National Security Adviser Hadley Confuses Tibet And Nepal
National Security Adviser Hadley Confuses Tibet And Nepal
This morning on ABC’s This Week, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley repeatedly confused Tibet and Nepal while discussing President Bush’s decision to attend the Olympics. At least 8 different times, Hadley said “Nepal” when talking about the human rights abuses that have taken place in Tibet. A portion of the interview:
HADLEY: The president is going to the Olympics. The president is going to — thinks that the way to deal with the issue of Nepal is not by a statement that you’re not going to the opening ceremonies and say therefore, I’ve checked the Nepal box…
STEPHANOPOULOS: So he may not go to the opening ceremonies. You just don’t want to say it.
HADLEY: No, the president is going to the Olympics. What he’s doing on Nepal is what we think the international community ought to be doing, which is approaching the Chinese privately, through diplomatic channels, and sending a very firm message of concern for human rights, concern for what’s happening in Nepal, urging the Chinese government to understand that it is in their interest to reach out to representatives of the Dalai Lama, and to show, while the whole world is watching China, that they are determined to treat their citizens with dignity and respect. There is an opportunity here. And if countries are really concerned about Nepal, we shouldn’t have this sort of non-issue of opening ceremonies or not.
Watch it:
Nepal is not Tibet. Nepal is an independent country that is holding elections this week, while Tibet is a land occupied by the Chinese. They are separate geographical regions — see map below:
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dumb. this is why idiots shouldn’t be allowed to run for office, they appoint fellow idiots.
new law, you score below 900 on the SAT, you’re not allowed to run for office.
April 13th, 2008 at 4:13 pmTruly amazing. How can you be a National Security Adviser and not be able to differentiate between Tibet and Nepal. But then again this administation thought Iraq needed to be invaded at the expense of our effort in Afghanistan, so being a moron does seem to be a prerequisite to succeed in this bizzare universe in which we now live.
April 13th, 2008 at 4:18 pm.
N O T I C E:
Snuffleupagus doesn’t correct Hardley
.
April 13th, 2008 at 4:31 pmOr Hadley wants to discredit Carter’s mission to Nepal, so he purposefully confuses it with Tibet. President Bush is doing what he ought to be doing, implying Carter is tampering again. I know there are a lot of countries, but the National Security Adviser ought to get the right country.
April 13th, 2008 at 4:35 pmIt makes one wonder who he thought we were invading when we took over Iraq. Mistaking Tibet and Nepal is just so stupid. Tibet has been front page news for weeks now, not to mention an international cause célèbre for decades. Nepal, not so much. It’s like mistaking the Dalai Lama for Dolly Madison.
April 13th, 2008 at 4:36 pmGood grief! For the love of all that’s sacred, who hired this guy…one of the Marx Brothers?!?
If people want to wonder why our reputation around the world is in the tank, it’s people like this yutz who are at least part of the reason why. A fairly high-ranking member of our government who to all appearances has such serious problems with memory loss and/or short attention span that he can’t even remember something as basic as which country has been the focus of all the recent protests covered in the news media — and to make matters worse, apparently can’t even be bothered to have someone prepare him a crib sheet so that he can brush up on his facts right before he goes on national television instead of proving himself an ignoramus and an embarrassment!
Then again, I suppose that I should hardly be surprised…it seems probable that what we have here is yet another Bush administration crony who was hired almost entirely on the basis of who he knows instead of what he knows. Ye gods…if the vast majority of the people within the Bush administration are as slow on the uptake as this clown, it’s small wonder indeed that our country has been steadily going to hell in a handbasket over the last six-odd years!
April 13th, 2008 at 4:46 pmThis guy’s a “national security advisor” and doesn’t know the difference between Tibet & Nepal? Does he even know what planet he’s on?? What dank, dark hole did Chimpster scrounge these administration flunkies out of anyway?
Oops….we know that answer….from the cloistered “bubble” in which he, himself, resides.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:00 pmThis dazzling assortment of fools, morons, and bufoons called the “Bush Administration” are right out of Mad Magazine!
April 13th, 2008 at 5:02 pmIt’s becoming crystal clear that Chimpster never selected anyone “smarter than himself” which tells us the story. Since he’s a laughingstock and embarrassment unless he’s totally “scripted” (like Johnny BombIran McCrazy), those hired to be his henchmen and robots are turning out to be even less qualified and less intelligent than Chimpy.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:03 pm“Nepal is not Tibet. Nepal is an independant country…”
Not only are Americans too stupid to know how to spell basic words, they’re to lazy to use spell check.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:13 pmHow is this surprising? BushCo doesn’t recognize the United States of America - its history, its boundaries, its moral underpinnings, its Constitution.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:17 pmAs usual, the right wingers take their cue from the democrats because we all know they can’t think for themselves and really know nothing about what goes on in the world. The “world” to them is Texan oil companies and their needs. Nothing else.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:18 pmMaybe Hadley is trying to beat Condoleezza Rice for the title of worst national security adviser ever.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:27 pmSo if China invaded his ass, would he know the difference between that and a hole in the ground?
Somehow, me thinks not.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:32 pmTo be fair, I’ve made the error once or twice myself. Of course, I wasn’t going on TV to answer questions about the region, nor am I the damned NSA. The sheer lack of concern for preparation is frankly insulting, not to mention the almost expected incomprehension of the job. It’s the sort of mistake half-drunk idiots make during bar conversation. It’s just not how a high level cabinet member should be doing things.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:35 pmOnly the elitist have no idea what is going on overseas or anywhere on the planet. Why? Because they’re more concerned with how much money they’re making from the occupation of Iraq. What happens in Tibet doesn’t concern them even if they get the name of the country wrong.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:39 pmYes. That would be Chimpo. Little known, and they got rid of him before they started doing movies. He just wasn’t funny.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:39 pmTo Hadley, yellowish brown people are all just kinda alike.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:52 pmYou know, ferruners.
I bet he can’t name the countries which share their borders with Iraq either. But most amuzing is the fact they are advocating boycoting the Gamges because China’s occupation of Tibet, but no mention of Iraq and Afegahnistan’s occupation!
April 13th, 2008 at 6:03 pmApril 13th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Hadley- another Bush incompetent & moron. It never ends. They have no idea what they’re talking about. How can the public put up with this type of ignorant, highly-paid goof?
April 13th, 2008 at 6:10 pmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnV64fuJxmU
April 13th, 2008 at 6:12 pmits really Nepet or Tibal he’s referring to, a place over the rainbow. The bushies want to occupy the place next, and fart all over it like in Mess-o-po-tamia. There’s gold there you know
April 13th, 2008 at 6:30 pmThe incompetence runs thick in the bush administration.
April 13th, 2008 at 6:39 pmGo JBaddo. There’s what in them there hills?
April 13th, 2008 at 6:41 pmPer #5, fletc3her:
I am SO stealing that line! (And I assume you meant the cupcake.)
April 13th, 2008 at 6:44 pmThis is ABC’s fault, pretty much.
If ABC wasn’t so biased they’d have booked Joementum Liebermen to appear in the segment, alongside Hadley’s ear.
April 13th, 2008 at 6:53 pmThe national security advisor is so completely unprepared for this interview that he misrepresents Nepal with Tibet - I don’t think he is that stupid, but I think his arrogance allowed him to think he didn’t have to review his thoughts on the subject because he knows it all - in his own mind.
He was distracted by Carter’s earlier interview?!
Americans are supposed to have confidence that these guys know what they are doing, and time and time again, they prove themselves to be clowns at best, if not criminal.
How many more days? 280.
April 13th, 2008 at 7:08 pmHadley is behaving badly. Confusing Nepal with Tibet?
Memo to Hadley/Badly: Dude, get a map!
April 13th, 2008 at 7:09 pmI’m confused…
Is the Dali Llama Shia or Sunni?
April 13th, 2008 at 7:29 pmNot surprising at all. The only qualification needed to work for Bush is unconditional loyalty to Bush. Very Third Reich.
April 13th, 2008 at 8:21 pmBrought to you by the same administration that confused Afghanistan and Iraq and Sunni and Shia!
April 13th, 2008 at 9:07 pmMax-1 Says:
April 13th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
N O T I C E:
Snuffleupagus doesn’t correct Hardley.
Stephanopoulos knew better than correct Hadley. He would be in Gitmo for the next 8 months and 7 days without legal recourse if he did.
April 13th, 2008 at 9:22 pmOops, thats 9 months and 7 days, less 9 hours and 25 minutes.
April 13th, 2008 at 9:24 pmJay, I was confused as well until Dubya cleared it up for me.
It is the ‘Dalai Lama crowd’. But don’t forget ‘the Global Warming folks’. Mustn’t forget them.
Trying to help in my small way.
April 13th, 2008 at 9:25 pm9 hours s/b 21 hours.
April 13th, 2008 at 9:27 pmI’ll get this right yet, 21 hours s/b 14 hours. 25 minutes are correctly 28 minutes, now.
April 13th, 2008 at 9:31 pmoh no!
“FREE NEPAL!”
April 13th, 2008 at 10:10 pmHey guys,
April 13th, 2008 at 10:50 pmYou don’t get it. Nepal for Tibet is a distraction from the Bush administration so they are able to say that they were talking about Nepal in case they need to deny their position :-)
Since this is likely to be the only mention of the elections in Nepal on ThinkProgress, I think it’s worth noting that
(i) the elections are for a constituent assembly which will write a new constitution for Nepal, and whose first business is to ratify the abolition of an oppressive and now much-hated monarchy; and
(ii) a lot of people died to make this possible.
For more, listen to
WORT: Third World View. Disclaimer: the reporters are friends of mine.
April 13th, 2008 at 11:09 pmThe Stupid is strong in this one.
April 13th, 2008 at 11:13 pmHey… waitaminnit… I got nuthin’ ta do wi’t this mess… sheesh…
April 13th, 2008 at 11:16 pmI hope to God that Hadley was having a bad day? Can you imagine what its like working at Defence, or Dept of State Talk about, pi**ing into the wind, this administration invaded a sovereign country “Iraq”, destroying the very fabric of Iraqi society. After 5 Godawful years of torture, Blackwater, and a failed attempt to nation-build, the U.S. Government has NO chance affecting China’s human rights policy
April 13th, 2008 at 11:36 pmI hope to God that Hadley was having a bad day? Can you imagine what its like working at Defence, or Dept of State Talk about, pi**ing into the wind, this administration invaded a sovereign country “Iraq”, destroying the very fabric of Iraqi society. After 5 Godawful years of torture, Blackwater, and a failed attempt to nation-build, the U.S. Government has NO chance affecting China’s human rights policy
April 13th, 2008 at 11:36 pmBush: “China!”
April 13th, 2008 at 11:38 pmChina: “Yes?”
Bush: “Leave Nepal now, let it be free from your rule!”
China: “Will do.”
Bush: “Well all right, then. I know that’s hard but I’m glad we can agree. When should I arrive and which drugs are legal?”
Come on guys (and gals), give the poor man a break.
Nepal–5 letters and two syllables (accent on the second syllable).
Tibet–5 letters and two syllables (accent on the second syllable). (Heck, look at their spellings: consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel-consonant.)
They’re both in Asia. The Himalaya Mountains are a major geographic feature of both; heck, they share Mt Everest.
Of course, as Max-1 noted, Stephanopoulos (who SHOULD know better) didn’t correct the man. A GOOD newshost (and journalist/interviewer) should be able to raise the guest’s attention to an error unless the host isn’t really paying attention to the answers himself.
April 14th, 2008 at 12:13 amIn what, warped, universe does ANY member of the Bush administration have the right to comment on ANYONE’s record on civil rights?
April 14th, 2008 at 12:50 amRemember the massacre of the royal family on June 1, 2001? And the civil war that followed. We got “democratic elections” now. WE are involved in every country on the planet, so it’s easy to get mixed up. At least they are close to each other.
April 14th, 2008 at 4:57 amNepal / Tibet? Sunni / Shi’a? Whatever. Apparently Hadley is convinced that if he screws up badly enough as National Security Adviser he will be next in line for Secretary of State. History is on his side.
There is no way Bush will miss the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. The US not only has no leverage over China’s human rights policy because of its own record, The United States is a wholly owned subsidiary of the People’s Republic of China. When Hu says to Bush “we’d take it kindly if you’d attend the opening of our Olympics — by the way, that’s a nice currency you’ve got there; be a shame if anything were to happen to it” what do you think Bush is going to say?
April 14th, 2008 at 7:32 amHe must be hanging around Old man McLame`s camp.What the real problem is how he got the job in the first place.I hope the old man has people like him as an advisor and then we won`t have to worry about him in November.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:45 amTibet. Nepal. You say Tomato. I say Tomato.
April 14th, 2008 at 3:11 pm