President George W. Bush on Wednesday urged Turkey not to carry out cross-border strikes on Kurdish rebels in Iraq, advice shrugged off by lawmakers in Ankara who greenlighted such attacks.Between this and being dictated by Turkey on how to label a genocide, I think it's safe to say that Bush has lost all influence, dare I say "relevance," in that particular part of the world.
And while he chastises Congress for "antagonizing a democratic ally in the Muslim world," he has no problems whatsoever in flipping the Bush-bird to China (the second largest holder of US debt) by publicly meeting with the Dalai Lama. While I clearly have no objections to the actual meeting, I can't help but wonder that he didn't fully think the move through when he says something like this:
"I don't think it's going to damage -- severely damage -- relations."Quite the reassuring opinion from the undisputed master of international relations.
Wev.
