Former first minister reveals different side to Bush pre-9/11 attacks
PRESIDENT George W. Bush mocked his hawkish foreign policy advisors as “idiots” in a private White House meeting with actor Sean Connery and Alex Salmond MP, according to Salmond.
Just months before the 9/11 attacks, Salmond claimed the president was resisting the demands of advisors like Richard Perele, Paul Wolfowitz and Donald Rumsfeld to “bomb China”.
The meeting between the trio took place on 6 April 2001, as tensions were high over the destruction of a US spy plane that had entered Chinese air space.
CommonSpace was given access to an unpublished interview given by Salmond to We Are Many, a documentary about protests against the Iraq War.
Months later the same advisors derided by Bush, were central to planning the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq where hundreds of thousands of people died.
CommonSpace was given access to an unpublished interview given by Salmond to We Are Many, a documentary about protests against the Iraq War.
“[George Bush] apologised for being late for the meeting because he was dealing with the “idiots”. And Sean said “Idiots?, Mr President?” Bush said: “Yeah, the guys on the hill. My advisors. You know they want me to bomb China.” Alex Salmond
Salmond told the film team: “I met Bush before the Iraq War in his early days as president, 6th of April 2001. Interestingly, it was at the time of the spy plane between America and China. If I remember correctly it was an American spy plane that had been shot down by the spy plane having entered Chinese air space.
“[George Bush] apologised for being late for the meeting because he was dealing with the “idiots”. And Sean said “Idiots?, Mr President?” Bush said: “Yeah, the guys on the hill. My advisors. You know they want me to bomb China.”
And Sean said “You’re not going to do that Mr President.” [Bush] said: “No. No. No. It’s just a matter of finding a form of words for the old boys in Beijing. This will be fine in a week.”
“I look back after Iraq thinking about that story to find out who was advocating a tough stance against China and of course it was Perle, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld [senior U.S. military advisors]. The gang.” Alex Salmond
According to the former first minister, the episode was an insight into the shift which occurred after the attack on the world trade centre. Following 11 September 2001, the US took a more aggressive foreign policy stance as part of a ‘war on terror’.
“I look back after Iraq thinking about that story to find out who was advocating a tough stance against China and of course it was Perle, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld [senior U.S. military advisors]. The gang. But at that stage – April 2001 – the president was listening far more to his father [ex-president George Bush] and of course to Colin Powell [senior US advisor].
“Six months later, after 9/11, the “idiots” – to use the word – were basically in charge of American foreign policy. So the people who the president of the United States described not by name but in implication as “idiots” in April of 2001 were within a year dictating terms of American foreign policy.”
The war on terror led to the invasion and occupation of Iraq from 2003 till 2011. Estimated deaths as a result of the war vary from several hundred thousand to over a million. Since the end of a major Western ground presence, the Iraqi government has faced sectarian violence and the rise of Islamic State forces, which has committed war crimes.
The war on terror led to the invasion and occupation of Iraq from 2003 till 2011. Estimated deaths as a result of the war vary from several hundred thousand to over a million.
UK and US forces were also accused of war crimes in Iraq.
In the interview, Salmond called for the British prime minister at the time of the invasion, Tony Blair, to face criminal charges for his part in an “illegal” war.
Salmond, who campaigned for Blair’s impeachment, is now International Affairs spokesperson for the Scottish National Party in the Westminster Parliament.
Picture courtesy of Ian Burt