Now, I say, now hold on, sonny...

[khaosworks]

Bush Sr warning over unilateral action

THE first President Bush has told his son that hopes of peace in the Middle East would be ruined if a war with Iraq were not backed by international unity.

Drawing on his own experiences before and after the 1991 Gulf War, Mr Bush Sr said that the brief flowering of hope for Arab-Israeli relations a decade ago would never have happened if America had ignored the will of the United Nations.

He also urged the President to resist his tendency to bear grudges, advising his son to bridge the rift between the United States, France and Germany.

"You've got to reach out to the other person. You've got to convince them that long-term friendship should trump short-term adversity," he said.

The former President's comments reflect unease among the Bush family and its entourage at the way that George W. Bush is ignoring international opinion and overriding the institutions that his father sought to uphold. Mr Bush Sr is a former US Ambassador to the UN and comes from a family steeped in multi-lateralist traditions.

Although not addressed to his son in person, the message, in a speech at Tufts University in Massachusetts, was unmistakeable.

Looks like the talks between father and son mentioned in this Reuters article (see third paragraph from bottom) aren't working, or else he wouldn't be using this kind of platform to talk to him.

Not that the Shrub will be detered at this point, but it does say something. The elder Bush, for all the wimp image, was a very savvy politician who knew how far the government could push, and had seen first hand the results of government pushing too far - you only have to point to his background as former Director of Central Intelligence (under Ford, 1976-1977); to note that he was the one who, when the Watergate tapes were released, represented the GOP in telling Nixon that he had to resign. Further, if you believe the conspiracy theories, he was involved in both the Bay of Pigs fiasco as well as shadily connected to the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan in 1980 (who, after all would benefit most from a dead Reagan?). So make no mistake, Bush Sr. is a very smart man, no matter what dimbulbs and thugs his kids may be.

But it's too much to hope that the Shrub will listen to Daddy. Not at this point. And now, all eyes turn to the UN Security Council chamber...