The Education of George W. Bush

In part four of my Nieman Watchdog series on what top administration officials are doing to make it hard for their successors to reverse their policies, I ask: What's Cheney up to these days?

Iran Watch

Dion Nissenbaum writes for McClatchy Newspapers: "Six months ago, after American intelligence agencies declared that Iran had shelved its nuclear-weapons program, the chances of a U.S. or Israeli military strike on Iran before President Bush left office seemed remote.

"Now, thanks to persistent pressure from Israeli hawks and newly stated concerns by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the idea of a targeted strike meant to cripple Iran's nuclear program is getting a new hearing.

"As Bush travels across Europe to gain support for possible new sanctions against Iran, Israeli leaders have been working to lay the psychological foundation for a possible military strike if diplomacy falters. . . .

"Intelligence analysts disagree over the likelihood of a military strike on Iran before Bush leaves office. But there's little disagreement about the possible repercussions, which could include missile strikes on Israel, an attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities, renewed attacks on Israel from Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon, a resurgence of Shiite Muslim resistance to U.S. forces in Iraq or an attack on oil shipping in the Persian Gulf, which could send crude oil prices well above $200 a barrel."

Steven Lee Myers and Nicholas Kulish write in the New York Times: "Increasingly tough warnings from President Bush and his European allies have done nothing to temper Iran's stance on its nuclear program, worsening the confrontation over what American officials and others suspect is a covert Iranian plan to build an atomic bomb.

"Even as Mr. Bush won new support from the Europeans, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran responded by mocking attempts to rein in his country's nuclear program, which Iran maintains is for peaceful development of nuclear energy. Mr. Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech in Iran that the West 'cannot do anything' and singled out Mr. Bush as a lame duck who had failed at every attempt to hurt Iran. . . .

"The Iranians appear to believe that, should the crisis over the nuclear program deepen, rather than supporting Mr. Bush, his European allies would probably rein him in as well as the increasingly militant Israelis, who have raised the possibility of strikes on what they suspect are Iranian nuclear facilities. . . .

"Though Mrs. Merkel supported Mr. Bush during his visit here, she seemed to signal that she did not advocate the kind of actions he has called on countries to take in addition to the United Nations sanctions, as for example the United States already does. Further measures 'need to be negotiated in the Security Council of the United Nations,' Mrs. Merkel said. 'The more countries are in on this, the more effective the impact will be on Iran.'"

The USA Today editorial board writes: "Most experts believe it will be a few years before Iran can make a nuclear weapon. That leaves time for a new diplomatic push."

Iraq Watch

I wrote at length in yesterday's column about Bush's apparently flailing attempts to lock Iraqi lawmakers into a long-term agreement on his terms.

Jonathan Weisman writes in today's Washington Post: "Responding to a complaint by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) and Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), the administration sent officials from the State Department, the National Security Council and the Pentagon to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to brief Senate Armed Services Committee members and Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff on the Iraq negotiations.

"[Sen. Joseph I.] Lieberman, who attended the briefing, took the administration position that the agreements are more 'legalistic' than momentous. 'Unless either of these agreements includes a specific and automatic commitment to come to defense of another country if there is an attack on it, like we have with Japan and our NATO allies, then these agreements do not have to be submitted to the Senate,' Lieberman said, speaking on a McCain campaign conference call. 'They're not treaties in that sense.'

"Other lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans, have countered that a declaration outlining the 'framework' agreement, signed by President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki last fall, committed the United States to defend Iraq against external and internal threats. In a letter to Bush in January, Obama wrote that the negotiations appear aimed at 'an agreement binding on future Administrations and Congresses.'

"'That suggests to the American people and to all the world that you envision an American occupation of Iraq for decades to come,' Obama concluded. . . .

"The House has already passed legislation that would force the agreements to be submitted to Congress, but the Senate has not followed suit."

The Miami Herald editorial board writes: "For months, Bush administration officials have insisted that there are no plans to create a permanent U.S. military presence in Iraq. Yet there are disturbing signs that another blueprint may be in the works behind the scenes. As this presidency winds down, Congress has no more important task than to watch what the administration is doing on this front, not merely what it is saying. . . .

"This administration has no business making prolonged commitments that reduce the flexibility of the next commander in chief. The next president may want to end the war."

The Iran Angle in Iraq

Faiz Shakir writes for ThinkProgress.org: "The reason the White House is so hell-bent on signing a long-term agreement may have less to do with Iraq and more to do with Iran. According to press reports of the ongoing negotiations, the Bush administration is seeking the 'power to determine if a hostile act from another country is aggression against Iraq.' . . .

"The administration's request would seemingly allow the U.S. to brand Iran as an enemy of Iraq and attack Iran in the name of defending Iraq pursuant to a legal obligation under the status of forces agreement."

Shakir also notes that Amit R. Paley and Karen DeYoung quoted a senior Shiite politician in The Washington Post yesterday disclosing that American negotiators want continued control over Iraqi airspace and the right to refuel planes in the air -- "positions he said added to concerns that the United States was preparing to use Iraq as a base to attack Iran."

The European Trip

Dan Eggen writes in The Washington Post: " Standing alongside President Bush here Wednesday, [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel was asked by a reporter: 'Will you miss him?'

"Merkel, one of Bush's closest foreign allies, never quite answered the question. 'There was always . . . openness here between us,' Merkel said at one point. 'This cooperation is fun, I must say, and as the president said, it is going to be a sprint to the last day of his office.'

"For most other Europeans, it seems, the sprint cannot end soon enough. For years, protesters regularly crippled European capitals with massive anti-Bush demonstrations. Now, the president's last scheduled visit to Europe this week is prompting a continental yawn, as Europeans look ahead to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) or Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) as his successor."

Adrian Hamilton writes in his opinion column in the Independent: "Not a tear was shed, nor a cheer raised. Not even the protesters have bothered to turn out as President Bush has wound his way around Europe on the final visit of his two-term occupancy of the White House. Instead, he has come almost like an anonymous diplomat to hold talks in private, say a few words to the cameras and -- unless the UK has something very unexpected up its sleeve this weekend -- to depart almost unrecognised, and certainly unacclaimed.

"There's a fanciful version of this event, spun by the commentators in Washington and followed even by some here, which says the very anonymity of Bush's visit is a tribute to the success of the relationship he has now developed with Europe. Where in the aftermath of the Iraq invasion, relations were fraught and loud, now Bush and Europe are pretty comfortable with each other. The EU's three main leaders -- Gordon Brown, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy -- are all positively pro-American. Even Iran does not divide them.

"Well, this may be the gloss which diplomats wish you to believe. But it's the opposite of reality. The silence that has accompanied Bush's final foreign tours is the silence of failure, not the quiet of accomplishment."

Roger Cohen writes in his New York Times opinion column: "Bush-bashing has become a bore. I won't indulge in it, except to say one more thing. . . .

"He has proved mean, vindictive, surly, controlling and impatient, as befits his guns-at-the-ready gait. Apologizing for tough-guy rhetoric now, as he has, is no remedy. There's nothing worse than a control-freak chief executive with no interest in details like the disbanding of the Iraqi Army or the strength of New Orleans levees.

"This deficiency of temperament has been devastating. America's leader must still inspire and give hope. The U.S.A. is the last ideological country on earth. If its message doesn't resonate, big issues go unaddressed. When it's dusk in America, the shadows spread wide.

"This desultory stroll around a Europe more focused on his successor is a reflection the damage a flawed temperament has done to trans-Atlantic ties. Europeans got tired of being scowled at."

Cowboy Talk

Alex Koppelman writes for Salon about "a conundrum for conservative bloggers: When you've spent years attacking most of the critics of any part of the prosecution of the war in Iraq, and attacking those who criticize President Bush on the issue, what do you do when Bush makes some limited criticism of himself? Apparently, the answer is that you just attack Bush for being insufficiently loyal . . . to himself.

"[I]n a recent interview with a British newspaper, Bush mentioned one regret he has about the war. 'I think that in retrospect I could have used a different tone, a different rhetoric,' Bush said. Phrases like 'bring them on' and 'dead or alive,' he said, 'indicated to people that I was, you know, not a man of peace.'

"[T]he bloggers at Powerline, who've previously gone a wee bit over the top in their admiration for Bush, were up in arms. The site's John Hinderaker referenced a comment he says former Sen. Rick Santorum made to him about the Bush administration having 'battered President syndrome' and said, 'Bush appears to have more or less internalized the criticisms that his enemies have lodged over the years. . . . Bush [repeated] one of the sillier attacks the left has launched on his Presidency.' One of Hinderaker's co-bloggers, Paul Mirengoff, concurred, writing, 'Bush seems determined to drive his approval rating down to roughly zero percent.'"

Letterman on Cheney

Here's an exchange between David Letterman and former White House press secretary Scott McClellan last night.

Letterman: "My feeling about Cheney, and also Bush -- but especially Cheney -- is that he just couldn't care less about Americans. And the same is true of George Bush. And all they really want to do is somehow kiss up to the oil people so they can get some great annuity when they're out of office. (Applause.) 'There you go Dick -- nice job -- there's a couple of billion for your troubles.' I mean, he pretty much put Halliburton in business and the outsourcing of the military resources to private mercenary groups and so forth. I mean, is there any humanity in either of these guys?"

McClellan: "Well look, I still have personal affection for the President. I can't speak to the Vice President's thinking that well because he's someone who keeps things to himself and he believes in doing it his way and he doesn't care what anybody else thinks. He's going to do it the way he feels is best and that's not always what's in the best interest of this country -- as we've seen."

Late Night Humor

Jay Leno, via U.S. News: "President Bush gave a big speech today in Europe. He says he regrets giving the false impression that he is not a man of peace. But see, that's the problem. Oh, you start one or two little wars, and right away, oh, everybody jumps to conclusions."

Cartoon Watch

Rob Rogers on picking a running mate; Mike Lane on Poppy's Day; Heng Kim Song on Bush's lame travels; and Matt Davies on Bush's oil policy.