Bush An "Appeaser," Says Egyptian Press

Critics Raise Questions About Credibility Of U.S. Role In Middle East

(CBS/AP)  Egypt's state-owned press opened fire Saturday on U.S. President George W. Bush as he arrived for talks with regional leaders at the conclusion of a five-day Mideast tour.

The newspapers, whose management are all appointed by the government, criticized Mr. Bush's speech Thursday in front of the Israeli Knesset for being overly supportive of the Israelis and not mentioning the Palestinians' plight.

"The Torah-inspired speech of Bush raised question marks over the credibility of the U.S. role in the Middle East," wrote Mursi Atallah, the publisher of Al-Ahram, the flagship daily of the state-owned press. "Bush aims to do nothing but appeasing Israel."

Mr. Bush's tour, which included stops in Israel and Saudi Arabia, represents another effort to push Mideast peace talks forward as his time in office winds down.

In his speech marking the 60th anniversary of Israel's founding, Mr. Bush reiterated the U.S.'s close ties to its regional ally, and dismissed the notion that the Jewish state should have to negotiate with its armed adversaries.

A front page editorial in Al-Gomhouria, another Egyptian state-owned daily, described Mr. Bush as "a failed president who delivers nothing but a lousy speech."

Akhbar Al-Youm also on Saturday published a picture of Mr. Bush hugging Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and captioned it "lovers."

The paper also ran a front page cartoon showing an Egyptian peasant consoling President Hosni Mubarak for having to meet with "this burdensome guy who will be leaving soon," in reference to Mr. Bush.

Egypt was the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel and has long been seen as a key mediator in the Mideast dispute that Mr. Bush has said he wants to solve by the time he leaves office next January.

Mr. Bush delivered a rosy forecast for the Middle East in 2068 during his speech. He limited his mention of Palestinians to just one sentence. "The Palestinian people will have the homeland they have long dreamed of and deserved, a democratic state that is governed by law, and respects human rights, and rejects terror," he said.

On Friday, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal commented on Mr. Bush's speech by saying its understandable that U.S.-Israel relations are special but "it is, however, important also to affirm the legitimate and political rights of the Palestinian people."

CBS White House correspondent Bill Plante, traveling with the president as he arrived in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh, reports that Mr. Bush is meeting with Arab leaders there to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

"He's come here to try to get some kind of an agreement before he leaves office," Plante said. "More and more that seems unlikely."

Mr. Bush is seen in the Arab world as somebody who tilts heavily toward Israel. And that was pretty apparent yesterday when he was in Saudi Arabia asking, among other things, for the Saudis to pump more oil in the hopes that that might help bring down gas prices in the U.S.

The Saudis gave him a polite but firm "No."

Plante said the White House tried to spin that by saying, "Well, look, it is really not a problem of oil from the Saudis or anywhere else, it is the problem of refining capacity and high prices driven by speculation" - all which may be true, but the White House has to admit as it does regularly there is no short-term solution to the problem of high gas prices.

Back on the peace process, the president will continue trying to do that before he leaves office. In fact, Plante reports that he's planning to come back to the Middle East again next October.

[bobnjersey]

["The Torah-inspired speech of Bush raised question marks over the credibility of the U.S. role in the Middle East," wrote Mursi Atallah, the publisher of Al-Ahram, the flagship daily of the state-owned press. "Bush aims to do nothing but appeasing Israel." ]

funny how perspective changes everything.

[jgunther7]

Bush has made such a mess of the US; maybe he is going to abscond to Israel.

Of course he will take his billions he has made from Middle East oil.

[nbrdknkldgr]

Its gonna be a long 7 more months...

[borris007-2009]

A 3 year old child could do a better job than this brain damaged Bush=dolt... America should be embarrassed.

[georgew1956]

Laura of all the guys you could have picked how did this disision ever come around to being made was it the money or black mail

[allamr18]

mm one mans patriot is another mans terrorist. which side of the divide is bush on?

[truthyness]

The Republicans are playing Blacks for fools.....

and they''re doing a pretty good job of it.

[rplat]

Bush''s support of Israel is bound to draw criticism form the Arab states. In spite of the idiotic rhetoric of the brain dead left in the U.S. Bush is right on target.

[tbweb]

There was a time when what was best for the many outweighed what was best for the few, but even now that seems to have been replaced with whats best for the individual. Both Sen. Clinton and Pres. Bush seem to be thinking and acting in their own individual best interest! People with honor and class excuse themselves, resign and get out of the picture and let others take over when they are not on their "A" game! Too bad Politicians don''t have a Coach like Sports who can bench them, make them sit down when they are not performing well, use a time out, too bad those not performing well don''t bench themselves, don''t go find a hole to crawl in somewhere far away!

[enzoc45]

BRAIN DEAD LEFT IN THE US...BUSH RIGHT ON TARGET....ROTFL!!! WHAT A JOKESTER!!! HEHEHE

[ajaxtheleast]

Of COURSE he''s "burdensome''. It can be seen
in the body language of the leaders he meets.
It was noticible in his glad-handing of
Maliki, laughing like a fool but a pained
look on the face of Maliki.

Same with Olmert up above. His goofie
laugh with Olmert barely cracking
a smile.

Cant stand the man and the novices about
to supplant him arent exactly
thrill-engendering.

GET OUT OF IRAQ, JACK!

[mom_o_truth]

"Plante reports that he''s planning to come back to the Middle East a-g-a-i-n next October." ---------------------
WHO ? Plante ? in your dreams. The final trip is a the "sugar" after the Whip. Just leave Israel alone it can take car of itself. After the assassination of Sadat the Egyptians had no choice but to comply with the sky control over their heads next door, just to survive their own economic hardship. Guess who is the next Egyptian president ? Son is ready to take over the thrown of RAMSIS, just like in Syria and our own elections 8 years ago, thanks to Jib. Not this time McCy, Dady can%u2019t help here.

[bgwinnett]

Quite Ironic that they''re calling Bush an appeaser for his support of Israel, when the very presence of our leader in their patently undemocratic Country, for cordial talks, could technically count as appeasement too.
Lets not forget also, that the United States provides billions of Dollars in military and economic aid to Egypt each year.

[nolalou]

Funny how Bush is critical of those who want to talk to our adversaries, like Iran, are guilty of ''appeasement'', yet his own administration held talks for months with Lybia''s Quadafi ! I guess it''s only considered ''appeasement'' when it''s proposed by Democrats!

[randynason]

The rest of the world seems to have it just right: Bush is an ****** and so is the GOP. Down with Bush, down with the GOP and down with anyone who supports in any way the Republican agenda. They are nothing short of criminals and traitors to the planet.

[cbsblogger]

The USA as a mediator in the Middle East I/P conflict is a joke. It''s analogous to a football referee being on the payroll of one of the teams. In this case the USA politicians that run our government are mostly beholden to Israeli influence as our the MSM outlets that we get our news.

[miamimama3]

Not only is Bush a complete dolt, but this entire administration is an embarrassment to the US. Hopefully this George has ruined the next George''s political chances.

[antoniof123]

Hey neo cons you ready for the blood bath come November. This is too funny they think they can keep the sound machine going because the squeaky wheel gets the oil.

You know did you ever think like this after a while instead of fixing the broken wheel that makes so much noise; WE REPLACE THE CAR. Oh look we started it in 2006 but keep thinking it was a fluke right up until the end.

Oh and in case you are wondering I am what is truly called a swing voter. I vote for either side, but want to bet how I fell now and the idiot and retards in the GOP don''t want to listen.

[barbaraf4]

"Not only is Bush a complete dolt, but this entire administration is an embarrassment to the US." Posted by miamimama3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My greatest fear is that this moron will enter into some type of agreement with the Middle East that we will be left to enforce.

[ponco seno]

The USA no longer respected in the world community.

Thank you GOP....

I think who ever votes republican is an A$$.

[hotpaulie]

I can''t wait till November...this administration deserves whats coming to them!

[leftyintexas]

Bush is a war criminal who should be impreached then tried for his many crimes and after being found guilty should be given the choice of swinging from a tree or the electric chair (on low voltage of course). He is the most disgusting human being I''ve ever run across.

[haoli25]

Get your tickets early for the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague coming in the summer of 2009.

[ubrew12]

Egypts state-owned press writes stories like this to pretend that their independent of the U.S., instead of dependent on us to the tune of billions of ''aid'' a year. Egyptians on the street probably aren''t fooled by these histrionics: they have a 20 year rage going against their dictatorship, and against the U.S. who supports it.

Egyptian rage against their U.S. supported dictatorship is one of the primary causes of 9-11, and THAT rage is still there: nothing GW Bush has done has addressed it, except for Condi calling for a few more sham elections.

[anandad]

It''s peculiar how american newspeople like to remind us repeatedly when a foreign newspaper is state-owned as in this article (3 times) but they never say; "CBS, which is owned by Sumner Redstone through the National Amusements-Viacom conglomerate(which it is), remarked today..."
This implicit intent to discredit via the communist era catch phrase "state owned" and in this case also to remind us that the managers are "government appointed" completely neglects to acknowledge that most(if not all) corporate news agencies hire employees based not only on their skills as Journalists(ideally) but also on their political affiliations. Are these news agencies so different? Is the singular intention to sell more news(no matter what) so much more libertarian than fulfilling a political agenda? Isn''t our own news starting to look state-owned? Isn''t that why their under fire?

[downsteamjim]

To Shurch4truth: The election of democrats to control the house and the senate really has brought down the price of gas. In just a year and a half gasoline they have got the price down too about $4.

[downsteamjim]

To haoli: I realize that your hero Saddam is gone, but cheer up there is still North Korea, Myanmar, and other far left heavens on earth.

[roger_inkart]

Yeah, this whole ''appeaser'' smear is kind of backfiring, eh? Good.

I remember the day when a story like this would draw dozens of Bush apologists in to defend the administration. A quick scan of the posts - and I don''t see a SINGLE one. Why is that?

[roger_inkart]

Posted by downsteamjim

Oh, _there''s_ my little Bush apologist! My, where are all your friends?

[haoli25]

To downsteamjim: You really need to pull your head out. It seems that you, like Bush, are about as bright as a small appliance bulb.

[downsteamjim]

To Haoli25: What a lame comeback?

[downsteamjim]

Apologize for Bush. He spends like a democrat, supports illegal immigration, works with Ted Kennedy on Educatin bill. He is not a neocon he is a non con.

[anandad]

It''s peculiar how american newspeople like to remind us repeatedly when a foreign newspaper is state-owned as in this article (3 times) but they never say; "CBS, which is owned by Sumner Redstone through the National Amusements-Viacom conglomerate(which it is), remarked today..."
This implicit intent to discredit via the communist era catch phrase "state owned" and in this case also to remind us that the managers are "government appointed" completely neglects to acknowledge that most(if not all) corporate news agencies hire employees based not only on their skills as Journalists(ideally) but also on their political affiliations. Are these news agencies so different? Is the singular intention to sell more news(no matter what) so much more libertarian than fulfilling a political agenda? Isn''t our own news starting to look state-owned? Isn''t that why they''re under fire?

[roger_inkart]

To Haoli25: What a lame comeback?

Posted by downsteamjim at 10:35 AM : May 17, 2008

I agree with Jim here. After all, he''s defending Bush and the GOP. You don''t really need to get insulting. The record of this administration and their Republican enablers should give you more than enough ammo to blow him out of the water.

Everyone knows who is to blame for the mess the nation is in. And they are going to show their disgust with the GOP this fall. 11/06 will look like a mild drubbing compared to what''s going to happen.

[downsteamjim]

To AmandaD: Are you implying that CBS is owned by the government?

[jumkey]

mindless nonsense

Posted by downsteamjim

Standard delusional fact-free conservative thinking. The last time the Democrats were in power our gas was under $2 a gallon. Since then the Republicans have politicked in lockstep against every strategy designed to normalize the price of gasoline. The oil companies ARE the Republican Party and vice-versa.

I frankly don''t give a *** about the difference between Democrats or Republicans but I have a special contempt for ideologues like yourself who mindlessly support the "brand" at the expense of our economy, national security and personal interest.

Either start using your brain or jump off a bridge. You''re destroying my country and I''ve had enough of it.

[bobnjersey]

[Why the hell do Americans elect such fanatics? How could it be in our best interests to support religious theocracies, i.e. Israel and Saudi Arabia? Does anyone notice that Bush is building ANOTHER theocracy in Iraq? How can it be in US interests to build another Islamic theocracy?]
[Posted by jmcgilvray at 10:24 AM : May 17, 2008]

much of the underlying elements that explain this can be found here (among other sources as well):

http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/

john dean''s ''conservatives without conscience'' is another excellent summary of what''s behind it.

[roger_inkart]

I frankly don''''t give a *** about the difference between Democrats or Republicans but I have a special contempt for ideologues like yourself who mindlessly support the "brand" at the expense of our economy, national security and personal interest.

Posted by jumkey at 10:41 AM : May 17, 2008

Bravo. That is one of the best posts I''ve read in some time.

[anandad]

It''s peculiar how american newspeople like to remind us repeatedly when a foreign newspaper is state-owned as in this article (3 times) but they never say; "CBS, which is owned by Sumner Redstone through the National Amusements-Viacom conglomerate(which it is), remarked today..."
This implicit intent to discredit via the communist era catch phrase "state owned" and in this case also to remind us that the managers are "government appointed" completely neglects to acknowledge that most(if not all) corporate news agencies hire employees based not only on their skills as Journalists(ideally) but also on their political affiliations. Are these news agencies so different? Is the singular intention to sell more news(no matter what) so much more libertarian than fulfilling a political agenda? Isn''t our own news starting to look state-owned? Isn''t that why they''re under fire?

[obamaslady]

You know, it simply does not matter one whit that these foreign-owned newspapers stated their views about Bush since they apparently KNOW THE TRUTH and are only relaying the FACTS about a man they certainly know as well as the American public know him. So I give a big salute to them for STATING TRUTH AND FACTS which is a hellava lot more than I can say for our MSM which does nothing but bloviateand spew HYPE, PANIC, SPIN, INNEUNDO, ILLUSION, PERSONAL OPINION, MANIPULATION, FEAR MONGERING, AND PROPOGANDA. Our MSM which is owned by our ''dictator Bush and his corporations'' think that reporting on Hilton or Spears is NEWS WORTHY OF REPORTING. Look at what the MSM presented with the "military analysts" they put on the air with the Iraq war KNOWING there was "CONFLICT OF INTEREST" stirring the pot, and still they made this newsworthy story disappear so as not to be seen as PROPOGANDANIST. Until the MSM in this country can get back to "JOURNALISM WITH TRUTH AND FACTS" they are NOT as ''NEWSWORTHY'' as the foreign papers they are trying to condemn!

[neoconrcrazy]

Isn''''t our own news starting to look state-owned? Isn''''t that why they''''re under fire?

Posted by AnandaD


absolutely right - in America you have to look long and hard to find objective news. when one looks back just before the bush war, they all seemed in a feeding frenzy, or more accurately, puppets of the administration.

can you imagine that news services that didn''t "agree" were not "allowed in"! Were in a sense blacklisted?

[bobnjersey]

[Yep, all the problems of the Middle East must somehow be blamed on a little slice of land that is 1/10 of 1 percent of the land mass of the Middle East. Yep, that''''s the ticket.]
[Posted by michaelt302 at 10:32 AM : May 17, 2008]

you can ignore this if you must ... it isn''t the slice of land ... it''s the tacit support of anything and all that is israeli. ask any muslim what their biggest issue is w/ respect to us policy.

there''s no easy answers ... you can try to change the view of a billion religious fundamentalists ... or you can change a policy ... one that you control (the us policy) ... and another you subsidize to the tune of a few billion a year (israeli policy).

[l8c6]

Egypt''s state-owned press opened fire Saturday on U.S. President George W. Bush.....

Who said the infotainment corporate press practiced sensationalism.

[bobnjersey]

[Why do Arab government controlled newspapers sound so much like a speech from the negro freshman senator named Hussein?]
[Posted by otracymorgan at 10:50 AM : May 17, 2008]

because you suffer from a deeply rooted psychological abnormality that pre-disposes you to see things in only one way.

i doubt you''d be interested in knowing the details ... but they''re out there for those who are.

[l8c6]

there''''s no easy answers ... you can try to change the view of a billion religious fundamentalists ... or you can change a policy ... one that you control (the us policy) ... and another you subsidize to the tune of a few billion a year (israeli policy).

Posted by bobnjersey

How many young Jewish males and females are fighting and dying in Iraq, Afghanistan, and someday Iran if the right wing stays in power?

[l8c6]

Isn''''t our own news starting to look state-owned? Isn''''t that why they''''re under fire?

Posted by AnandaD

Ours is worse than "state owned" in truly democratic nations because it''s unaccountable to voters and appeases the demands of a global elite. He who owns and manipulates the global monetary system rules.

They believe in "free market" until "their" elite interests are being jeopardized, then they print more fiat currency or whatever it takes to maintain control.

[wardoglrs]

"The newspapers, whose management are all appointed by the government, criticized Mr. Bush''s speech"

Our media is also controlled by our goverment. And Russia and China and on and on the goverment is nothing but a "FORCE". Everything there about is Force and nothing less

[downsteamjim]

To Jumkey: No drilling in Anwar [democrat policy], no nuclear power [democrat policy], no windpower near rich democrats summer home [democrat policy], no drilling offshore [democrat policy], no new refinerys [democrat policy].

[downsteamjim]

To WarDogLRS: I conclude that you are being satirical.

[l8c6]

Why do Arab government controlled newspapers sound so much like a speech from the negro freshman senator named Hussein?

Posted by otracymorgan

Our privately owned press press which controls our privatized government is starting to sound alot like the old world of kingdoms.