Bush And Ahmadinejad - With A Whimper

President Bush may very well have signaled today that after all the bellicose rhetoric,he plans to leave the problem of Iran and it's nuclear weapons program to his successor.

In an interview with the Times of London the current occupant of the White House admitted that he was now embarrassed by what the Times referred to as 'gunslinger rhetoric' that gave people the impression that he was anxious for war with Iraq and not a man of peace.

“I think that in retrospect I could have used a different tone, a different rhetoric.”

Yes,he really said that.

Now,if I were President Bush,I'd be much more embarrassed at saying something like "You're either with us or with the terrorists" and formulating the Bush Doctrine and then weaseling out when it came to the Saudis and Iran.

And speaking of Iran, the new kumbayah singin' peace lovin' President Bush has new foreign policy goals for the last six months of his terms: a second Palestinian state with his favorite terrorist Mahmoud Abbas in charge and what he calls a framework of international diplomacy for tackling Iran.Not only that,but the president took great care to distance himself from remarks made by Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz, who said the other day that the sanctions against Iran had failed and that if Iran continued to develop nuclear weapons,Israel would be forced to attack it.

So,after referring to Iran as part of the axis of evil, after clear evidence that they are targeting our troops in Iraq, after four years of totally failed diplomacy, it looks like the Decider has decided to punt and leave his successor to pick up the pieces.

This gutless mea culpa makes absolutely no difference in terms of ingratiating the president with the people who already hate him. And for him to give an interview like this in a British paper, where our 'allies' already disgracefully greased out from under their commitments in Iraq and are now in the process of going wobbly on their commitments in Afghanistan simply adds fuel to the fire for those who,to put it mildly, do not have America's best interests or the war effort at heart.

Speaking of which, Iran's president Ahmadinejad was quick to put the knife in on hearing Bush's remarks about a diplomatic framework:

"It's Bush's dream to harm Iran's nation," Ahmadinejad said today during a televised speech in the western Iranian city of Shahre Kord. "You thought you would be able to do something but your era has to an end and you will not be capable of harming even 1 centimeter of Iran's sacred land."

Ahmadinejad also made no secret of the fact that Iran is going to continue its nukes program and that Iran's enemies "cannot do a damned thing".

Especially if they stick with ineffective sanctions.

Don't be a bit surprised,by the way if the Iranian's humiliate President Bush even further with a major breakthrough or a nuclear weapons test just as he's leaving the White House.According to one of my notorious little birdies, that's exactly what the Mullahs have planned if they can swing it,and it would be just like them.

However, let it not be said that the Bush Administration is totally ineffectual when it comes to nukes in the Middle East. Last month,when Condaleeza Rice was on a roadtrip in the Middle East,she signed a deal with our 'eternal friends' the Saudis to provide the country with the world's largest known oil reserves with nuclear technology...for the peaceful creation of energy, of course.

Now when it comes to legacies,I have a feeling the Saudi nukes deal may be another one that lingers in America's memory long after President Bush has retreated to that half a billion dollar presidential library the Saudis are building for him in Texas at SMU.

Just like President Bush's little fumble in Iran.

Pathetic.