During a recent interview with the BBC, President Bush boasted that the United States is the “only nation” to have called the situation in Darfur “genocide.”
Yet later in the interview, Bush was asked if he would “applaud” Steven Speilberg’s recent decision to withdraw as artistic director of the Beijing Olympics because China is not doing enough to pressure Sudan to end the genocide in Darfur. “That’s up to him,” Bush said dismissively, adding, “I’m going to the Olympics. I view the Olympics as a sporting event.” Watch it:
Bush took a subtle jab at human rights activists who will want to “opine” during the Olympics. “I mean, you got the Dalai Lama crowd. You’ve got global warming folks. You’ve got, you know, Darfur,” he said. “I am not gonna you know, go and use the Olympics as an opportunity to express my opinions to the Chinese people in a public way.”
Transcript:
MATT FREI: You were very tough in your speech about Darfur. And, yet again, you called what’s happening there genocide?
BUSH: Yeah.
FREI: Is enough being done by your administration to stop that?
BUSH: I think we are. Yeah. You know, I had to make a seminal decision. And that is whether or not I would commit US troops into Darfur. And I was pretty well backed off of it by – you know, a lot of folks – here in America that care deeply about the issue. And so, once you make that decision, then you have to rely upon an international organisation like the United Nations to provide the oomph – necessary manpower… You know, I read – did call it genocide, and I think we’re the only nation that has done so.
[...]
FREI: Yesterday, Steven Spielberg – the Hollywood director – pulled out of the Beijing Olympics over Darfur. He said the Chinese aren’t doing enough to stop the killing in Darfur. Do you applaud his move?
BUSH: That’s up to him. I’m going to the Olympics. I view the Olympics as a sporting event. On the other hand, I have a little different platform than Steven Spielberg so, I get to talk to President Hu Jintao. And I do remind him that he can do more to relieve the suffering in Darfur. There’s a lot of issues that I suspect people are gonna, you know, opine, about during the Olympics. I mean, you got the Dali Lama crowd. You’ve got global warming folks. You’ve got, you know, Darfur and… I am not gonna you know, go and use the Olympics as an opportunity to express my opinions to the Chinese people in a public way ’cause I do it all the time with the president. I mean. So, people are gonna be able to choose – pick and choose how they view the Olympics.
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