White House Denies Bush Targeted Obama in Speech to Israeli Knessetby FOXNews.com
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Thursday: President Bush addresses the Knesset in Jerusalem. (AP Photo)
The White House denied Thursday that President Bush was focusing on Barack Obama when — during a speech to the Israeli parliament — he criticized politicians who would speak to terrorists and their backers.
In his speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, Bush said anyone who claims that talking with terrorists will result in peace is experiencing a “foolish delusion.”
“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. We have heard this foolish delusion before. 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,” the president said.
While Bush never mentioned Obama by name, “aggressive personal diplomacy” with Iran is an oft-stated proposal by Obama as a means to end that country’s support for insurgency in Iraq and its nuclear programs.
Obama swiftly criticized Bush for a “false political attack” and said the president’s foreign policy has failed to secure the U.S. or 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,” Obama said.
Even Hillary Clinton, who has herself criticized Obama for his diplomatic positions, piled on.
“President Bush’s comparison of any Democrat to Nazi appeasers is both offensive and outrageous, on the face of it and especially in light of his failures in foreign policy,” she said. “This is the kind of statement that has no place in any presidential address and certainly to use an important moment like the 60th anniversary celebration of Israel to make a political point seems terribly misplaced.”
White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, who had not heard Obama’s reaction when she spoke, said the president has long opposed direct talks with the nation’s enemies and Obama was not the focus of the criticism. However, senior administration officials said the president’s remarks are inclusive of Obama and other Democrats who would negotiate with Iran, Syria or other terrorist-sponsoring states.
“I understand when you are running for office sometimes you think the world revolves around you. That is not always true and it is not true in this case. The president is president regardless of an election cycle and he is going to be president of the United States through January 20, 2009,” Perino said.
“We are not going to change policy based on the ‘08 election. We are not going to stop talking about the ideals of the United States because there is an ‘08 election. They can fight it out over there but this is not new policy.”
Independent Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman, a McCain supporter, heralded the president’s remarks.
“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,” he said.
But dissatisfied with Bush’s remarks, several Democrats issued statements critical of the president. Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said presumptive Republican nominee John McCain should disavow them.
“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,” he said in a statement.
McCain countered that Obama’s approach to foreign policy is ripe for questioning.
“I think Barack Obama needs to sit down and explain why he wants to talk with a man who is the head of a government that is a state sponsor of terror, that is responsible for the killing of brave young Americans, who wants to wipe Israel off the map, denies the Holocaust. That is what I think that Senator Obama ought to explain to the American people,” he said while on a bus to the airport.
“It is a serious error on the part of Senator Obama that shows naiveté and inexperience and lack of judgment to say that he wants to sit down across the table from an individual who leads a country who says that Israel is a stinking corpse, that is dedicated to the extinction of Israel. My question is what does he want to talk about?”
Other Democrats also stepped up quickly to criticize the president. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who hasn’t yet declared her support for a Democratic candidate, called Bush’s remarks “unworthy.”
Pelosi, who traveled last year to Syria and declared “the road to Damascus is a road to peace,” said U.S. politicians have a tradition of not criticizing the president when he’s on foreign soil, and she wishes Bush would respect that tradition in kind.
She added that any serious person should disassociate himself from the president’s remarks, but did not say if she meant McCain specifically.
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee, called Bush’s comments a slander on Obama, and accused him of ignoring his own administration’s efforts to engage Iran in mid-level negotiations.
“President Bush is still playing the disgusting and dangerous political game Karl Rove perfected which is insulting to every American and disrespectful to our ally Israel. George Bush should be making Israel secure, not slandering Barack Obama from the Knesset. If George Bush believes engagement with is appeasement, the first thing he should do when he comes home is demand the resignation of his own Cabinet. Secretary Gates and Secretary Rice have both favored negotiations with Iran,” he said
Clinton earlier said McCain will produce more of the same failed Bush policies, which she described as weakening the military, national security and U.S. standing in the world.
Commenting on Obama’s reaction, former Massachusetts Gov. and McCain rival Mitt Romney said that he is reminded of the saying that the dog that barks on the other side of the fence is the one that was hit by the rock.
“I’m a little surprised that Barack Obama would stand up and say, ‘Hey, you’re talking about me.’ But after all, in this case, you do have Hamas that has endorsed Senator Barack Obama’s campaign and you also have Barack Obama saying that if he’s president, in his first year, he would meet with (Iranian President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad and with (Syrian President Bashar al-) Assad,” Romney told FOX News.
“These are two state sponsors of Hamas and Hezbollah, terrorist organizations. (Obama) has not said he’s going to meet with Hamas itself but he has of course has said he’d meet with those groups that are funding Hamas and Hezbollah … I just think Barack Obama is wrong to meet personally with these leaders,” he continued.
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