Bush Ties Prove Radioactive For Asian Leaders

[marmar]

from Bloomberg:



Bush Ties Prove Radioactive For Asian Leaders: William Pesek

Commentary by William Pesek


Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- There's an underappreciated common denominator among embattled leaders in Asia: George W. Bush.

For leaders wondering why they lost popular support, there's plenty of blame to go around. In some cases, it was a sluggish economy. In others, it was scandals or corruption. Inept handling of everything from poverty reduction to dodgy infrastructure to climate change may have fanned discontent.

Yet leaders in nations such as Australia, India, Japan, Pakistan and South Korea also are learning of the perils of cozying up an unpopular U.S. president. They've lost elections, resigned or have high disapproval ratings at least partly because of close ties to Washington.

``Busharraf'' is a case in point. That's what Pakistani columnists, bloggers and students call Pervez Musharraf, who resigned Monday. As president of Pakistan, Musharraf portrayed himself as America's staunchest ally in battling Islamic extremists. Critics like former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Bush had been ``supporting a dictator,'' a stance that made Sharif perhaps the country's most popular politician.

Before Musharraf there was Shinzo Abe of Japan. Abe arguably became Asia's first Bush-buddy casualty when he resigned as prime minister last September. He continued the policy of his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, of strengthening ties with the Bush administration.

Howard's End

Koizumi, premier between 2001 and 2006, even stretched Japan's pacifist constitution to send troops to Iraq. It was part of his plan to move Japan closer to the U.S. at the expense of relations in Asia. Abe went further, attempting to change the constitution to allow the country to exert itself militarily. A public backlash ensued, and Abe resigned -- four days after meeting with Bush, as it turned out.

Australia's prime minister was next. John Howard never recovered from suggestions he was Bush's ``deputy sheriff.'' The moniker caused concern in Asia and became increasingly problematic for Howard, especially as the U.S.-led war in Iraq devolved into chaos. A strong economy couldn't save Howard from losing a November election. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aDI0tLW_I90o&refer=home

[DS1]

1. You'd have to be a dumb useless fuck to believe in Bush

and as such, you should be ejected from power with extreme haste.

[Warpy]

2. Apparently the foreign policy pursued by todays DOS

relies heavily on personal ties between leaders--in other words, it all hangs on Stupid's ability to turn on the charm and schmooze them rather than on actual aid, give and take, or basic diplomacy.

Anybody who gets buddy buddy with Stupid ends up with a lot of photographs that will later prove to be very embarrassing and a population who wonders what sort of advantages they're supposed to be seeing but are not.