Is President Bush completley retarded when it comes to how diplomacy is conducted?

[astro]

Hmmm… I’ve got a critical meeting planned with The Iraqi Prime Minister and another major player in the Middle East. What’s the best way to make this an effective and productive meeting? I know! Let’s float a memo that pisses all over the PM prior to the meeting! That’s the ticket!

Story here. the full story is worth the 30 second Salon ad.

Nov. 29, 2006 | The three-way is off! The trilateral is now a bilateral! And the vain hope that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki could solve the Iraq crisis is spinning away just as fast as the slimmer hope that a summit in Jordan could make President Bush look like a leader.

In a week of surreal attempts at what administration officials apparently think is “diplomacy,” Wednesday’s press briefing with deputy press secretary Dan Bartlett is still a standout. The facts are clear: On the heels of an all but official leak of a memo by National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, criticizing al-Maliki as either ignorant, dishonest or incompetent, suddenly plans for a Wednesday night meeting between President Bush, Jordan’s King Abdullah and the Iraqi prime minister are off.

“My questions to him will be: ‘What do we need to do to succeed? What is your strategy in dealing with the sectarian violence?’” It felt like a burglar asking how you’re going to replace the goods he just stole, or an arsonist asking how you’ll rebuild the house he just burned to the ground. Not surprisingly, on the heels of the disparaging Hadley memo, al-Maliki passed up his chance to answer those questions. But the mess also insults King Abdullah, one of the administration’s last allies in the region.

The most disturbing aspect of the diplomatic carnage is that this was supposed to be the week the president got religion and began reaching out to world leaders to find a solution to the mess he’s made in Iraq. His Jordan summit was part of an effort to preempt the work of the Iraq Study Group, to show that Jim Baker isn’t the only one who can globe-trot and glad-hand with world leaders. “They want to create some activity on the eve of the Baker commission report so that they can point to the fact that they haven’t just been sitting in the Situation Room waiting for Iraq to improve on its own,” an administration “advisor” told Time this week.

[Leviosaurus]

@astro

Is President Bush completley retarded when it comes to how diplomacy is conducted?

YES.

This has been the single biggest failing of his administration. No other administration in history would have blown the post 9/11 global good will we had. When Powell couldn’t get the UN to agree with the Iraq invasion, it represented the culmination of the largest failure of diplomacy in modern US history. Nothing since should have come as a surprise.
Hell, Reagan or Clinton could have gotten the UN to agree to an Iraq invasion without even lying about WMD’s. They were good at getting people to **like ** them.

[Merneith]

I have to quote the press secretary, Dan Bartlett from the Salon article. It’s not all his fault, but he’s clearly an enabler:

Bartlett: The President is going to have a bilateral and dinner with the King of Jordan. Since the King of Jordan and Prime Minister Maliki had a bilateral themselves, earlier today, everybody believed that negated the purpose for the three of them to meet tonight, together, in a trilateral setting. So the plan, according to – since they had such a good, productive bilateral discussion, was just for the President to deal with bilateral issues and other issues with the King this evening in a dinner setting, and then the meetings set for tomorrow will still take place as scheduled.

Reporter: So the dinner is off, the three-way.

Bartlett: Right.

[Miller]

So, George Bush was going to have a three way with two other men, and no one on the right says anything. But Clinton gets one little bj from a chick, and they act like it’s the end of the republic.

Fuckin’ hypocrites!

[Princhester]

@Miller

So, George Bush was going to have a three way with two other men, and no one on the right says anything.

“Awww, c’mon Laura, I was only going to have dinner with them. It’s not like anything was going to happen afterwards. You know I don’t go for that kind of thing. Sheesh.”

[Sublight]

Back when he showed his diplomatic skill by groping the German Prime Minister, I theorized that he’s a believer in the BSD principle. This incident seems like another example.

The idea is that to get ahead and succeed, you must establish yourself as the BSD, or Big Swinging Dick. To do this, you piss on (and piss off) everyone else in the room to cow them into submitting to your authority. Never compromise, never apologize, never pass up a chance to get in a dig and assert yourself as the alpha male. Allies are people who do what you tell them, and anyone who doesn’t is fair game.

Whether or not it actually accomplishes anything beyond making the practitioner look like a colossal asshole, is debatable. Personally, I think not.

[Rhubarb]

The idea is that to get ahead and succeed, you must establish yourself as the BSD, or Big Swinging Dick.

Did anyone else think “Compensating”, or was it just me?

[Loopydude]

You could say Bush is completely retarded when it comes to x, no matter how you define x. That would save you a lot of Pit space.

[vibrotronica]

Can we impeach him yet?

[Loopydude]

All in favor?

[Little_Nemo]

Not to rain on your parade but the words, “I, Richard Cheney, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States” scares me as much as anything Bush could do.

[Garfield226]

@vibrotronica

Can we impeach him yet?

Only in SDMB-land.

[Stranger_On_A_Train]

@Leviosaurus

Hell, Reagan or Clinton could have gotten the UN to agree to an Iraq invasion without even lying about WMD’s. They were good at getting people to **like ** them.

Eh…the Clinton Administration was certainly no genius with regard to foreign policy, mostly avoiding criticism by doing essentially nothing. And Reagan won approbation by doing something–even if it was ultimately wrong–in an era when everybody else was afraid to do anything.

But the Bush II Administration has been incredibly, almost deliberately wrong-headed regarding just about everything they’ve ever done in foreign policy (among other things). “Completely retarded” would be a step up from the current situation, which hovers around “frontally lobotomized”. Unfortunately, lying to the American public is not and has never been an impeachable offense.

Stranger

[Princhester]

To a degree people in democracies get the governments they deserve. A proportion of the US public sufficient to influence political outcomes have abysmal knowledge of world affairs and care corresponding. Therefore, US presidents firstly are not chosen for their foreign policy skills, and secondly feel able to pursue foreign policy that plays well in the cheap seats at home without being much constrained by reality on the ground outside the US.

And before you start throwing brickbats at me over the Pacific (or muttering about black pots and kettles) I would agree that Australian prime ministers and the Australian public are not much better.

[Squink]

@Sublight

Back when he showed his diplomatic skill by groping the German Prime Minister, I theorized that he’s a believer in the BSD principle.

Bush commends ‘strong’ Iraqi PM
He also rolled on the ground and bared his belly to the PM.

[Rigamarole]

@Loopydude

You could say Bush is completely retarded when it comes to x, no matter how you define x. That would save you a lot of Pit space.

Or, to put it more eloquently - Bush is completely retarded.

Game, set, and match.

[Leviosaurus]

@Stranger On A Train

Eh…the Clinton Administration was certainly no genius with regard to foreign policy, mostly avoiding criticism by doing essentially nothing.

:rolleyes: I’ll refrain from hijacking the thread to criticize this ridiculous assertion, and simply point out that Bush Sr. and Carter were sitting side by side in the front row and applauding this moment.Hard to believe it ever happened now. Wish we had someone who ‘did nothing’ like this.

[yojimbo]

@Stranger On A Train

Eh…the Clinton Administration was certainly no genius with regard to foreign policy, mostly avoiding criticism by doing essentially nothing.

In the big scheme of things it may not be important but Clinton was very involved and vital to the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland. This brought an end to 30 years of murder and mayhem and started the terrorists talking rather than killing.

They’re still talking years later but that’s still a lot better than killing.

He’ll never be forgotten over here for his help.

[A.R.Cane]

Has there ever been any explanation to justify the “axis of evil” speech? What about the stupidity of “you’re either w/ us, or you’re w/ the terrorists” and of course reffering to military action in the middle east as a “crusade” was real helpful.
Bush is totally incompetent and I think he’s on the verge of imploding. He’s obviously lost the respect of most of the world’s leaders.
It’s going to take decades to repair the damage he’s done, both internationally and domestically. Impeaching him would be counterproductive for the country, but maybe the court of international opinion will demand he answer for the carnage he has wrought. One can only hope.

[John_Mace]

I think Salon is making a leap by assuming the Bush administration purposely leaked that memo. What evidence do we have that it was?