthened Iran and failed to secure America or our ally Israel."

"Instead of tough talk and no action, we need to do what Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan did and use all elements of American power -- including tough, principled, and direct diplomacy -- to pressure countries like Iran and Syria. 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."

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (Yesterday) argued:

"We need to figure out a way to develop some leverage . . . and then sit down and talk with them," Gates said. "If there is going to be a discussion, then they need something, too. We can't go to a discussion and be completely the demander, with them not feeling that they need anything from us."

Sen. Lieberman (The American Traitor):

"President Bush got it exactly right today when he warned about the threat of Iran and its terrorist proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah. It is imperative that we reject the flawed and naïve thinking that denies or dismisses the words of extremists and terrorists when they shout "Death to America" and "Death to Israel," and that holds that--if only we were to sit down and negotiate with these killers--they would cease to threaten us. It is critical to our national security that our commander-in-chief is able to distinguish between America's friends and America's enemies, and not confuse the two."

More:

UPDATE: Obama's communication director has also weighed in on what he calls "cowboy diplomacy":

In a telephone interview on CNN just a few minutes ago, Robert Gibbs, the communications director for Senator Barack Obama, called Mr. Bush's remarks "astonishing" and an "unprecedented political attack on foreign soil."

UPDATE: Rahm Emanuel has chimed in as well:

The tradition has always been that when a U.S. President is overseas, partisan politics stops at the water's edge. President Bush has now taken that principle and turned it on its head: for this White House, partisan politics now begins at the water's edge, no matter the seriousness and gravity of the occasion. Does the president have no shame?

UPDATE: Howard Dean has called on McCain to reject Bush's statements:

"On the same day John McCain is talking about putting partisanship aside, the President launched a cheap political attack while on a state visit honoring the 60th anniversary of Israel, one of America's greatest allies. Bush's outrageous comments are an embarrassment to our country, not based in fact and bring us no closer to our goal of ending terrorist attacks against Israel and bringing peace to the region. If John McCain is really serious about being a different kind of Republican, he'll denounce these remarks in the strongest terms possible."

UPDATE: John McCain isn't listening to Dean. He has agreed with President Bush's statements, and even thrown in a reference to Neville Chamberlain:

"Yes, there have been appeasers in the past, and the president is exactly right, and one of them is Neville Chamberlain,'' Mr. McCain told reporters on his campaign bus after a speech in Columbus, Ohio. "I believe that it's not an accident that our hostages came home from Iran when President Reagan was president of the United States. He didn't sit down in a negotiation with the religious extremists in Iran, he made it very clear that those hostages were coming home.''

Asked if he thought that former President Jimmy Carter, who struggled with the hostage crisis, was an appeaser, Mr. McCain replied: "I don't know if he was an appeaser or not, but he terribly mishandled the Iranian hostage crisis.''

UPDATE: Nancy Pelosi has echoed Howard Dean and Rahm Emanuel's comments:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Bush's remarks were "beneath the dignity of the office of the president and unworthy of our representation" at the celebration of Israel's 60th anniversary.

Referring to Sen. John McCain, Pelosi said: "I would hope that any serious person that aspires to lead the country, would disassociate themselves from those comments."

Sen. Reid has joined the pile on:

"Not surprisingly, the engineer of the worst foreign policy in our nation's history has fired yet another reckless and reprehensible round. More than seven years into his Presidency and in the sixth year of the directionless Iraq war, President Bush has yet to learn that his brand of divisive partisan rhetoric is precisely what has made America and our allies less secure. And for the President to make this statement before the government of our closest ally as it celebrates a remarkable milestone demeans this historic moment with partisan politics.

"President Bush's own actions demonstrate that he believes negotiations - at the right moment, under the right conditions and with the right leaders - can both show strength and produce results. He has relied on negotiations with North Korea and Libya, two state sponsors of terror. And by conducting discussions with Russia, China, Libya, North Korea and Iran in recent years, President Bush has demonstrated his belief that negotiations can be a tool to advance America and Israel's national security interests. I call on the President to explain the inconsistency between his Administration's actions and his words today."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/15/bush-compares-obama-to-na_n_101859.html

[nic]

George Who??

[Jody Gaddy]

Words have no meaning until somebody believes the words.

Check out these:

"There is a bomb inside this house, please evacuate immediately"

Those are ONLY words until somebody believes them. Once you believe the words, they take on some meaning, and they begin to influence your behaviors, your actions, your fears, your expectations, etc, etc.

Words coming from Bush mean NOTHING to any RATIONAL human being in ANY part of the current world stage, because the man is a complete idiot. There are more rational Americans than irrational animals who think like Bush. If not, America would have been like Odua Jungles and Banana Republics by now.

McCain is becoming like Bush too. By the time this impending general election is over, McCain will be worse than Bush in the eyes of 99% of Americans. Mark my words here!

[Raynard]

Check this out. Now that the Dems and Obama started blasting Lil Bush for his ignant arse comments, Lil Bush spokesperson says Lil Bush wasn't talking about Obama. What a bunch of bulls**t. Come on Lil Bush, stand up and be a man. That butt wipe said it and now he's trying to backpeddle. Chicken sh*t liar!

[HHYJ]

Look at his face when he was giving the speech: He looked drunk or drugged because his face is completely red.

Talk about ignorance. The man is a complete waste. American democracy has become the dumping ground for half-witted criminals like they have in Nigeria and Africa.

[HHYJ]

Has any one listened to this lady called Mary Frances Berry, the former Clinton Civil Rights Official?

I have watched her make fool of herself a few times on CNN. She seems to be hung up on her relationship with the Clintons. She has been acting like Juan Williams - taking cover under the black skin while taking swap at Obama and supporting Hillary.

These are people who are supposed to be fighting for civil rights of blacks.
Why some these black people cannot let go and move out of our lives is beyond human comprehension. Somehow they believe they know what is good for the black race and nobody else should come between them and their personal ambitions for the entire black race.

[Drevelyn Minor]

Obama slamed by President Bush was the proverbial "pot calling the kettle black"...~~~~~~~~~~

How “Bush's Grandfather Helped Hitler's Rise to Power” ~~~~~~~~
Rumours of a link between the US first family and the Nazi war machine have circulated for decades. Now the Guardian can reveal how repercussions of events that culminated in action under the Trading with the Enemy Act are still being felt by today's president ~~~~~~~~
Ben Aris in Berlin and Duncan Campbell in Washington ~~~~~
The Guardian, ~~~~~~
Saturday September 25 2004 ~~~~~~
Article history ~~~~~~
About this article ~~~~~~~~
Close ~~~~~~~~~~
This article appeared in the Guardian on Saturday September 25 2004. ~~ It was last updated at 23:59 on September 24 2004. ~~~~~~~~~
George Bush's grandfather, the late US senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany. ~~~~
The Guardian has obtained confirmation from newly discovered files in the US National Archives that a firm of which Prescott Bush was a director was involved with the financial architects of Nazism. ~~~~~~~~
His business dealings, which continued until his company's assets were seized in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act, has led more than 60 years later to a civil action for damages being brought in Germany against the Bush family by two former slave labourers at Auschwitz and to a hum of pre-election controversy. ~~~~~~~~~
The evidence has also prompted one former US Nazi war crimes prosecutor to argue that the late senator's action should have been grounds for prosecution for giving aid and comfort to the enemy. ~~~~~~~~~~
The debate over Prescott Bush's behaviour has been bubbling under the surface for some time. There has been a steady internet chatter about the "Bush/Nazi" connection, much of it inaccurate and unfair. But the new documents, many of which were only declassified last year, show that even after America had entered the war and when there was already significant information about the Nazis' plans and policies, he worked for and profited from companies closely involved with the very German businesses that financed Hitler's rise to power. It has also been suggested that the money he made from these dealings helped to establish the Bush family fortune and set up its political dynasty ~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are a number of articles on the web regarding Grandfather Bush's' Hitler connection. I have no confirmation of evidence but the situation is thought. provoking. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A video explaining Bush's Grandfather Prescott Bush and his Nazi WWII affiliation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D6fxyOtVeI

~~~~~~~~~~~Obama for President!