Posted on 05/20/2007 6:36:00 PM PDT by Wolfstar
PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: President and Mrs. Bush welcomed NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and his wife to Prairie Chapel Ranch today. Talks between the two leaders were expected to focus on Afghanistan, where NATO troops are fighting a newly emboldened Taliban enemy.
NATO chief in Texas for talks with Bush on Afghanistan
by Laurent Lozano
1 hour, 18 minutes agoCRAWFORD, United States (AFP) - US President George W. Bush welcomed Sunday NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at his Texas ranch for talks focused largely on fighting a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan.
Bush himself drove a pickup truck to meet De Hoop Scheffer's helicopter as it landed at the president's sprawling ranch here, where discussions are expected to cover the recent strong showing by Taliban insurgents and civilian deaths in Afghanistan, which threaten to erode support for US troops and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force backing the Kabul government.
Bush is expected to seek reinforced allied commitments to participating in the US "war on terror" campaigns in Afghanistan if not Iraq.
Also likely on the agenda are Kosovo, expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the US effort to position a strategic anti-missile defense system in Europe, according to the White House.
De Hoop Scheffer arrived amid heightened tensions driven by Russia's objection to the anti-missile shield's expansion to Central Europe.
Bush and the NATO leader will have a working dinner with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates late Sunday, and further meetings early Monday.
In the meantime, the venomous Jimmy Carter, criticized the Bush administration quite bitterly today. This from the former president whose disastrous policies toward Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the rest of the Middle East, as well as then-rising Islamic terrorism, are directly responsible for the crisis of radical Islamism abroad in the world today. Fortunately, the White House did not let Carter's caustic remarks go unanswered.
'Carter is irrelevant,' Bush administration shoots back
POSTED: 3:53 p.m. EDT, May 20, 2007CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) -- The nasty words between President Bush and former President Jimmy Carter continued Sunday.
In a biting rebuke to Carter calling the Bush administration the "worst in history," the White House on Sunday dismissed Carter as "increasingly irrelevant."
Carter was quoted Saturday in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette as saying "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history." (Read full story)
The Georgia Democrat said Bush had overseen an "overt reversal of America's basic values" as expressed by previous administrations, including that of his own father, former President George H.W. Bush.
White House spokesman Tony Fratto shot back Sunday from Crawford, Texas, where Bush spent the weekend.
"I think it's sad that President Carter's reckless personal criticism is out there," said Fratto. "I think it's unfortunate. And I think he is proving to be increasingly irrelevant with these kinds of comments."
Carter was in Arkansas promoting "Sunday Mornings in Plains," a collection of weekly Bible lessons from his hometown of Plains, Georgia.
"Apparently, Sunday mornings in Plains for former President Carter includes hurling reckless accusations at your fellow man," said Amber Wilkerson, Republican National Committee spokeswoman.
She said it was hard to take Carter seriously because he also "challenged Ronald Reagan's strategy for the Cold War."
Carter's comments, which were published Saturday, were confirmed by his spokeswoman Deanna Congileo to The Associated Press on Saturday. She declined to elaborate.
Carter also said Saturday that Britain's support for the war in Iraq was a "major tragedy" for the world, as he criticized Tony Blair's unwavering support for President Bush.
Asked how he would judge Blair's support of Bush, Carter said: "Abominable. Loyal. Blind. Apparently subservient."
"And I think the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world," Carter told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.
Blair was in Baghdad Saturday morning for what will be his last trip to Iraq as British prime minister. Last week, Blair announced that he would step down June 27, making way for treasury chief Gordon Brown.
THE WEEK AHEAD:
— Monday, the President participates in a joint media availability with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in Crawford, Texas, before returning with the First Lady (and the dogs) to Washington.— Tuesday, no public events are scheduled.
— Wednesday, the Commander in Chief delivers the commencement address at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.
— Thursday, the schedule has not been announced.
— Friday, no public events are scheduled. The first couple are scheduled to spend the Memorial Day weekend at Camp David, Although it has not been announced, they are likely to return to Washington for the annual Memorial Day commemoration at Arlington National Cemetery.
“He is one hot 60-year-old!” . . .
I couldn’t agree more! Our President does A LOT for jeans; love the boots and buckle as well!
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MUST READ . . .
BUSH’S EXIT STRATEGY IN IRAQ IS VICTORY
by INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY
The Presidency: George W. Bush, obeying a U.N. mandate, set out to dethrone a mass murderer and an aggressive tyrant, expand democracy and take the war on terror to the enemy. He’s done all that and more.
Much has been made of the “Mission Accomplished” banner that sailors hung on the USS Abraham Lincoln to welcome President Bush’s arrival on the carrier’s deck on May 1, 2003. They were enthusiastic and victorious, fresh from supporting the most rapid military advance in history, a stunning victory that liberated 25 million people and deposed a brutal mass murderer who made war against his neighbors and his own people.
Gen. George Patton’s Third Army, in what has been widely regarded as the most impressive armored attack in history, took four months to battle from the Falaise Gap in France to the Rhine. The U.S. Army’s Third Infantry Division traveled the same distance in two weeks.
Iraqi soldiers take defensive positions on a joint search mission last weekend for three missing U.S. troops near Youssifiyah, south of Baghdad.
Few remember that President Bush never actually used those two famous words, “Mission Accomplished.” But he would have been justified in doing so, just as Lincoln would have been in saying those words at Gettysburg.
Both knew that more difficult days lay ahead, but both knew they were on their way to victory.
Bush did not proclaim peace in our time, but rather: “We have difficult work to do in Iraq.” He said: “We’re helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools. And we will stand with the new leaders of Iraq as they establish a government of, by and for the Iraqi people.”
Yes, there have been mistakes and surprises, just as Gen. Dwight Eisenhower didn’t anticipate the Battle of the Bulge or Adm. Nimitz the kamikazes. President Lincoln was forced to switch commanders from the incompetent Gen. George McClellan to the brutally effective Gens. U.S. Grant and William T. Sherman. But he never abandoned the goal of victory. Bush has switched to Gen. David Petraeus and has a new “surge” strategy.
It is said that no strategy survives contact with the enemy. But Bush’s strategy is clearly a copy of Reagan’s effective strategy during the Cold War: “We win. They lose.”
You can read the rest of this commentary here:
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=264380921482583
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I’ve got a few projects to complete for my son’s upcoming HS Graduation Party . . . until tomorrow!
Thank you. Although my time online is much more limited than it used to be, I'm not letting anyone push me away from this, or any, forum.
And yes, he is ever so hot, by the way!
Grin...yes, from the perspective of us ladies, he sure is. :)
Great pics Wolfstar - love to see him relaxing at his ranch. By the way .. isn’t that a new truk? I don’t remember his other one having 2 doors.
Thank you, lonestar. Much appreciated. :)
It has been a very sad time in our lives around here. We grieve as though we were physically close to them, and they are as important to us as though they were family.
Also, the ones who have left because they couldn’t take the attitudes of some are missed terribly, too.
I just pray that we here survive this next election cycle. It’s going to get ugly, I fear.
Nice truck!
:D
What a wonderful thing for AT&T to do!
God bless our troops!
Hi Deb. LOL and the above. I noted your comments on Friday's Dose. They inspired what I wrote above. (Sorry for the several typos. Spell check only catches so much.)
Hubba-hubba! :D
LUV that cowboy!
Hi CA. It does look new, but it's really hard to tell since he seems to favor white trucks.
Great pics tonight Wolfstar....loved the AT&T pic....they need to send Jonathan one of those phone cards..lol
Another point to the “Mission Accomplished” - the ship was on it’s way home when the war was about to start in Iraq - and their orders came down ..... turn around and go back again. They did!
I believe the normal tour is 6 months - and these wonderful young people were delayed from returning home and went on their first COMBAT MISSION. I’m not sure, but I think they were out for 9 months (or maybe more).
The ship’s MISSION was ACCOMPLISHED!!
The ship is home ported in San Diego.
Just remember -- this is a virtual world, not a real, physical one. Nothing here can harm you. Politics draws extremists across the political spectrum, as well as more mainstream people, and it always has. If the rough-and-tumble of commentary here gets to be too much, just withdraw back into your real life.
The folks who have gone elsewhere in search of less argumentative internet discussions will learn at some point that politics is ain't beanbag. Arguments will spring up there. It's inevitable when people feel stongly invested in a topic -- any topic.
Besides, here in cyberworld, one really can be in more than one place simultaneously -- especially with the new tabbed browsers. I often flip from NASCAR forums, to music forums, to poitical forums and back again all in less than a minute.
I agree...and I knew folks here would enjoy knowing about this very generous gesture by AT&T.
Hi mystery. I wonder how the cards are distributed. It would be great if Jonathan could get one. :)
Thank you for the dose tonight Wolfstar, it is a great way to end the weekend.
I do too. It's a really great photo, and kind of iconic of our modern-day soldiers.
I love the tabs! LOL!
I stay where I feel safe....here, the Canteen and the Finest. I am not good at controversy and am not much of a fighter.
I guess things can’t harm me...but when I read of my FRiend Grandeagles passing, I felt my heart break. It was very real. I personally have met many FReepers, and they are very real friends as well as FRiends.
I will listen to you, however, on the fact that you have to GO to the forums and you must know when to withdraw.
The MSM, of course, knows this. Knew it at the time. But they have persisted in spreading the lie that President Bush said the mission was accomplished. And then they wonder why newspaper and news magazine circulation is falling, and TV ratings for news programs are shrinking.
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