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words speaking louder than actions
So, does Bush need to fire this guy, or is he OK with having his aides tell people that the inaugural speech didn't really mean much?
- WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 - A day after President Bush's inaugural speech vowing to spread freedom in the world, administration officials said Friday that Mr. Bush was setting a long-term goal that did not portend dramatic changes in American foreign policy but rather an expansion of existing approaches.
A senior official said that the speech signaled Mr. Bush's intention to raise the need to expand freedoms in Russia, China and the Arab world but that this did not mean that such pressure would become the only factor in these relationships.
"It's not a discontinuity, a right turn, but an acceleration, a raising of the priority," the official said of the new policy direction, discussing the speech with reporters on Friday. The official insisted on anonymity, he said, to keep the focus on Mr. Bush's words and not those of his aides.
The official also said that American officials would not necessarily raise principles of freedom and democracy with foreign leaders in a public way because doing so might sometimes be counterproductive.
"Do you want us to be rhetorical or to be effective?" the official asked....
NY Times
eta: The same stuff was "leaked" to the WaPo as well.
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“It was fortunate that so few men acted according to moral principle, because it was so easy to get principles wrong, and a determined person acting on mistaken principles could really do some damage." - Larissa MacFarquhar
Last edited by Tyrone Slothrop; 01-22-2005 at 01:43 PM..
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