Yo Blair! What about this trade thingy sh**?
From the BBC:
Forget prime minister, Mr Blair, or even plain old Tony. The new way to address the prime minister, we learn, is "Yo Blair".
That at least is how George Bush greets the PM in private, according to unguarded remarks they both made in front of an open G8 microphone.
We also learn how Mr Blair refers to international commerce as "this trade thingy".
And there was some strong language used as well. The US president apparently believes the Middle East conflict could be ended if only pressure were put on Syria "to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit".
MORE:
A transcript of the off-the-cuff conversation between US President George W Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair during a break at the G8 conference in Russia.
The president was caught on tape using an expletive as he described the actions of Hezbollah in attacking Israel.
The two men start by discussing an exchange of gifts:
Bush: And thanks for the sweaters - I know you picked em out yourself...
Blair: Oh yes absolutely - in fact I knitted it!!!
(laughter)
Bush: What about Kofi Annan - he seems all right. I don't like his ceasefire plan. His attitude is basically ceasefire and everything sorts out.... But I think...
Blair: Yeah the only thing I think is really difficult is that we can't stop this without getting international presence agreed. I think what you guys have talked about which is the criticism of the [inaudible word]. I am perfectly happy to try and see what the lie of the land is, but you need that done quickly because otherwise it will spiral.
Bush: Yeah I think Condi's [US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice] gonna go soon.
Blair: Well that's all that matters but if you... You see at least it gets it going.
Bush: I agree it's a process...I told her your offer too.
Blair: Well it's only if she needs the ground prepared as it were. If she goes out she HAS to succeed whereas I can just go and...
Bush: You see the irony is what they need to is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it's all over...
Blair: Dunno... Syria....
Bush: Why?
Blair: Because I think this is all part of the same thing...
Bush: (with mouth full of bread) Yeah
Blair: Look - what does he think? He thinks if Lebanon turns out fine. If you get a solution in Israel and Palestine. Iraq goes in the right way
Bush: Yeah - he's [indistinct]
Blair: Yeah.... He's had it. That's what all this is about - it's the same with Iran
Bush: I felt like telling Kofi to call, to get on the phone to Assad and make something happen.
Blair: Yeah
Bush: [indistinct] blaming Israel and [indistinct] blaming the Lebanese government....
You can also watch a little video clip on the BBC website (at least, you can in the UK), including an ‘analysis’ from Baria Alamuddin, Foreign Editor of the Arabic newspaper Al Hayat.
Unfortunately, I had to turn it off as soon as Ms Alamuddin began lamenting the ‘casual’ way the two Bs were discussing the Middle East when ‘there are people dying out there.’
Forget prime minister, Mr Blair, or even plain old Tony. The new way to address the prime minister, we learn, is "Yo Blair".
That at least is how George Bush greets the PM in private, according to unguarded remarks they both made in front of an open G8 microphone.
We also learn how Mr Blair refers to international commerce as "this trade thingy".
And there was some strong language used as well. The US president apparently believes the Middle East conflict could be ended if only pressure were put on Syria "to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit".
MORE:
A transcript of the off-the-cuff conversation between US President George W Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair during a break at the G8 conference in Russia.
The president was caught on tape using an expletive as he described the actions of Hezbollah in attacking Israel.
The two men start by discussing an exchange of gifts:
Bush: And thanks for the sweaters - I know you picked em out yourself...
Blair: Oh yes absolutely - in fact I knitted it!!!
(laughter)
Bush: What about Kofi Annan - he seems all right. I don't like his ceasefire plan. His attitude is basically ceasefire and everything sorts out.... But I think...
Blair: Yeah the only thing I think is really difficult is that we can't stop this without getting international presence agreed. I think what you guys have talked about which is the criticism of the [inaudible word]. I am perfectly happy to try and see what the lie of the land is, but you need that done quickly because otherwise it will spiral.
Bush: Yeah I think Condi's [US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice] gonna go soon.
Blair: Well that's all that matters but if you... You see at least it gets it going.
Bush: I agree it's a process...I told her your offer too.
Blair: Well it's only if she needs the ground prepared as it were. If she goes out she HAS to succeed whereas I can just go and...
Bush: You see the irony is what they need to is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it's all over...
Blair: Dunno... Syria....
Bush: Why?
Blair: Because I think this is all part of the same thing...
Bush: (with mouth full of bread) Yeah
Blair: Look - what does he think? He thinks if Lebanon turns out fine. If you get a solution in Israel and Palestine. Iraq goes in the right way
Bush: Yeah - he's [indistinct]
Blair: Yeah.... He's had it. That's what all this is about - it's the same with Iran
Bush: I felt like telling Kofi to call, to get on the phone to Assad and make something happen.
Blair: Yeah
Bush: [indistinct] blaming Israel and [indistinct] blaming the Lebanese government....
You can also watch a little video clip on the BBC website (at least, you can in the UK), including an ‘analysis’ from Baria Alamuddin, Foreign Editor of the Arabic newspaper Al Hayat.
Unfortunately, I had to turn it off as soon as Ms Alamuddin began lamenting the ‘casual’ way the two Bs were discussing the Middle East when ‘there are people dying out there.’
posted by Brit at 2:12 AM
7 Comments:
Nothing objectionable there - Bush and Blair agree with everyone else that Syria and Iran are pulling the strings, and they're willing to support diplomatic missions to the region, but don't have a lot of hope that such will result in actual peace.
These instances of private-conversations-made-public ought to be a wake-up call to conspiracy theorists (if they were capable of being woken up): These world leaders are saying in private exactly what they do in public, only in a more casual way. They aren't discussing the ways in which they can use the disturbance to accrue more power to themselves or their nations, or talking about adding fuel to the fire, to keep their electorates scared and docile...
Oroborous:
Of course, any conspiracy theorist worth his tinfoil hat would have noted the conspiracy to have an open mic ...
D'oh !!
Missed the obvious - of course they occasionally stage "inadvertently overheard" scenes, in which they pretend to normality, in order to lull us into false security & complacency.
Good catch. Ever vigilant !
Am I the only one who can't help reading each word '[indistinct]' in the transcript as a most foul obscenity?
I never -- well, hardly ever -- watch TV, but I spent the last 3 days cooped up in a hotel room babysitting my wife, who'd had cataract surgery, and the hotel had cable and so . . .
When did all the reporters become analysts who think it's their job to chew over strategy with the paid help?
Is there a Muslim anywhere who can see his hand in front of his face?
Does anybody else but me see that the only meaning of the events of the past 2 weeks is that negotiations are off the table, as far as Israel is concerned, forever? With whom would they negotiate?
Harry: My question is when did the journalists decide that journalism consists of interviewing other journalists?
Yeah, that, too.
Post a Comment
<< Home