Earlier this week, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel compared President Obama to George H.W. Bush (also known as Bush 41 or Bush, the father) on foreign policy.
Foreign Policy (the blog) asked several academics what they thought of Emanuel's comparison. Here are a few of their answers.
Bush Sr. was a follower of Replacement Theology, something his son W rebuked when he went Born Again. Obama and Co. want you to know that he isn't the only Israel hating leader in recent American recollection. The denied correlative is that Bush Sr. was the one who got us entangled with Saddam Hussein and the Saudis. if this is the model Obama is pushing then we are all in trouble. Of course another lark is that unlike Bush Sr. who really betrayed Israel because the country trusted him, Obama has helped solidify solidarity among Jews who are alarmed at his policies, but at the same time are less apt to blame themselves because they have done this routine before.
I didn't particularly care for George H.W. Bush, but I cannot see him going on a worldwide apology tour and bowing to world leaders, nor can I see him being afraid to pull the trigger on Iran. In fact, the only foreign policy area in which this comparison seems valid is that Bush 41 was also hard on Israel.
Read the whole thing.
