Bush Needs Lesson in Statesmanship

Bush + Statesman = Oxymoron Bush Needs Lesson in Statesmanship by Helen Thomas President Bush has discovered diplomacy and is saying goodbye to his disastrous pre-emptive military policy. But, as he says so often, diplomacy is "hard work." The escalating violence in the Iraq war -- now in its fourth year with no end in sight -- may have led to a grand awakening on Bush's part. Bush is finding he has few options in dealing with crises with Iran and North Korea -- both seeking nuclear weapons -- and with the new violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians. With U.S. forces stretched thin in Iraq and Afghanistan, the president now realizes the world's only military superpower can no longer act alone. He would do well to heed the admonition in John F. Kennedy's inaugural address in 1961 when he told us: "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate." Bush also should be reminded of a quotation from President Eisenhower, who frequently said he would go anywhere, anytime "in pursuit of peace." Read Article at Seattle Post-Intelligencer