It was an honest mistake.....hahahahahahahahahahahhaa
On May 21, 2011 2:29 PM, "Madness" <nayrrizdaed@gmail.com> wrote:
> There is one story about Bush's particular brand of certainty I am able
> to piece together and tell for the record.
>
> In the Oval Office in December 2002, the president met with a few
> ranking senators and members of the House, both Republicans and
> Democrats. In those days, there were high hopes that the United
> States-sponsored ''road map'' for the Israelis and Palestinians would
> be a pathway to peace, and the discussion that wintry day was, in part,
> about countries providing peacekeeping forces in the region. The
> problem, everyone agreed, was that a number of European countries, like
> France and Germany, had armies that were not trusted by either the
> Israelis or Palestinians. One congressman -- the Hungarian-born Tom
> Lantos, a Democrat from California and the only Holocaust survivor in
> Congress -- mentioned that the Scandinavian countries were viewed more
> positively. Lantos went on to describe for the president how the
> Swedish Army might be an ideal candidate to anchor a small peacekeeping
> force on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Sweden has a well-trained
> force of about 25,000. The president looked at him appraisingly,
> several people in the room recall.
>
> ''I don't know why you're talking about Sweden,'' Bush said. ''They're
> the neutral one. They don't have an army.''
>
> Lantos paused, a little shocked, and offered a gentlemanly reply: ''Mr.
> President, you may have thought that I said Switzerland. They're the
> ones that are historically neutral, without an army.'' Then Lantos
> mentioned, in a gracious aside, that the Swiss do have a tough national
> guard to protect the country in the event of invasion.
>
> Bush held to his view. ''No, no, it's Sweden that has no army.''
>
> The room went silent, until someone changed the subject.
>
> A few weeks later, members of Congress and their spouses gathered with
> administration officials and other dignitaries for the White House
> Christmas party. The president saw Lantos and grabbed him by the
> shoulder. ''You were right,'' he said, with bonhomie. ''Sweden does
> have an army.''
>
> This story was told to me by one of the senators in the Oval Office
> that December day, Joe Biden. Lantos, a liberal Democrat, would not
> comment about it. In general, people who meet with Bush will not
> discuss their encounters. (Lantos, through a spokesman, says it is a
> longstanding policy of his not to discuss Oval Office meetings.)
>
>
> --
> Posted By Madness to Madness Writers at 5/21/2011 11:29:00 AM
> There is one story about Bush's particular brand of certainty I am able
> to piece together and tell for the record.
>
> In the Oval Office in December 2002, the president met with a few
> ranking senators and members of the House, both Republicans and
> Democrats. In those days, there were high hopes that the United
> States-sponsored ''road map'' for the Israelis and Palestinians would
> be a pathway to peace, and the discussion that wintry day was, in part,
> about countries providing peacekeeping forces in the region. The
> problem, everyone agreed, was that a number of European countries, like
> France and Germany, had armies that were not trusted by either the
> Israelis or Palestinians. One congressman -- the Hungarian-born Tom
> Lantos, a Democrat from California and the only Holocaust survivor in
> Congress -- mentioned that the Scandinavian countries were viewed more
> positively. Lantos went on to describe for the president how the
> Swedish Army might be an ideal candidate to anchor a small peacekeeping
> force on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Sweden has a well-trained
> force of about 25,000. The president looked at him appraisingly,
> several people in the room recall.
>
> ''I don't know why you're talking about Sweden,'' Bush said. ''They're
> the neutral one. They don't have an army.''
>
> Lantos paused, a little shocked, and offered a gentlemanly reply: ''Mr.
> President, you may have thought that I said Switzerland. They're the
> ones that are historically neutral, without an army.'' Then Lantos
> mentioned, in a gracious aside, that the Swiss do have a tough national
> guard to protect the country in the event of invasion.
>
> Bush held to his view. ''No, no, it's Sweden that has no army.''
>
> The room went silent, until someone changed the subject.
>
> A few weeks later, members of Congress and their spouses gathered with
> administration officials and other dignitaries for the White House
> Christmas party. The president saw Lantos and grabbed him by the
> shoulder. ''You were right,'' he said, with bonhomie. ''Sweden does
> have an army.''
>
> This story was told to me by one of the senators in the Oval Office
> that December day, Joe Biden. Lantos, a liberal Democrat, would not
> comment about it. In general, people who meet with Bush will not
> discuss their encounters. (Lantos, through a spokesman, says it is a
> longstanding policy of his not to discuss Oval Office meetings.)
>
>
> --
> Posted By Madness to Madness Writers at 5/21/2011 11:29:00 AM
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