Bush's Big Nyet

The Personal Touch

Michael Abramowitz writes in The Washington Post: "He glimpsed inside Vladimir Putin's soul and found something to his liking. He has also showed off his Texas ranch to Saudi King Abdullah, talked economics with Chinese President Hu Jintao and visited Graceland with then-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

"More than many of his predecessors, President Bush has invested heavily in trying to forge a strong bond with key foreign leaders. But as his term winds down, new crises in Georgia and Pakistan are underscoring the limits of Bush's personal diplomacy, as the president is receiving criticism for overpersonalizing relations with Putin, the Russian prime minister, and with Pervez Musharraf, who resigned as Pakistan's president last week.

"Many Russia experts say Bush did not understand the true intentions and character of the Russian leader. 'He misjudged Putin,' said Stanford University professor Michael A. McFaul, who has been advising Sen. Barack Obama's campaign on Russia policy. From an early date, McFaul said, Putin has had a 'very obvious grand strategy for rolling back democracy,' but 'when new evidence came in to suggest that his initial assessment of Putin was wrong, [Bush] tended to dismiss it.' . . .

"Leslie H. Gelb, former president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said Bush is more naive about personal relations with other leaders than past U.S. presidents. . . .

"'The others were far more realistic,' Gelb said. 'This Bush thinks when he calls Putin, they are soul mates, and when he expresses a desire for Putin to do something, he will do it.' . . .

"White House aides say Bush has been aggressive but realistic in his dealings with world leaders. 'While there are often policy issues that don't exactly go the way we want them to, the situation on the other hand could be much worse if the president did not have a decent working relationship with some of these leaders,' said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council."

The Cheney Touch

The New York Times editorial board writes: "This is where things stand nearly three weeks after Russia invaded Georgia and radically upended ties with the West: Russian troops still occupy key areas, including the port of Poti; Moscow has recognized the independence of Georgia's two breakaway regions; Georgia's president, Mikheil Saakashvili, is still talking tough even though his army is routed and his country shattered.

"And if that isn't unnerving enough, President Bush has decided to dispatch Vice President Dick Cheney, that master of diplomacy, to the region.

"We do not know what Mr. Cheney will say when he visits Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Italy next week. The last thing the world needs now is him inciting more resentments and anxieties. . . .

"Ties between Russia and the West are now the worst in a generation. It will take toughness and subtlety to ensure they do not lock into a permanent confrontation -- not more bluster from anyone."

James Gerstenzang blogs for the Los Angeles Times: "What was a top national security aide to Vice President Dick Cheney doing in Georgia shortly before Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's troops engaged in what became a disastrous fight with South Ossetian rebels -- and then Russian troops?

"Not, according to the vice president's office, what you might think -- if your thinking takes you into the realm of Cheney giving his blessing to the Georgian's military operation. . . .