Bush will spy on Americans but not on Putin

[Cell Whitman]

Ron Suskind reports that the CIA wanted to use a previously placed wiretap in the room Putin was to use in Vienna in February of 2001 – all the CIA had to do was change the battery – they didn’t even have to dodge a FISA judge to do it.

But once again, we see a vivid example of why Bush should have turned a deaf ear to his “gut” and his other disastrous guide, the failed Condoleezza Rice – both of whom advised him not to spy on Putin. Maybe if Bush had ignored “Rice and gut” he wouldn’t have been played for a chump by Putin when Bush was looking into his “soul” in June of 2001.

From Ron Suskind's new book, “The Way of the World”:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12308_Page3.html

--In the first days of his presidency, Bush rejected advice from the CIA to wiretap Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2001 in Vienna, where he was staying in a hotel where the CIA had a listening device planted in the wall of the presidential suite, in need only of a battery change. The CIA said that if the surveillance were discovered, Putin’s respect for Bush would be heightened.

But Condoleezza Rice, Bush’s national security adviser, advised that it was “too risky, it might be discovered,” Suskind writes. Bush decided against if as “a gut decision” based on what he thought was a friendship based on several conversations, including during the presidential campaign. The CIA had warned him that Putin “was a trained KGB agent … (who) wants you to think he’s your friend.”

A few short months later the leader of the free world’s stellar guide, his gut, found Putin “straightforward and trustworthy.” Bush’s sixth sense gave a him a “sense of his soul.”

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/06/20010618.html

PRESIDENT BUSH: I will answer the question. I looked the (Putin) in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country. And I appreciated so very much the frank dialogue.

On C-Span's Book TV Pulitzer Prize winning author Glenn Kessler discussed his book, "The Confidante: Condoleezza Rice and the Creation of the Bush Legacy".

During the Q&A Kessler was asked about the Bush administration's relationship with Russia, given that Rice was supposed to be an expert on the country.

Via BTC http://www.btcnews.com/btcnews/1752

The question starts at 59:08

http://www.booktv.org/program.aspx?ProgramId=8604&SectionName=&PlayMedia=No

“At his very first meeting with Putin, Putin told (Bush) a story about a cross that he had blessed in Israel that used to belong to his grandmother. People that are aware of this conversation at the State Department feel that the President got played by Putin. There is no cross. There was just some KGB story that he made up. But it had a real impact on President Bush. That’s when he walked out and said, ‘I looked into his soul and decided this is the guy I can work with.’ And for the longest time in the first term, if you talked to then National Security Adviser Rice, she always painted the relationship with Russia in very rosy terms. …”

Kessler goes on to describe the "very difficult" and "very tense" relationship Rice has with her Russian interlocutors - one in particular is good at pushing her buttons.

[Narkos]

1. Sergei Lavrov is the diplomat

that drives Condi crazy! He treats her like a whiny child....I betcha he's the one that's good at "pushing her buttons".
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/29/AR2006062902086.html

[Cell Whitman]

4. I betcha you're right

thanks for posting that, I had not seen it.

[Benhurst]

2. Bush was right about this. After all, he had already gazed deep into Putin's eyes

and determined the ex-KGB operative had a pure soul. Wiretaps were unnecessary.

[ixion]

3. Bullies are cowards at heart

they like to abuse those that will tolerate their abuse, or those who fear them. If someone stands up to them, or they believe that person might retaliate, they tuck tail and run.

[Octafish]

5. K&R

Smirko and Pooty-Toot deserve each other. Both answer to a higher power -- money.

Thanks for another excellent post, Cell Whitman.

[ladjf]

6. He probably knows that he could get in trouble for spying on Putin.

He's a total coward.