Some Comments from George Bush & Co.

US Says No to Talks With North Korea

By Burt Herman
The Associated Press

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton:

"You don't normally engage in conversations by threatening to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles, and it's not a way to produce a conversation because if you acquiesce in aberrant behavior, you simply encourage the repetition of it, which we're obviously not going to do," Bolton told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York.

[but if you are threatening to launch wars of aggression against them, its ok: Afghanistan, Iraq, maybe Iran. Threats are fine as part of “conversations” as long as it’s the US doing the threatening.]

"It should make people nervous when non-transparent regimes who have announced they have nuclear warheads, fire missiles," Bush said at a meeting with European leaders in Vienna, Austria. "This is not the way you conduct business in the world."

[Bush giving lessons on how to behave as a responsible member of the global community?? No to Kyoto Protocols, No to ICC in the Hague, No to Geneva Conventions whenever its suits them, No to ban on Proliferation etc.]

BBC News:

President Bush said that he was "pleased" the Chinese government had also advised North Korea against testing the missile.

This is a "positive sign", he said, adding that Pyongyang must realise there are "certain international norms" to live by.

Here are some examples of the US living by “international norms”:

Source:

The International Criminal Court:

It is no small irony that the nation that championed the Nuremberg trials and helped bring about the indictment and capture of Slobodan Milosevic now stands as the single greatest opponent of the International Criminal Court.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child:

This historic document recognizing the inalienable rights of children has been ratified by every nation in the world with the exception of the U. S. and Somalia.

The World Arms Trade:

But despite the evidence demonstrating the deadly impact of the small arms trade in nations such as Rwanda and Bosnia, the Bush Administration refused to support a UN Conference seeking to ban small arms trafficking, alleging it interfered with the United States' constitutional guarantees on the right to bear arms.

The International Ban on Landmines:

Anti-personnel landmines kill or maim several thousand people each month. Some are soldiers. Most are civilians. Many are children. And to date some 139 governments have signed and 107 have ratified the historic treaty that establishes a comprehensive ban on the use of these mines in all circumstances.

The Clinton Administration refused to join the Mine Ban Treaty, claiming that anti-personnel mines were needed to protect the Republic of Korea from invasion by North Korea. But even some military commanders now consider these anti-personnel mines not only outmoded but a real and deadly liability to U. S. troops.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW):

More than 160 nations have ratified CEDAW, yet the United States joins Iran and Sudan as one of those few nations who have not accepted this important treaty.

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The US 'wants to end Guantanamo'

BBC News

US President George W Bush has said he would like to close the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay and send many detainees back to their home countries.

However, he said not all the inmates would be returned - some would need to be put on trial in the US because they were "cold-blooded killers".

[Thought Crime at its best. Nice that George is able to know if someone is a cold blooded killer before they have done any killing. I guess dropping bombs on other countries and killing countless civilians gives him the ability to spot other killers.]

Mr Bush said he understood European concerns over the US detention camp in Cuba.

"I'd like to end Guantanamo. I'd like it to be over with," he said.

He said 200 detainees had been sent home, and most of those remaining were from Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Afghanistan.

[Remember that Donald Rumsfeld called them “the worst of the worst” as justification for the prison camp. Now 200 have been released. Are we all in danger then??

> No comments from anyone in the media. Interesting]

But he added that there were some detainees "who need to be tried in US courts".

"They will murder somebody if they are let out on the street."

Buoyant Bush sees common ground

BBC News

President Bush addressed the issue in his trademark style, but with more subtlety when it came to content.

"Some people," he said, "say it's okay to condemn people to tyranny. I don't believe it's okay to condemn people to tyranny. And I'll try to do my best to explain to the Europeans that on the one hand we are tough on the war on terror, and on the other we are providing more money than ever before in the world's history for HIV and Aids on the continent of Africa.

"I'll do my best to explain our foreign policy. On the one hand it is tough when needs be, on the other hand it's compassionate."

[Funny comments from a guy who has invaded and occupied two countries recently. No one else has done that. So who is the tyrant??]