ATIT Reheated (from 2005) George W. Bush's scandalous speech in Israel

By Pablo Fanque, Foreign Relations Ed.

[Listening to President Obama's "historic" speech in Israel today, which has received much acclaim  we remember back to a far less well-received speech by his predecessor]

Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), has joined the flood of Democratic complaints about President Bush’s speech in Israel:

“This is bullshit, this is malarkey. This is outrageous, for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, to sit in the Knesset ... and make this kind of ridiculous statement.”— Senator Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee

Speaking at the Knesset, The President said “some people” believe the United States “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," Bush said. "As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all 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."

Barack Obama joined in, accusing President Bush of "a false political attack" Thursday after Bush warned against appeasing terrorists.

Speaker of the House Pelosi tore into the President, saying Thursday that Bush's remarks were "beneath the dignity of the office of the president and unworthy of our representation" at the celebration of Israel's 60th anniversary.

Even Senator Hillary Clinton took the time to lambaste POTUS: "President Bush’s comparison of any Democrat to Nazi appeasers is both offensive and outrageous on the face of it, especially in light of his failures in foreign policy. 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. Unfortunately, this is what we’ve come to expect from President Bush."

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