The Commander of the War on Terror: He's no flip flopper

A brutal crack down on rebels, prosecution of dissenters, the lock down of newspapers, government contracts and assets distributed to cronies, meddling in the internal affairs neighboring countries, the abrupt cancellation of trade deals with foreign companies ...



This might sound like Iraq under the U.S. appointed Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, or maybe New York City during the Republican convention, but no, it is the reality in Russia today. And the Bush administration is warning Russia to knock it off and treat their rebels with some respect.



Wha...?



Yes, it's true. George W. Bush, the Commander of the War on Terror, does not call the people who brutally killed Russian school children last week "terrorists," but rather persists in naming them "rebels" instead. And then, with out any hint of irony whatsoever, tells the Russians that these rebels are driven to such extreme reactions because the government of Russia has refused to sit down and talk to them and try to address their grievances.



Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia has not taken this so well. "Why don't you meet Osama bin Laden, invite him to Brussels or to the White House and engage in talks, ask him what he wants and give it to him so he leaves you in peace?"



Remember Mr. Putin? George W. Bush said he's looked into the soul of Vladimir Putin and found a man with whom he could do business. That was just a few months before Putin ordered the gassing of a theater in Russia that had been seized by the "rebels," thus killing hundreds of his own citizens.



It seems Mr. Putin, and perhaps the rest of us, are confused by the messages coming from the Commander of the War on Terror. Now we know that George W. Bush will not tolerate flip floppers, so there must be some other explanation. Let's see:

Valdimir Putin uses poison gas knowing it will kill his own citizens and Bush praises him for tough leadership in a crisis. Saddam Hussein gasses his own citizens and fifteen years later Bush drives him from power for it.



North Korea not only announces it has nuclear weapons and is prepared to use them but also test fires a couple of missles toward California for good measure and Bush says we need to sit down and talk about it. Saddam Hussein has no such weapons and no plans to use them even if he had them and Bush invades and occupies his country for it.



In the face of domestic turmoil Russia reverts to its old ways of handling civil liberties and Bush chides them. In Iraq we install a dictator who implements a police state and shoots suspects without a trial and Bush says we are "delivering the Almighty's gift of freedom" to the long suffering people of Iraq.

Clearly Mr. Putin and the rest of us don't understand the complexities of international affairs and the subtelty and (dare we use the word?) nuance required to fight the War on Terror. That's got to be it because we know that George W. Bush is no opportunistic flip flopper. He told us so.



New York Times: Allies Against Terror, Sliding Farther Apart