What the fuck?

Ok, it turns out this is completely taken out of context, what Bush is referring to here is "Iraq's Mandela" ie: a political figure and icon like Mandela that could have united Iraq under a common banner and hope, and his point is, that this man doesnt exist, or is dead, because Saddam killed him/them and/or the spirit of such a movement.

He didnt actually mean Nelson Mandela..

Don't worry, Mandela is still alive

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22461088-5005961,00.html

weird - I thought this was old and was just about to post it. This is recent????

[edit] a somewhat cleaner vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1KGwQ1O88Y

This is a very short clip, I would say it is taken out of context. If its not though, then, wtf?

regardless it's still a gaffe.

"References to his death – Mandela is now 89 and increasingly frail – are seen as insensitive in South Africa."

It's bizarre that George Bush would attempt to invoke Nelson Mandela as a political symbol to support his positions in this manner. After all, Mandela has eloquently criticized the Bush administration in a number of speeches specifically regarding the decision to begin the War in Iraq and its subsequent handling. Mandela even called for massive world protests against Bush.

And remember, Dick Cheney voted against a congressional resolution calling for Mandela's release from prison in 1986.

It wasn't only Cheney.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/06/11/1431258

"But even as the majority of the American people came to oppose South Africa's apartheid regime, Reagan stood by his friend. African American leaders and organizations pressured Congress to take action and ultimately it passed sanctions against South Africa. True to form, Reagan vetoed the bill. But to Reagan's shame, Congress overrode the veto."

Also the Thatcher government in Britain, as well as Israel were supporters of South African apartheid.

Here's an interesting article which examines Israel's friendship with the South African apartheid regime:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1704037,00.html

"It wasn't only Cheney."

No of course, you are correct.

My point is simply that it's peculiar, and to my mind in poor taste, for the Bush administration to use Nelson Mandela as a verbal prop in this way given their less than comfortable political relationship with him and his legacy.

I heard this clip in context, and it's no less ridiculous there than here. Bush was clearly grasping at straws when trying to come up with rationales for invading Iraq, 4 years after the fact.

What he meant to say is that Saddam killed all of the "Mandalas" he had been working on with the Tibetan buddhists...silly Bush, always mixin' stuff up.

hehe, silly chucklenuts

chucklenuts? is this a new bush nickname I wasn't aware of? from whence does this stem?

It was the title of the Youtube video, it made me laugh, decided to use it while posting it here.

*waronterror

Adding video to channels (Waronterror) - requested by MarineGunrock.