George W. Bush just sharply criticized Obama for the first time | Business Insider |
Earnest was responding to reports over the weekend on Bush’s remarks to a closed-door gathering of Jewish donors. At the Republican Jewish Coalition event in Las Vegas, Bush allegedly criticized Obama for putting the US in “retreat” around the globe. Bush also panned the current president’s nuclear negotiations with Iran.
Both Bloomberg and The New York Times reported Bush said Obama pulled US troops out of Iraq too quickly in 2011, paving the way for the Islamic State jihadist group (also known as ISIS or ISIL) to take root there. Attendees recalled Bush quoting Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina): “Pulling out of Iraq was a strategic blunder.”
- ○ Sen. Lindsey Graham: Send US troops to topple Assad – April 2015
○ Sen. Lindsey Graham: Calling for U.S. troops to secure the Assad’s WMD’s – March 2013
GOP Contenders Gather at ‘Sheldon Adelson Primary’ in Vegas [warning: link to Breitbarth]
Last year, one of the major figures at the meeting was former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has recently fallen out of favor with Adelson and other Jewish conservatives over his embrace of former Secretary of State James Baker. Baker is seen as hostile to Israel and recently addressed the far-left group J Street.
In an apparent attempt to walk back the controversy around Baker, Jeb Bush told a group of donors in Manhattan this week that he does not share Baker’s views on Israel, even though he invited Baker to be one of his foreign policy advisers. Baker also took a tougher stance against the Iran deal in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
- ○ Republican contenders schlep to Vegas to woo growing Jewish donor base
○ US Congress Fails In Strategic Thinking Middle East
GOP’s Baker Hints Iraq Plan Needs Change | NY Times |
WASHINGTON, Oct. 8, 2006 — James A. Baker III, the Republican co-chairman of a bipartisan panel reassessing Iraq strategy for President Bush, said that he expected the panel would depart from Mr. Bush’s repeated calls to “stay the course,” and he strongly suggested that the White House enter direct talks with countries it had so far kept at arm’s length, including Iran and Syria.
“I believe in talking to your enemies,” he said in an interview on the ABC News program “This Week,” noting that he made 15 trips to Damascus, the Syrian capital, while serving Mr. Bush’s father as secretary of state.
“It’s got to be hard-nosed, it’s got to be determined,” Mr. Baker said. “You don’t give away anything, but in my view, it’s not appeasement to talk to your enemies.”
