Bush foreign policy moves shock rivals

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Bush foreign policy moves shock rivals

By Dan Eggen, Washington Post | July 20, 2008

WACO, Texas - With his moves last week involving Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, President Bush accelerated a shift toward centrist foreign policies, a change that has cheered Democrats, angered some Republicans, and roiled the presidential campaign.

In the past two days, Bush sent his first high-level emissary to sit down with Iran, agreed for the first time to set a "time horizon" for withdrawing troops from Iraq, and authorized Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to join North Korean diplomats at six-party talks about ending that country's nuclear weapons program.

The maneuvers underscore how much the Bush administration has changed since 2002, when he proclaimed Iran and North Korea to be part of an "axis of evil." Now Bush is pushing forward with diplomatic gestures toward both countries while breaking with a long-held position on troop withdrawals in the interest of harmony with the new Iraqi government.

Many Democrats view the developments as evidence that Bush is moving closer to military and diplomatic policies that their party's presumptive presidential nominee, Barack Obama, has long advocated. The steps could also help the likely GOP nominee, John McCain, some analysts said, since he can now voice support for pulling out US troops without appearing disloyal to Bush.

At the same time, Bush's moves have agitated conservatives, including some former administration officials, who believe he abandoned principles set forth during his first term to embrace a more accommodating posture pushed by Rice and her supporters.

John Bolton, a former United Nations ambassador for Bush who has become one of his most vocal conservative critics, likened the developments to breaches in a dam that is about to burst.

"Once the collapse begins, adversaries have a real opportunity to gain advantage," Bolton said yesterday. "In terms of the Bush presidency, this many reversals this close to the end destroys credibility."

Former White House Middle East director Flynt Leverett, who has criticized the administration for being too hawkish, said the moves on Iraq, Iran, and North Korea were signs of "tactical desperation. It's a recognition that if they don't make these moves they'll be left with nothing."

White House officials bristle at such criticisms, saying that partisans on both sides have misinterpreted tactical decisions as policy changes. Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for Bush's National Security Council, said yesterday that the moves were "fruits of the diplomatic labor that we've been engaged in the last couple of years."

One of the administration's most surprising shifts came in regard to Iran. The White House has repeatedly refused to engage directly with Tehran until the Islamic republic stops its work toward enriching uranium. But Undersecretary of State William Burns joined other foreign envoys in Geneva yesterday as they met with Iran's top nuclear negotiator.

US officials privately suggested that the Iranians were flummoxed by the presence of Burns and were not able to give an answer on freezing enrichment.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2008/07/20/bush_foreign_policy_moves_shock_rivals/
 
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