IRAQ: U.S. PRESIDENT WARY OF ITALIAN PM, SAYS FORMER ADVISOR(Frum)

[leftchick]

Washington, 31 Oct. (AKI) - United States president George W. Bush no longer trusts Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi after remarks he made stating he did not want the US and Britain to attack Iraq in 2003 and sought instead to persuade Bush to allow Libya's leader Muammer Gaddafi to mediate with Saddam. This what one of Bush's former close advisors, David Frum, told the Italian daily La Stampa in an interview on Monday - the day Italy's La 7 channel will air the interview, and Berlusconi and Bush are due to discuss Iraq, Iran and the Middle East in Washington.

"What Berlusconi said has damaged his personal relationship with Bush. In politics, it sometimes good to be cynical, but not to appear cynical. Berluconi's words and their meaning seemed very cynical," said Frum, a political scientist at the neoliberal American Enterprise Institute think-tank in Washington.

"The Bush administration' perception of Berlusconi has long been very positive. Bush it plain that he enjoyed his company and appreciated the sacrifices Italy has made in the war on terror. but maybe Bush thought Berlusconi a stronger leader than he actually is," Frum continued.

"I think that from now on, it will be very difficult for the president to confide in Berlusconi, to believe and trust him," Frum added.

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Politics&loid=8.0.224305282&par=0

I hope Silvio sees this before he meets the chimp...

[tularetom]

1. I don't get it

How does criticizing bush make him not a "strong leader". And by strong leader wtf do they mean? Mussolini?

[Kagemusha]

2. It's not easy being yellow.

Sycophants always end up in this situation. RIGHT, FRUM? You would know.

[acmavm]

3. I suspect that Burly started to mistrust bush** first. At least as far as

image and intelligence goes.

Funny to hear Fearless Leader say that someone else is less than trustworthy.

[buff2]

4. ANYONE who goes against the presi-dunce

is automatically an enemy. What an arrogant bastard bu$h is. :puke:

[rooboy]

5. Hitler developed a sense of contempt for Mussolini...

so what's new?

[pretzel4gore]

8. but mussolini was a better man then hitler

i guess that's obvious, but the tone of your post suggest somehow bush is a bigger man then bushcoloni; which aint true. in reference to hitler and il duce, i recall william shirer's take on the inability of the italians to be blindly obedient and perpetrate the utter viciousness hitler knew that victory required: the italians were simply too sophisticated to murder children and old folks and detroy priceless art etc, and more then that mussolini never stopped deferring to the source of his power, the king, even after the nazis kidnapped him....hitler, and bush, are 'subhuman' in terms of their honouring tradition, or working within the rule of law.
(reading shirer, remember that shirer himself wondered at hitler's strange, almost comic opera admiration for mussolini...whether hitler ever lost that is doubtful; meanwhile the contempt was for the italian society, and her soldiers who wouldn't commit suicide enmass for the 'cause', something which mussolini himself never expected, or probably even thought of as decent)

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. "neoliberal American Enterprise Institute" ?

[IChing]

7. Neoliberal? Who dreamed up that tag...Richard Perle who is a member?

Founded in 1943,
the American Enterprise Institute is today the single most influential think tank in America and the country's main bastion of neoconservatism.
In a January 2003 speech at an AEI dinner celebrating the life of neocon godfather Irving Kristol, President Bush underscored the institute's impact. After commending AEI for having "some of the finest minds in our nation," the president said: "You do such good work that my administration has borrowed 20 such minds."
That was a conservative estimate: Since the Bush administration took over in 2001, more than two dozen AEI alums have served either in a policy post or on one of the government's many panels and commissions--like the Defense Policy Board, which until early 2003 was chaired by AEI all-star Richard Perle. (5)

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/org/aei.php

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. I wish Americans would stop being so surprised at 'neoliberal'

It's a term used in most of the world to refer to people who are in favour of free markets, globalization, and deregulation. Try the Wikipedia article as a starting point. Applying it to the AEI is quite valid.

Remember, the origins of 'liberalism' are in the 19th century as a free trade movement, opposed to the Tory protectionists who wanted to preserve landowners' profits. The USA is in the minority of using it to mean "center left".

[IChing]

12. However true for europeans, the name implies something different for

americans. Neo-con is understood in european circles also
and this is a Neo-con organization

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neocon

The article, it came from I realize was Italy, but the readers here need to understand what it means to them not just europeans, but thanks for the clarification.

Now I think I'll have a fag and coffee.;) ;)

[KoKo]

9. Pre-emptive Frum attack to throw "sand" on Niger Forgery Scandal!

Sounds like that to me.... NeoCon Strike back. Or NeoLiberal Strike back. If these folks change their names one more time. :eyes:

[truthisfreedom]

11. "Bush intolerant of truth" is more like it.

"Bush denies ever hearing truth from anyone"
"Bush lives in little world all his own"
"Bush covers ears and yells 'neener-neener-neener'"
"Bush retreats from reality and pretends that HotWheels cars are real while damaging 200-year-old hardwood floors in White House"
"Bush makes enemies of every single world leader including his own mom"
"Bush demands all dictionaries change spelling of 'bully' to 'bushie', starting with use of 'bushie pulpit'"
"Bush has little slot cut in every suit so he can hold his hand over his stomach like Napoleon"
"Bush re-defines Colon Powell's job as chief hobby-horse polisher"

[punpirate]

13. All this is for Italian domestic consumption...

... Berlusconi pretty much lied outright to the Italian press today about Italy's involvement with the Niger forgeries. Then, he said that he tried to warn Bush against starting the Iraq war.

He's been a staunch supporter of Bush right up until the time that La Repubblica started nosing around into SISMI's role in the forgeries.

With an election coming up, if it turns out that Berlusconi was aware of attempts to use Italian intelligence to further an illegitimate war that is deeply unpopular in Italy, he's probably toast.

He's backpedaling from Bush--at least in the Italian press--right now for campaign purposes.

[legin]

16. Yup. 5 months to go to the Italian elections

and suddenly Berlusconi was against the war all the time.

This Frum comment looks like the bush* admin's attempt to support their fellow fascists election campaign.

[Stockholm]

14. LOL It takes a crook to spot another!

:rofl:

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. Since when did Frum become a WH spokesman?

When did he start speaking for the President? Especially, about the leader of another country who happens to be a coalition partner? Frum is really out of order here but of course Bush won't mind.