Part of the flawed rationale for supporting George W. Bush, for those who did in 2000 and 2004, was that he "knows who he is," is "comfortable in his own skin," and that he makes up for his lack of international experience and book knowledge with good old fashioned cowboy sense.
Well, call it the "brokeback presidency." Instead of using common sense. Dubya falls in love with some of the world's most undemocratic leaders, and like many people who make bad relationship choices, he misjudged his paramours ... repeatedly.
He holds hands with the Saudis. ... the Saudis who send allllll that money to al-Qaida ... and to George W. Bush ... ok, he's getting something out of that relationship...
 Then there's Vladimir Putin -- Bush looked into his eyes and saw a strong friend and democratic leader, rather than a guy who's even more blatant than Bush himself at crushing dissent and scuttling democracy. This despite having a Russia expert on the payroll.
Bush has backed a series of failed leaders in Iraq (after completely blowing the analysis of Saddam Hussein, the supposed scariest man on earth before we found out he was more honest than Dubya about WMD...) He listened to Don Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney and backed lying, thieving Ahmad Chalabi. Then he had his viceroy place former CIA asset Ayad Allawi in the prime minister's chair. And he has repeatedly praised incompetent Shiite militia ... I mean government ... leader, P.M. Nouri al-Maliki, despite the latter's many failings.
So it's little wonder that Bush also got it wrong ... very, dangerously wrong ... when it came to General Pervez Musharraf -- a man Bush couldn't even name before he took office. The New York Times has more:
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 — In the six years since Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, joined President Bush in the fight against Al Qaeda, it has been an unlikely partnership: a president intent on promoting democracy and a military commander who seized power in a bloodless coup.
Mr. Bush has repeatedly called Gen. Musharraf “a friend.” In 2003, the president invited the general to Camp David, a presidential perk reserved for the closest of allies. Last year, at the general’s insistence, Mr. Bush risked a trip to Pakistan, jangling the nerves of the Secret Service by spending the night in the country presumed to be home to Osama bin Laden.
But now that the general has defied the White House, suspending Pakistan’s Constitution and imposing martial law, old tensions are flaring anew. Mr. Bush is backing away from the leader he once called a man of “courage and vision,” and critics are asking whether the president misread his Pakistani counterpart.
They said Mr. Bush — an ardent believer in personal diplomacy, who once remarked that he had looked into the eyes of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and had gotten “a sense of his soul” — was taken in by the general, with his fluent English and his promises to hold elections and relinquish military power. They said Mr. Bush looked at General Musharraf and saw a democratic reformer when he should have seen a dictator instead.
“He didn’t ask the hard questions, and frankly, neither did the people working for him,” said Husain Haqqani, an expert on Pakistan at Boston University who has advised two previous Pakistani prime ministers, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto. “They bought the P.R. image of Musharraf as the reasonable general. Bush bought the line — hook, line and sinker.” ...
Another clip:
Experts in United States-Pakistan relations said General Musharraf has played the union masterfully, by convincing Mr. Bush that he alone can keep Pakistan stable. Kamran Bokhari, an analyst for Stratfor, a private intelligence company, who met with General Musharraf in January, said the general views Mr. Bush with some condescension.
“Musharraf thinks that Bush has certain weaknesses that can be manipulated,” Mr. Bokhari said, adding, “I would say that President Musharraf doesn’t think highly of President Bush, but his interests force him to do business with the U.S. president.”
In his autobiography, “In the Line of Fire,” General Musharraf writes glowingly of the trust Mr. Bush placed in him. But he passed up a chance to praise Mr. Bush on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” where he was promoting the book. Mr. Stewart asked who would win a hypothetical contest for mayor of Karachi, Mr. Bush or Mr. bin Laden.
“I think they’ll both lose miserably,” the general replied.
Mr. Bush, by contrast, was “favorably impressed” with General Musharraf, according to Ari Fleischer, the president’s former press secretary. Mr. Fleischer recounted one session where the general had been warned in advance not to ask the president for F-16 fighter jets, because the answer would be no.
“Musharraf brought it up anyway,” Mr. Fleischer said, “and Bush told him the answer is no. But I think Bush liked the fact that he does what he wants to do, and says what’s on his mind.”
... wouldn't it be nice if it were surprising?
Labels: George W. Bush, Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, worst president ever |
