Las Vegas – Former US president George W. Bush voiced harsh criticism of his successor Barack Obama’s Middle East policies in comments made to Republican donors Saturday in a closed-door meeting which were leaked to Bloomberg View columnist Josh Rogin.
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Bush had refrained from publicly attacking Obama previously, and the comments, written down by an attendee at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting hosted by Sheldon Adelson at his Venetian hotel in Las Vegas, offered a rare glimpse into his opinion of his successor.
The former president said that Obama’s emerging deal to remove sanctions on Iran in exchange for restrictions on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program was bad for American security. He suggested that Obama was being naive by believing that the so-called moderate Hassan Rouhani taking over the Iranian presidency signaled a policy shift for Iran and not merely a change in spokesperson.
Bush said that the deal would be bad for the US long-term. “You think the Middle East is chaotic now? Imagine what it looks like for our grandchildren. That’s how Americans should view the deal.”
He also slammed the US president for withdrawing all US troops from Iraq and contributing to the rise of Islamic State, whom he referred to as al-Qaida’s “second act.”
“In order to be an effective president … when you say something you have to mean it,” Bush said, criticizing Obama’s lack of strategy in his mission against Islamic State. “You gotta kill em.”
Bush also addressed his brother Jeb’s expected run for the Republican presidential nomination, admitting that the name Bush could be a liability for his brother.
Content is provided courtesy of the Jerusalem Post
Leaves me in a quandary…
I think Obama’s policy on Iran is seriously flawed…but at the same time, how can I trust Bush’s assessments…he has been proven to have been so incredibly wrong in just about all of his policy decisions about Saddam, Iraq, disbanding the Iraqi armed forces…and most importantly, about the “…spread of democracy…” that would result from the Iraqi regime change.
Finally…what should we do now? Go to war? Initiate a blockade, which under international law itself would be an act of war?
If one is critical of the current he, or she, needs to propose a viable alternative.
“He slammed Obama’s decision to withdraw all troops”, For how long were they supposed to stay? before the war you said this is going to be a short engagement.
“You gotta kill em”, this sounds like a smart strategy.
Bush had refrained from publicly attacking Obama previously. for good reason, since everything he could complain was about stuff he messed up. If he would to go on TV like the fool Cheney, everyone would laugh of him.
Besides he has a policy of not taking any interview (except when interviewed by his daughter, or someone else loyal enough not to ask difficult questions). He is scared about the question of weapons of mass destruction, or about what we accomplished over there.
Mazel Tov, W!!
Contrast this with Obama’s attempt to mollify Jewish leaders last week. Finally, some candor.
WE MISS YOU DEARLY MR BUSH
one bad president critizing a horrendus one?