Dazed and Confused: Bush's Hilarious History on Kosovo
Generations yet unborn will speak of the intellectual confusion of George W. Bush. But no issue may be more emblematic of President Bush's ongoing cognitive crises than Kosovo and the 1999 American intervention to end ethnic cleansing there.
Speaking yesterday at, of all places, the Rwanda genocide museum, President Bush defended American inaction in Darfur, declaring that "outside forces" are "unbelievably counterproductive." Yet just 24 hours earlier, Bush announced his support for the independence of Kosovo and proclaimed Bill Clinton's 1999 decision to use American military force there "a correct move":
"There's a disagreement but we believe as many other nations do that history will prove this to be the correct move."
Sadly, George W. Bush didn't always feel this way. Back in 1999 then Governor Bush dragged his feet in supporting President Clinton's air war against Slobodan Milosevic's campaign of genocide in Kosovo. As he explained to Talk Magazine in 1999, Bush's first problem was not strategic but geographic:
"Nobody needs to tell me what I believe. But I do need somebody to tell me where Kosovo is."
As the Houston Chronicle reported in April, 1999, national media took Bush to task for faint-heartedness when it came to Kosovo.
Newsweek said of Bush: "GOP front-runner equivocates over bombing. Make up your mind, Nacho Man!" And the conservative Wall Street Journal called Bush's original stance on Kosovo "so vague and tepid as to be almost Clintonian." Numerous other pundits have chimed in with similar remarks.
Facing growing political pressure to match GOP White House rival John McCain's vocal support for Clinton's Kosovo policy, Bush eventually offered some of his trademark tough talk after the fact. It was only after two weeks into the bombing campaign that the future "decider" found his spine:
"I'm concerned that a thug like Milosevic, if left unchecked, would set a bad example for other 'ethnic cleansers' or other people willing to commit ethnic genocide."
The politics of necessity may have required Bush to come around and back Bill Clinton's war to save Kosovo, but the Texas governor maintained his opposition to so-called nation-building. In the 2000 presidential debates will Al Gore, Bush listed Kosovo as among the places where he supported Clinton's use of force. But in the October 11th debate, Bush restated his unchanging position on using American military power for nation-building:
"I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation-building. I think our troops ought to be used to fight and win war."
Unchanging, that is, until the war in Iraq. As ThinkProgress noted, then-candidate George W. Bush pressed for an exit strategy and a timetable for withdrawal from Kosovo:
"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is." (April 9, 1999)
"I think it's also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn." (June 5, 1999)
Fast forward to June 2007. Even as President Bush basked in the warm embrace of Albanians grateful for American support of Kosovo independence and Albanian membership in NATO, he still struggled to understand the policy he claims to advocate. Bush told the Albanians, "At some point in time, sooner rather than later, you've got to say, 'Enough is enough - Kosovo is independent.'" During his Albanian visit, President Bush said he supported bringing the UN Security Council talks on Kosovo independence to an end, "In terms of a deadline, there needs to be one. It needs to happen." But as the New York Times reported, within 24 hours Bush backed off his tough talk, lest he once again run afoul of Russian opposition at the UN.
But on Sunday, Mr. Bush tried to backtrack when asked when that deadline might be. "First of all, I don't think I called for a deadline," Mr. Bush said, during a press appearance with Mr. Berisha in the courtyard of a government ministry building. He was reminded that he had.
"I did?" he asked, sounding surprised. "What exactly did I say? I said deadline? O.K., yes, then I meant what I said." The reporters laughed.
But for President Bush, none of his contradictions and ignorance over Kosovo policy past or present matter now. Scorned at home and despised in Europe, George W. Bush still gets a warm welcome in two places on earth. One, of course, is Africa, where his generous if cynical AIDS program is much beloved. The other is in Albania, where Bush is credited for liberating their Kosovar cousins from the Serbs.
All in all, not a bad result for a guy who waffled greatly on Bill Clinton's Kosovo policy and understood it even less.
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What an assclown.
Posted by Boris on February 20, 2008 1:59 PM