President Bush was caught by an open microphone during a candid conversation with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. During the conversation, the president allegedly expressed anger and frustration towards the United Nations for their apparent lack of action in the latest Arab-Israeli crisis.
Bush turned to Blair and said: “See the irony is what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it’s over.”
Further, non expletive-containing comments included a rip at Secretary General Kofi Annan:
“What about Kofi Annan?” Bush asked Blair. “I don’t like the sequence of it. His attitude is basically cease-fire and everything else happens.” “I think the thing that is really difficult is you can’t stop this unless you get this international presence agreed,” responded Blair.
President Bush has been steadfast in calling for the dismantling of Hezbollah under a U.N. resolution calling for the removal of Lebanese militias. Interestingly enough, he also pointed out that he was blaming neither the Lebanese nor the Israeli government for the warfare that has raged into its sixth day.
As far as the public relations ramifications of these off the cuff remarks, I don’t see any. President Bush’s administration has responded properly by not responding at all in this case. Also, the remarks, whether considered vulgar or not, (and I do not think the word shit is overly vulgar) teach us nothing new and offer no new insights into the president’s plan for the Middle East region. The American government has a track record of supporting “Israel’s right to defend itself,” and is in consensus with much of the world in regarding Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
What Bush does have to prove is that Iran and Syria are indeed giving financial aid and supplies to Hezbollah. A tentative link will not be sufficient.