Posted on 10/29/2009 10:32:32 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Bush dinner tastes sour for Obama
- PMO decision to entertain former President causes hurt in Washington
K.P. NAYAR
Washington, Oct. 24: Preparations for Manmohan Singh’s visit to Washington on November 24 have begun on a negative signal to the Obama administration with a decision by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to host former President George W. Bush for dinner at Singh’s residence at the end of this month.
Bush is visiting New Delhi on October 30 and 31 at the invitation of an Indian newspaper and will speak at a conference organised in New Delhi on October 31 on “America Re-engaging with the World: Challenges, Opportunities and Risks”.
Arguably stung by the PMO’s insensitivity in ostentatiously receiving the bete noir of the Democratic establishment here just over three weeks before Singh’s arrival at the White House, the Obama administration announced yesterday that US secretary of state Hillary Clinton will make her first trip to Islamabad.
Clinton, a long-time friend of India, has tried her best to prevent a return to hyphenated Indo-Pakistan relations under the Obama administration and had refused to include Pakistan in the 229,528km that she has flown in her nine months in office.
Despite the strategic importance of Pakistan in the Afghan conundrum that is confronting President Barack Obama, Clinton has so far left it to her minions to deal with the broad leadership in Islamabad.
But that will change with her first trip, which was significantly announced at a briefing by Richard Holbrooke, Obama’s special envoy on Pakistan and Afghanistan, whose prickly equations with New Delhi are well publicised here.
On the record, of course, no one in the Obama administration will say anything negative about the Bush trip to India because civility in political discourse is valued in the US. Nor will they suggest a Bush-India link in Clinton’s sudden decision to travel to Islamabad “soon”.
A source close to Clinton, however, said she recalled being kept hanging in her Senate office in 2001 while Sonia Gandhi repeatedly changed plans to meet her. The Indian embassy here had advised the Congress president that the Bush administration would not look favourably on a meeting with the former First Lady-turned-Democratic Senator from New York.
Instructions have gone out from the state department to the US embassy in New Delhi to extend all the courtesies that are due to a former American head of state and the ambassador in New Delhi, Timothy Roemer, will be correct, but not effusive in dealing with Bush.
But in private conversations, officials of the Obama administration, especially Democratic political appointees, make no secret of their sense of hurt over New Delhi’s decision.
This sense of hurt is shared by liberal Democrats on Capitol Hill, where enthusiasm about the Prime Minister’s visit was palpable until it became widely known here that the man whom many of them consider to be a war criminal is being needlessly feted in New Delhi at this time.
“We are rolling out the red carpet for your Prime Minister,” pointed out one Obama administration official. “Singh’s is the first state visit to be organised by the Obama administration. And what do you do? Invite the man who triggered the end of my country’s superpower status and brought shame to America worldwide.”
Said a Congressional aide: “In New Delhi people have been complaining for nine months, quite mistakenly, that Obama has downgraded the relationship with India. You have complaints about Obama’s nuclear policy, his climate policy and his trade policy.
“So the President decides to organise a grand show of bonhomie with your Prime Minister in the White House. Instead of making the most of this opportunity by both sides, your response is to slap us in the face by inviting the one man who is responsible for most of the problems on Obama’s shoulders.”
The wide-ranging sense of betrayal in hosting Bush little over three weeks before Singh travels to Washington is partly the result of a feeling here — perhaps mistaken — that it was the PMO which organised the invitation to Bush to visit New Delhi.
Some Americans insist that the US embassy in New Delhi had sent cables earlier, reporting government feelers to think tanks and non-government institutions to invite Bush to give a lecture in India as an excuse for the UPA government to thank him for what he did for Indo-US relations.
Sources who have seen these cables said such feelers began after Bush made his first trip outside North America in April to attend the Boao Forum in China, which is similar to the conference the former President will address in New Delhi on October 31.
In March, Bush made a feeble attempt to enter the lucrative lecture circuit by making a test trip to Calgary, Canada, where 1,500 people paid $400 per person to hear the former President. But protesters outnumbered listeners, media were kept out of the hall and the trip was deemed a disaster.
The only other known overseas trip made by Bush since relinquishing office was to South Korea in August to speak at an economic forum organised by the Federation of Korean Industries. But in this case, Korean industries had been working with him to overcome Republican opposition in the US Congress to the ratification of a Korea-US free trade agreement.
I don't know what to say...
The people currently in the White House are just so incredibly stupid.
They really need to get over it.
Hmm. First Bibi Netanyahu and now Singh.
Either Hillary is making up tales again, or someone in the administration is leaking faux excuses in order to justify their own whining.
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I don’t feel like doing the research, but the date of Senator Clinton and 2001 does not ring true - unless she ran for that seat in NY when she was still the First Lady. Perhaps she did?
I had a conversation a few days ago with an elderly man who said he voted for Hillary. (It was a typical tentative anti-Obama conversation.) Then this man added that Hillary was the brains behind Bill. His rationale: she was responsible for getting a [hick] from Arkansas to DC.
Then he added that Nancy Reagan was the brains behind Ronald Reagan!
Isn’t it breathtaking what some people will choose to believe.
The person who wrote that article seems full of sour grapes.
$$$$$
It reads like a typical New York Times article - taking very leftwing positions as ‘middle of the road’ or ‘centrist’ or ‘mainstream’.
Lefties have different fact sets stored in their brains, so it is hard for us to even read their articles.
Example:
I looked at a NYT article today titled:
Brother of Afghan Leader Said to Be Paid by C.I.A.
Conservative talk show listeners have heard that this is totally bogus and denied by the CIA and by the Karzai brothers. But, when I peeked at the comments by NYT readers the first ten were all in total agreement that they were reading fact; that Karzai must go; that the CIA can never be trusted; etc. etc. There were no dissenting or skeptical comments. I did not read the entire article, but I will bet that the NYT writer did not include the fact that James Carville is a political adviser to Karzai’s opponent, or if they did they put it in the next to last paragraph.
My money would be on Carville to have been the “said” person of the title.
India to Obama:
“We’ll curry you when we need you.” (Never... he he he...)
Do you honestly believe this administration AND this country is going to last another 3 years of what we’ve put up for the past 10 months?!?
SOMETHING *will* happen—America is waking up FINALLY, and the foxes in charge of the henhouse are getting pretty panicky...and panicky people make mistakes. BIG mistakes.
I’ve been claiming this for awhile, but seriesly, I believe that there will be an impeachment AND removal of these anti-American DOMESTIC enemies before 3 years is up!
India has a LONG memory. I don’t worry about India one bit.
And who might that be?
Zer0’s mishandling of our economy has repercussions on India, where we buy their export, etc. and they darn well know it.
It reminds me of a child who needs to have all his toys and can’t share even one of them with another child. Disgusting temporary occupant of the white house we have here, I guess that too is Bush’s fault.
If other national leaders would boycott zer0 when they come to the U.S. or he visits their country and make him irrelevent that might send a message to others about what a big mistake electing him was and then maybe republicans in Congress would grow a pair and act.
..I guess that too is Bush’s fault...
But of course...isn’t everything?
***Said a Congressional aide: “In New Delhi people have been complaining for nine months, quite mistakenly, that Obama has downgraded the relationship with India. You have complaints about Obama’s nuclear policy, his climate policy and his trade policy.***
This sentence struck me the same way as it seems it have struck you. WHO are these people, mere Congressional aides, who open their mouths and ADMIT how other countries view Obama?
Thanks for the ping. Had not seen this.
Each day a new outrage.
Each day a new low.
Photo op with one of our dead heroes casket (he INVITED a dozen news people to go there with him)...
and now this.
Zero and Clinton and all the Dem entourage are simply beneath the lowest slime in existence.
Interesting, I don't remember anything like that happening. I do remember there were protesters, but not that many.
Good grief, these folks whine like little babies!
Old time bump...this state dinner was the one gatecrashed by a Palestinian couple, the Salahis.
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