"Jubilation around the world" over Rumsfeld resignation
November 10th 2006 03:38
This is a neat roundup of what other countries have said about US mid-term elections and Rumsefeld resignation. From AP, via Daily Times of Pakistan:
US midterm election results that heralded a massive power shift in the American political landscape – capped by the resignation of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld – were widely greeted with jubilation around the world, with many expressing variations on the same sentiment: It’s about time.
In Italy, Premier Romano Prodi said Rumsfeld’s surprise resignation in particular underscored the depth of what has happened in America.
“Even though US politics had already started changing, Rumsfeld’s resignation means an accentuation of this change,” said Prodi. “We’ll see over the next few days what the new direction will be. But certainly we have a political structure both in the executive power, in the House and in the Senate that is deeply different from that of a few days ago.”
The defence secretary was both deeply hated and grudgingly admired overseas for his unwavering stance on Iraq and support for controversial Bush administration policies like the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and harsh interrogation methods that many feel border on torture.
In Afghanistan, the government of President Hamid Karzai expressed sadness over Rumsfeld’s abrupt departure.
“We are sad that he has resigned,” Jawed Ludin, the chief of staff for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, told The Associated Press, adding that Kabul did not expect Washington to changes its policy toward the country.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan offered a diplomatic take on the impact of a Democratic Congress on work at the United Nations.
“We have been here for over 60 years,” Annan said. “We have seen lots of elections in the United States, and we have worked with the winners, whether (they are) Democratic or Republican, and we look forward to working with the administration and the new Congress as they move in, and we will want to work with them as effectively as we have worked with others.”
Elsewhere, giddiness over an electoral black eye for Bush was almost palpable throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
In an extraordinary joint statement, more than 200 Socialist members of the European Parliament hailed the American election results as “the beginning of the end of a six-year nightmare for the world” and said they left the Bush administration “seriously weakened.”
In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez, an outspoken critic of the Bush administration, applauded Rumsfeld’s resignation saying, “Heads are beginning to roll…It was about time he resigned. The president should resign now.”
Passions were even higher in Pakistan, where Bush is deeply unpopular despite billions in aid and staunch support for President Gen Pervez Musharraf.
Opposition lawmaker Hafiz Hussain Ahmed said he welcomed the election result but was hoping for more. Bush “deserves to be removed, put on trial and given a Saddam-like death sentence,” he said.
But there were also some concerns that a power split and a lame-duck president might stall global trade talks or other initiatives where US cooperation is needed.
On Iraq, some worried that Democrats would force too rapid a retreat, leaving that country and the region in chaos. Others said they doubted the turnover in Congressional power would have a dramatic impact on Iraqi policy any time soon, largely because the Democrats have yet to define the specifics of the course they want to take.
In Denmark, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen told broadcaster TV2 he hoped the president and the new Congress would find “common ground on questions about Iraq and Afghanistan”.
The prospect of a sudden change in American foreign policy could also be troubling to countries such as Britain, Japan and Australia, which have thrown their support behind the US-led invasion of Iraq.
On Thursday, Australia’s conservative Prime Minister John Howard said he did not believe Washington would pull its troops out of Iraq, adding, “The strategy is not going to change.”
Yeah, read that statement from EU again. One wonders who is under hegemony and are the real hegemons?
Isn't it interesting that Afghan President should be sad?
US midterm election results that heralded a massive power shift in the American political landscape – capped by the resignation of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld – were widely greeted with jubilation around the world, with many expressing variations on the same sentiment: It’s about time.
In Italy, Premier Romano Prodi said Rumsfeld’s surprise resignation in particular underscored the depth of what has happened in America.
“Even though US politics had already started changing, Rumsfeld’s resignation means an accentuation of this change,” said Prodi. “We’ll see over the next few days what the new direction will be. But certainly we have a political structure both in the executive power, in the House and in the Senate that is deeply different from that of a few days ago.”
The defence secretary was both deeply hated and grudgingly admired overseas for his unwavering stance on Iraq and support for controversial Bush administration policies like the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and harsh interrogation methods that many feel border on torture.
In Afghanistan, the government of President Hamid Karzai expressed sadness over Rumsfeld’s abrupt departure.
“We are sad that he has resigned,” Jawed Ludin, the chief of staff for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, told The Associated Press, adding that Kabul did not expect Washington to changes its policy toward the country.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan offered a diplomatic take on the impact of a Democratic Congress on work at the United Nations.
“We have been here for over 60 years,” Annan said. “We have seen lots of elections in the United States, and we have worked with the winners, whether (they are) Democratic or Republican, and we look forward to working with the administration and the new Congress as they move in, and we will want to work with them as effectively as we have worked with others.”
Elsewhere, giddiness over an electoral black eye for Bush was almost palpable throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
In an extraordinary joint statement, more than 200 Socialist members of the European Parliament hailed the American election results as “the beginning of the end of a six-year nightmare for the world” and said they left the Bush administration “seriously weakened.”
In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez, an outspoken critic of the Bush administration, applauded Rumsfeld’s resignation saying, “Heads are beginning to roll…It was about time he resigned. The president should resign now.”
Passions were even higher in Pakistan, where Bush is deeply unpopular despite billions in aid and staunch support for President Gen Pervez Musharraf.
Opposition lawmaker Hafiz Hussain Ahmed said he welcomed the election result but was hoping for more. Bush “deserves to be removed, put on trial and given a Saddam-like death sentence,” he said.
But there were also some concerns that a power split and a lame-duck president might stall global trade talks or other initiatives where US cooperation is needed.
On Iraq, some worried that Democrats would force too rapid a retreat, leaving that country and the region in chaos. Others said they doubted the turnover in Congressional power would have a dramatic impact on Iraqi policy any time soon, largely because the Democrats have yet to define the specifics of the course they want to take.
In Denmark, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen told broadcaster TV2 he hoped the president and the new Congress would find “common ground on questions about Iraq and Afghanistan”.
The prospect of a sudden change in American foreign policy could also be troubling to countries such as Britain, Japan and Australia, which have thrown their support behind the US-led invasion of Iraq.
On Thursday, Australia’s conservative Prime Minister John Howard said he did not believe Washington would pull its troops out of Iraq, adding, “The strategy is not going to change.”
Yeah, read that statement from EU again. One wonders who is under hegemony and are the real hegemons?
Isn't it interesting that Afghan President should be sad?
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