Bush backed out, no doubt wary of boos. Some people don’t like the idea of Powell going either.
2nd cite:
Why the riots? I assume they’re upset because Powell lied, er, excuse me, “misled” the world and the UN in the leadup to the Iraq invasion.
What to do, what to do…? Just don’t go!
Should he have gone anyway? Should Bush have gone? Is this the first Olympics where a big cheese US government official is not at the opening or closing ceremony? (I’m asking. I don’t know)
Poor parenting. These idiots just don’t know any other way of trying to get their point across; It’s easier to act like a assmonkey in public than it is to actually formulate and carry out a reasonable course of action.
Eh. Teargas is cheap. Although, truth be told, I am really concerned about these riots. I mean, when the ‘Communist party KKE’ is against you, you must have really done something naughty.
When was the last time anywhere that a visiting Sec State engendered such a strong reaction from anybody (commies or no)?
The only PotUSA that I can remeber gettin such a response while travelling abroad is GWB. It seems that our pols have become unusually ‘controversial’ of late. More so than ever before (in my memory).
Seems to be worth noting.
I found it quite surprising that a SecState got this much of a response.
Nice try but not really on target. That was anti-American protesting, not anti-Clinton. There has always been some anti-American sentiment in Europe, but Clinton himself was (and still is) actually quite popular internationally. The anti-Bush hostility is far more intense, more wide-spread and more personal than any US President has incurred in living memory.
Bush has now made it impossible for himself to travel abroad with insulating himself from the populace. He can no longer attend public events even in the US for fear of getting his ass booed off. If he goes to the Superbowl or the World Series he will get booed into the ground. Every single public appearance he now makes has to be completely controlled and scripted and the crowd must be thoroughly scoured of dissenters or he will get his ass booed off.
Clinton got mobbed with fans both overseas and the US right up until the end of his presidency.
Bush is breaking entirely new ground for unpopularity. Clinton was his polar opposite.
Oh please. When even Clinton, who you claim is quite popular abroad get the same treatment in Greece, it kind of says something, no? This is a non-issue. Greece is anti-American, so any excuse in a storm will work. There were MORE protesters at the Clinton visit, and they acted just as much like animals as these folks did. To the rational mind this seems to indicate that at least Greece isn’t exactly friendly to the US no matter who goes there.
So, this has been answered. Why riots? Because Powell is from America of course, and the fact that Powell ‘lied’ is just an excuse. If there had of been no war and Gore was president, and he was visiting Greece, they they would have rioted about the color of the flag or the shape of his nose…or though of something else to bitch about.
No, and no. They should have been smart enough to say “well, if Clinton went there and they rioted, maybe we should avoid the place with the current climate being worse than it was under him”.
I really can’t fault Powell (or Bush if it was his say-so) for pulling out. AFAIK the visit was not policy-based but rather Olympics based - visiting for the close of the games. If his presence would strain security and/or disrupt the games in any way it was a perfectly reasonable (and tolerably classy) decision to make.
I am not blaming him for the protests - I don’t think anyone’s interests are being served by that sort of nonsense. I would just as soon everyone at least play lip service to the concept of the Olympics truce and put aside their other differences at least in proximity to the games.