Bush Speech Not a Sign of Policy Shift, Officials Say

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1802&e=4&u=/washpost/20050122/ts_washpost/a27672_2005jan21

~snip~


Nor, they say, will it lead to any quick shift in strategy for dealing with countries such as Russia, China, Egypt and Pakistan, allies in the fight against terrorism whose records on human rights and democracy fall well short of the values Bush said would become the basis of relations with all countries.


Bush advisers said the speech was the rhetorical institutionalization of the Bush doctrine and reflected the president's deepest convictions about the purposes behind his foreign policies. But they said it was carefully written not to tie him to an inflexible or unrealistic application of his goal of ending tyranny.


"It has its own policy implications, but it is not to say we're not doing this already," said White House counselor Daniel J. Bartlett. "It is important to crystallize the debate to say this is what it is all about, to say what are our ideals, what are the values we cherish."


"It is not a discontinuity. It is not a right turn," said a senior administration official, who spoke with reporters from newspapers but demanded anonymity because he wanted the focus to remain on the president's words and not his. "I think it is a bit of an acceleration, a raising of the priority, making explicit in a very public way to give impetus to this effort." He added that it was a "message we have been sending" for some time.


The speech Bush delivered Thursday at the Capitol appeared to set the United States on a new course in foreign policy, a pivot from the focus on terrorism, which has defined Bush's presidency since Sept. 11, 2001, to confronting tyranny as the enemy that threatens global security. In the 21-minute speech, Bush mentioned neither Iraq nor terrorism but defined what he called a generations-long struggle to encourage democracy to make America safe from terrorist attack.

[Cha]

1. Give tax cuts to the top

1-2 %..wage war on everybody(except osama).. and every Democratic policy! I think I have his number.

[KingoftheJungle]

2. That's what I was afraid of

So I guess we are still pursuing an aggresive policy of NWO dominance and the contuned rape of our economy and environment, at the expense of everyone except the power elite. Just the kind of government needed to inspire some long overdue public rebellion (hopefully through protest and civil disobedience, but it will also depend on how hard the admin pushes back).

[Moderator]

3. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1172854