Bush enters the Northern Ireland fray

The front page of the Guardian this morning focuses on a truly remarkable intervention by former President Bush in Northern Ireland.

Pleading to David Cameron amid widespread concern in the US about the Tories' new electoral pact with the Ulster Unionists,the paper reveals that in a late night phone call last week.

George Bush has made a direct plea to David Cameron to support the Northern Ireland peace process,asking him to use his influence to press his unionist partners to endorse the final stages of the 15-year search for a settlement.

It is an extraordinary intervention,perhaps no more than it shows that George W has alreday decided who is going to win the next election but perhaps more importantly as the same paper's editorial says

The Conservative leader, David Cameron, also needs to face up to what is at stake here. Mr Cameron has put a lot of commitment into restoring the electoral pact between his party and the UUP. He has encouraged the Marquess of Salisbury's reactionary romantic attempt to bring the Tories and the two large unionist parties back under one political roof. As a result he now finds himself simultaneously the leader of a party which began and backs the Northern Ireland peace process and the partner of a party which seems determined to prevent the final cornerstone of that process from being put into place today. This is not a cost-free contradiction in terms, as the US government and bipartisan congressional groups have now made clear. American economic investment in Northern Ireland as well as security are at stake.

Bush-My one regret

According to John Rentoul,George Bush jnr has finally admitted that standing in front of that sign "Mission accomplished in 2003 was not a good idea.

In a speech in Montreal last week George W Bush, in moderately humble mood, said that he stood by most of the decisions he took as President, but that he regretted appearing in front of a "Mission Impossible" sign during a televised address on 1 May 2003.

For those who had forgotten this glorious gaffe,the American President landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln Thursday, arriving in the co-pilot's seat of a Navy S-3B Viking after making two fly-bys of the carrier.

Moments after the landing, the president, wearing a green flight suit and holding a white helmet, got off the plane, saluted those on the flight deck and shook hands with them. Above him, the tower was adorned with a big sign that read, "Mission Accomplished."

The return of Dubya

Yes less than three months since he flew into obscurity,the New YORK times reports on the start of the rehabilation of the President.

a tanned and rested Mr. Bush is emerging from seclusion to begin his postpresidency. He has started giving speeches, joined an off-road bicycle club, thrown out the first pitch at the Texas Rangers' home opener and scheduled a trip to China to speak at an economic forum.

Next week sees a discussion on the George W. Bush Policy Institute.

According to thr report

Mr. Bush plans to tackle the most controversial moments of his presidency head on, both in his memoirs and in his library, aides said. At the library, instead of a chronological format, he plans to present his presidency through 20 consequential decisions, most notably his decision to invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein. And instead of a full biography, his book will focus on a dozen key moments in his life, from quitting drinking to picking Mr. Cheney as his vice president.

Four reasons why Guantanamo bay should have been shut a lot earlier

Writing at the Washington note,Lawrence Wilkerson looks at some of the things that have gone wrong over Guantanamo bay.

1.the utter incompetence of the battlefield vetting in Afghanistan during the early stages of the U.S. operations there. Simply stated, no meaningful attempt at discrimination was made in-country by competent officials, civilian or military, as to who we were transporting to Cuba for detention and interrogation.

2.several in the U.S. leadership became aware of this lack of proper vetting very early on and, thus, of the reality that many of the detainees were innocent of any substantial wrongdoing, had little intelligence value, and should be immediately released.

3.and maybe the most worrying-how hard Secretary of State Colin Powell and his deputy Richard Armitage labored to ameliorate the GITMO situation from almost day one.

4. that the philosophy held that it did not matter if a detainee were innocent. Indeed, because he lived in Afghanistan and was captured on or near the battle area, he must know something of importance

ht-mother jones

Just when you thought it was safe to.......

Time magazine cannot quite believe that George Bush will return quietly to his ranch,fish shoot and paint.

Instead it suggests that he takes a leaf out of the book of Herbert Hoover,another president to ,leave in the middle of a recession and who

lived another 31 years, during which time he was among the greatest champions of
children this country has ever known. He drove the growth of Boys Clubs of
America, the creation of UNICEF; he led the campaign to get food to millions of
civilians who faced a catastrophic famine after World War II. That's what he was
good at — fixing things like the engineer he was. By the time he died, he had
tamed his critics and turned up as a regular on Gallup's list of the most
admired men. How'd he do it? "I outlived the bastards," he said.

Eight years of Bush

The Pew report has just released a report on the state of America now and at the start of the Bush presidency.

You can read the full reportt here and there are few surprises.

For example

A mere 13% of Americans are now satisfied with the way things are going in the country, compared with 55% eight years ago. And while 61% applauded at Clinton's curtain call, only 24% approve of Bush's performance as he leaves the national stage.

and

By the end of 2000, concerns had mounted that the good times of the late 1990s were at an end. Still Americans were far less pessimistic about the state of the economy than they are currently. At the start of Bush's tenure, the number judging the economy as good or better stood at 46%. Now a meager 7% voice that opinion. About three-in-four Americans now see jobs as hard to find in their communities compared with 44% in 2000.

But after 8 years of a God administration it was interesting that there were 29 per cent compared to 12 per cent who thought there was too much expression of religious faith by their leaders but 36 per cent compared to 22 per cent thought the reverse

Hat Tip Mark Comerford

Nearly got him

Definitely the story of the day as Bush does his farewells to Baghdad,an Iraqi journalist gets a little irate and throws his shoes at the President

This is the end!" shouted the protester, later identified as Muntadar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for Al-Baghdadiya TV, an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, Egypt.
Mr Bush ducked both shoes as they whizzed past his head and landed with a thud against the wall behind him

reports Sky news

Farewell Bush

Do read Simon Schama's obituary on George Bush in this morning's Guardian.

Under the title "Nowhere man: a farewell to Dubya, all-time loser in presidential history he wonders

How is he bearing up,as the candidate from his own party treats him as the carrier of some sort of infectious political disease? How telling was it that the most impassioned moment in John McCain's performance in the final debate was when he declared: "I am not George Bush."

But he continues and this is a salient point

Whatever else his legacy, the man who called himself "the decider" has left some gripping history. The last eight years have been so rich in epic imperial hubris that it would take a reborn Gibbon to do justice to the fall.

But he continues

it hasn't really been all George Bush's fault, the stupendous American fiasco. He came to power armed with an ideology that was about to crash and burn; that was, years before the present tumult, already fatally disconnected from historical reality. It was on his watch that American government needed reinventing. It was responsible government that was needed in Iraq and Afghanistan; government that was desperately needed in New Orleans after Katrina, while all George Bush could manage was a fly-by. It is government that this most anti-governmental of all American administrations is learning that is needed now to save the United States from a second Depression.

Any positives from 8 years of GW Bush?

As we are entering the last months of George W Bush's presidency and the attention focused on Barack Obama and John McCain,one writer has decided to look for see if there are any achievements of the 8 years that are worthy of mention.

Writing At Mother Jones,Jonathan Stein concludes that there are some but they are weighed heavily against by the negatives.

This is what he considers to be the positives

1.Humanitarian Aid in Africa

in the president's first term, the US more than doubled development assistance to Africa and helped secure $34 billion in debt relief for 19 African countries. Today, foreign aid across the globe is three times what it was upon Bill Clinton's departure, though it is still lower, as a percentage of GDP, than most developed nations.

2.Tsunami Relief which sprung into action a lot quicker than aid following Hurricane Katrina.

3.Marine Protections although as he points out

The administration took no meaningful action on global warming over the course of its eight years, which may render all of its scant environmental good deeds moot.

4.Bush has appointed more women and minorities to high-level posts than any other president in history

And that is it?

Bush declares ultimatum as Russia continues to advance

Finally the West and the US in particular is saying enough is enough over the conflict between Russia and Georgia.

President Bush has accused Moscow of

trying to overthrow the elected government of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili

and warned that a

dramatic and brutal escalation" of Moscow's push into the smaller country would jeopardize its relations with the West

Bush returning from his trip to the Olympics continued

"I am deeply concerned by reports that Russian troops have moved beyond the zone of conflict, attacked the Georgian town of Gori and are threatening Georgia's capital of Tbilisi

There appears no let up in the fighting as the conflict moves into a fifth day,the Guardian reports that

Vastly outnumbered by the Kremlin's ground forces and airpower, the Georgian government announced it was pulling back its troops to defend the capital Tbilisi against a feared Russian onslaught. Washington accused the Kremlin of long preparing an invasion of Georgia with its "aggression that must not go unanswered."

and the BBC is reporting that

Russian forces have entered Georgia from the breakaway region of Abkhazia, as the conflict between the two neighbours appears to be broadening.
Moscow said troops had raided the town of Senaki to destroy a military base. It later said they had left the town.

Bush should speak out about Darfur now

George Bush left China in no doubt about his attitude to the country's human rights record when he spoke in Bangkok on his way on the Olympic opening ceremonies.

The US believes the people of China deserve the fundamental liberty that is the natural right of all human beings

," and added

America stands in firm opposition to China's detention of political dissidents, human rights advocates and religious activists,"

Will he though broach the subject of the Chinese influence in Sudan and in Zimbabwe.

With talk of reconciliation in the latter,it may be off the agenda but certainly not as regards Sudan.

As Time magazine points out

But Bush has made no mention of Darfur, or the Chinese record of arming the genocidal Sudanese regime there. Does this matter? Yes, because Bush himself said he would speak out and quotes him at the 2007 state of the union speech.

We will continue to speak out for the cause of freedom in places like Cuba, Belarus and Burma," Bush announced, "and continue to awaken the conscience of the world to save the people of Darfur."

Why the Senator won't sparkle from Day 1

Now that the Obamamania has left these shores it is worth reflecting on the amazing effect that the visit has made.

With both polititians and people clambering to be seen in his presence,are we placing a little too much faithi in his ability to turn around the state of the world?

Anybody but Bush is the cry that is heard in most of the West's capitals.Nick Cohen writing in this morning's Observer reminds us that come January the problems willnot go away.

In January, Bush will be history, leaving liberals all alone in a frightening world. Little else will change. Radical Islam will still authorise murder without limit, Iran will still want the bomb and the autocracies of China and Russia will still be growing in wealth and confidence. All those who argued that the 'root cause' of the Bush administration lay behind the terror will find that the terror still flourishes when the root cause has retired.

Trust and the economy

80% of people think that we are heading for a recession according to the latest ICM poll in this mornings Guardian and 465 of people think that the Cameron/Osbourne team will be better placed to help the economy out of recession.

Perhaps as he packs up his belongings and heads to Southwold,Gordon Brown can at least take consolation that there is a Western leader in a worse spot than him.

George W. Bush's overall job approval has dropped to 21% as 76% of American say the national economy is getting worse according to the latest survey from the American Research Group.
Among all Americans, 21% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 72% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 17% approve and 77% disapprove.

reports American Research Group

Iran still holds the US attention

The United States is facing key military and political decisions over a bitter current adversary, Iran, and an adversary-turned-ally, Iraq. Their outcome will have major consequences for the short- and medium-term future both of the middle east and the US homeland.

That's the thoughts of Paul Rogers writing over at Open Democracy.

Whilst the attention of the world is on Bush's visit to the UK and the announcemnt that Britain is going to send more troops to the country,it is worth reminding us of the battle still raging in the Middle East.

Rogers cites evidence to back up his statement.Firstly that the debate over whether to go to war over Iran's nuclear strategy is regaing in the White House.Secondly that Bush's decisions with the Israeli Prime Minister focused mainly on Iran and thirdly that Bush is using his farewell European tour to drum up support for an Iranian strategy.

According to Rogers

The prospect of a grinning Mahmoud Ahmadinejad outlasting the administration that for so long excoriated him would be a form of humiliation as well as confirmation of deep policy failure.

and cites the continued influence of Vice President Cheney in this strategy.