Bush heads to Middle East
 

So... anyone but me thinks that this can go bad?

Ofcourse, im sure that the US isnt stupid enough to send the president to what can be very well called a "mine field" for him without being 10% sure that there are no risks for him... but STILL!

They guy is heading for a few days passing trhough several parts of a country full of people here and there who would simply Love to be able to say that they are the ones that killed him and a bunch more of innocent people in just on strike. I keep trying to answer the "Why?!" question, but seriously, i see Bush Jr there and the Answer that keeps coming back to me is "Why not?".

Any thoughts on this one?

I mean, I don't actually know where he's going specifically, but it seems pretty stupid. There a probably a few thousand people in the Middle East who would love to see Bush dead.

Also, terrorist groups are already publicly calling their brothers to attack Bush.

Seems kinda stupid. I mean, I think that Bush is probably one of the worst Presidents ever, but I don't want to see him dead. Besides, that would make Dick Cheney President.

It just seems like this is asking for trouble, and even if Bush himself isn't killed or injured, if someone does attack, which seems likely, there are a lot of innocent enough people that could get hurt for being near the wrong person.

Honestly, I have suspicions that there is an intentional effort (from some in the White House) to put Bush in harms way, in attempts to actually get him attacked. If he survives a failed attack, it'll be like Reagan & might get a sympathy boost in popularity.

If he gets killed, it'll give a mandate to Cheney to do whatever he wants.

And if neither happens, they could fake it & nobody would challenge it.

But I know I'm thinking way too conspiratorially on this, but it wouldn't shock me if Bush was going over there totally oblivious to the potential danger, just because his advisers told him too. And I could see Cheney using Bush to further his own ends.

SWB

I am not a fan of Bush, but I honestly think he is seriously endangering himself doing this.

Bush has fans????

Skywarrior I've never been one for conspiracy theories but that oddly makes sense. Plus it wouldn't be that complicated so it is somewhat plausible.

In all honesty though it is probably just coming down to shown that he has the balls to take a close look at what has been a focal point of his adminstration. Look at all the people who get criticized for speaking against the war without ever having been there. In the same way how can Bush support what he has been saying for the past four years without actually seeing it firsthand. He is probably hoping it will silence some of the naysayers.

The problem is(in my opinion) that most people are not against the war on terror or even against sending troops into Iraq. They are against how we executed the war on terror.

From what I've been told, it's a seriously divided culture in the middle east. You have groups that are gonna kill every American they can dream of, you have other groups that are just doing what they know how to do to reclaim their land areas for their tribe, and then there's that VERY SMALL faction who loves America and are working part-time jobs at the McDonalds posted out there on some military base.

Then again, when Bush goes visiting places, most of the time there are no 'random' people he will run into; no, there are mostly select individuals who go through a strenuous screening process before they can be in the PRESENCE of the President of the United States. And I don't consider it that big of a deal.

(Loads a single round into an M-14)....what?

I'm curious as to what alternative is suggested by those who say Bush shouldn't go to the middle east.
Should he spend all his time in a huge fortress completely safe from all harm?
He's a world leader and he has to be at places that are at the centre of world politics, which right now is the middle east.
Sure someone could assassinate him but if someone wanted to kill him they could try it anywhere in the world. It's not like Bush is running around undefended (he has 250 secret service agents and 150 national security advisers with him).
If it's a new tack from Bush I welcome it.
More likely he's trying to secure at least some dignity to the end of his reign and say that at least he tried to secure middle eastern peace, particularly in Israel.

Essentially that's probably what he's doing.

I think that Bush realized that what he started he won't have to finish in regards to this "war on terror."

I'm going to try to find a link to a supporting story, but its kinda hard seeing as it was CNN television, and I've found linking to specific coverage can be near impossible. (Thanks to Google News, I found it. CNN's own search engine sucks...

Anyway, according to the guy that was on, Bush intends to reach most of his stops via helicopter. However, a few of his stops can be reached on the ground. Laura Bush's 2005 visit was also cited:
There's only an extent to where they can control the situation in a foreign country, and I don't think its enough in a corner of the world which hates Bush more than anything. He's already gotten a dud grenade thrown at him.

Yes, it was a dud. However, had it been live, it certainly got close enough to Bush to constitute a threat. Regardless of the bullet-proof glass.

SWB
Quoted & Linked article, in case you missed It: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS...ef=mpstoryview