The Delusional President

BY Scott Horton
PUBLISHED: January 6, 2008
Courtesy Of: Harpers

In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Yediot, President Bush compared himself with Washington and Lincoln–as he has done dozens of times before–discusses his foreign policy aspirations and expectations on the eve of a visit to Israel and the West Bank. Bush believes future generations will understand the brilliance of his foreign policy, and that a final peace between Israelis and Palestinians is now immediately within grasp. Even discounting for the fact that the interview is about objectives rather than reality, Bush’s detachment from reality is striking. Here are a couple of key graphs:

Question by Yediot: Do you mean that your administration will win retroactive fame, like the administration of president Truman, for example?

Bush replies: ‘Every president contends with different circumstances. I hope that when people will look back to my administration, they will say that president Bush and his administration worked diligently in order to defend the American people from evil; that president Bush identified the threats of the 21st Century; that when he was required to act forcefully he acted with strength, and when he was required to present vision he understood the strength of freedom to bring change’…

Bush says in regard to Olmert: ‘I reached the conclusion that he is a man of vision. He understands the importance of creating hope for the Palestinians in the framework of the state they will establish. And of course, he understands that this is a hope not only for the Palestinians but rather also for the Israelis. After all, he ran in the elections on the basis of a certain platform. The support for two states is a substantive change in the Israeli concept, a change which began already with Ariel Sharon. This concept is built on the assumption that freedom brings peace’.

Bush continues: ‘Olmert, of course, wouldn’t want that the state will be established without certain conditions first being guaranteed. Because of this I say, a state subordinate to the road map. And the US recognizes the fact that a state cannot be established which will preserve the aspiration to destroy its neighbor. No government can accept this, and I understand it’.

Bush says: ‘The US can assist the two sides. I intend in my journey on strengthening the confidence of the two sides in the vision. My trip is more than a visit to Israel and to the Palestinian territories. I am traveling to the Arab states for three reasons. The first, to persuade these states that Israel is a partner and it must be a partner for peace. This is an interest not only of Israel and the Palestinians but rather of the entire Arab world’.

‘Second, we had a breakthrough in Annapolis and now we must go in the path of the success which was achieved. The US president can advance the process by reminding allies and friends of America in the Middle East of the importance of a solution of two states and what they can do in order to assist in achieving it’.

‘The third objective of my trip is to discuss with the leaders of the region the strategic ramifications of the American presence, how it strengthens regimes and creates a barrier to Iranian aggression’.

The entire interview can be viewed here.

NOTE: The below video was not part of the above article, but, were independently included by me.

1. State Of Delusion