Saturday, November 6, 1999
Indian PM? Pak Gen? Bush Jr doesn't know
CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON, NOV 5: The man who could be the next President of the United States does not know the name of the Prime Minister of India or the new ruler of Pakistan, and is being portrayed as largely as a foreign policy klutz.
Republican frontrunner George W Bush is being roasted in the US media after he flunked a pop quiz during a radio interview with WHDH-TV in Boston on Wednesday. The Texas Governor was asked if he could name the leaders of Chechnya, Taiwan, India and Pakistan, all of which have been in the headlines in the US lately.
He got one - partially - by hazarding that the President of Taiwan was "Lee" (the correct answer would be Lee Teng-hui). Asked to name the General who took over Pakistan last month in a coup that shocked the world, Bush answered: "General. I can't name the general. General."
Asked to name the Prime Minister of India, Bush said, "The new Prime Minister of India is... (Pause)" and then countered, "Can you name the foreign minister of Mexico?" To which the radio show host,Andy Hiller, who has the reputation of being an aggressive journalist shot back: "No sir, but I would say to that, I'm not running for President."
To this Bush said: "What I'm suggesting to you is, if you can't name the foreign minister of Mexico, therefore, you know, you are not capable about what you do. But the truth of the matter is you are, whether you can or not."The American media and Bush's opponents were unsparing in the way they exposed and criticised the Republican frontrunner's lack of familiarity with international affairs.
Newspapers pointed out that in recent times, Bush had shown a propensity for mixing up names and places on foreign policy issues, calling Kosovars "Kosvarians", Greeks "Grecians", and East Timorese "East Timorians". He also mixed up Slovakia and Slovenia.
But Bush is hardly the first or the only leader to flunk tests in history, geography, or foreign policy. Even President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeliene Albright have been known to make bloomers.
Surveyshave shown that few American leaders, let alone ordinary Americans, have much of an idea where Bosnia, Kosovo, or East Timor is, not to speak of what strategic interest the areas have for the US.
Political discourse in the US on South Asia - and many other parts of the world - is virtually non-existent or oversimplified. The western media often offers a dumbed down version of the region's history or politics, much to the dismay of the more knowledgeable American interlocutors.
For instance, the US media now routinely describes India as "Hindu India" - an appellation as needless and infantile as calling the US "Christian United States" - despite the country's stunning diversity and the fact that minorities enjoy equal status and greater freedom than in many other countries.
Many commentators agree that such ignorance, insularity and isolationism is particularly evident in Conservative Republican sections of the polity. The Indian community in the US would be particularly distressed at Bush's flub. Financial heavies in the community, particularly the politically savvy physicians, have been donating to the Bush campaign, although with a $ 60 million campaign chest, he hardly needs the small change they can rustle up.
==========================================================
Bush, son of former president Bush, was asked by a TV interviewer names of heads of state or government in Pakistan, India, Chechnya and Taiwan. He could only name the president of Taiwan. The questions about these countries were part of a comprehensive interview to assess Bush's knowledge about foreign affairs.
"Can you name the general who is in charge of Pakistan?" asked Andy Hiller, political reporter for WHDH-TV in Boston.
"Wait, wait, is this 50 questions?" asked Bush.
Hiller replied: "No, it's four questions of four leaders in four hot spots."
Bush said: "The new Pakistani general, he's just been elected - not elected, this guy took over office. It appears this guy is going to bring stability to the country and I think that's good news for the subcontinent."
Bush also could not name the new Indian prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, or the president of Chechnya. His critics also pounded on him instantly and main rival Vice President Al Gore's spokesman immediately said that Bush's performance had raised "a serious question" about his qualifications for the presidency. |
