New York Times’ Bumiller: Bush ‘Really Is A Pragmatist Masked In Ideology’

This morning on the Chris Matthews Show, New York Times reporter Elisabeth Bumiller claimed that if you look at the administration’s recent dealings with North Korea, Syria, and Iran, “what you’re actually seeing is what I think [President Bush] really is, a pragmatist masked in ideology.” Watch it:

It has been four years since the United States invaded Iraq and President Bush still refuses to have direct talks with Iran and Syria about the war, let alone Iran’s nuclear development. Meanwhile, under Bush’s “pragmatic” leadership, North Korea has developed 10-11 bombs worth of plutonium, suitable for use in nuclear weapons, and conducted its first nuclear weapons test. All of the administration’s efforts to control North Korea’s nuclear program have failed.

On Tuesday, the administration announced it would join high-level talks with the two countries. As the Washington Post notes, “these conferences [will] be led and organized by the Iraqi government and not, as the [Iraq Study Group] suggested, by the United States.” This is a long-overdue first baby step, not a sign of Bush’s “pragmatism.”

Transcript:

BUMILLER: Foreign policy. On the deal with North Korea, on talking to Syria, on talking to Iran. The administration, what you’re seeing is George Bush with his back up against the wall and what you’re actually seeing is what I think he really is, a pragmatist masked in ideology and he’s now making deals he never would have made six years ago.