Bush Security Adviser Stephen Hadley Can't Tell The Difference Between Nepal And Tibet

President Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley appeared on ABC's "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos and repeatedly confused Nepal and Tibet.

Discussing how Bush has "no reason not to go" to this summer's Olympic games in Beijing and how boycotting them would be wrong, Hadley discussed the outcry over Tibet and the US response, only he kept saying Nepal.

"If countries are really concerned about Nepal, we shouldn't have this sort of non-issue of opening ceremonies or not. They should do the hard work of quiet diplomacy to urge the Chinese government -- in their interest -- to take advantage of this opportunity to do something," Hadley said.

He went on, "The way to deal with the issue of Nepal is not by some -- a statement that you're not going to the opening ceremonies and say, therefore, I checked the Nepal box."

And it didn't end there. "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, a 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."

Nepal, which shares a border with Tibet and which is an independent constitutional monarchy, has about 29 million people, is 10% Buddhist and is not the home of the Dalai Lama.

Video of the horrendous gaffe below:

Comments

[WandaBooneshaft]

Stephanopoulos is a twit; Hadley, a twit and a half. We are doomed, peeps, with idiots like this running our country.

[jnratliff]

What else could you expect from a dumbass republican?

[mariemburns]

Shiites, Sunnis, what's the diff? Iran, Iraq? Bomb, bomb, bomb...whe­rever. Purim? It's the Jewish Halloween! Isn't the Dalai Lama the recently-deposed king of Nepal? Those ungrateful foreigners need to start showing some respect for the leaders of the free world & quit quibbling about details.

[clumberfeet]

Nepal is the real problem. They are training and arming the Buddhist al Qaeda and sending into Tibet.

[CBS]

Ok, let's see some links to this news. Without some evidence you are just typing.

[livesimply]

Ah...Buddh­ist al Qaeda? I'm guessing it's a joke.

[CBS]

I am assuming this is sarcasm. I hope.

[realpolitic]

Yes, the Buddhist al-Qaida want to establish a caliphate through prayer and mediation. We must put a stop to their evil plans.

[tfred]

Amazingly, if you check CNN.com you will find the same article but CNN has changed all of the "Nepals" to "Tibets". Why in CNN world, it's as if weren't really an idiot after all. Nice to have CNN clean up your messes. Actually it is very scarey to know that news on CNN is being that easily manipulated without a word from the rest of the world.

[iratior]

Well I think that's very dishonest of CNN, and if any journalists participated in such doctoring of the text, there should be a journalism ethics board that they should hear from.

[partyofone]

they should have just inserted (sic) after each instance.

[pfc1369]

It was an AP version (carried by CNN) that took it upon themselves to change every "Nepal" to "Tibet."

Totally outrageous!!!

[Meah]

THAT has to be exposed big time! Hey! I know just the person to do it! Keith Olbermann will tomorrow, for sure! That will be sweet.
Remember when we used to think that the AP was totally objective and apolitical? Ha!
They have ruined their own reputations.
And CNN? What's a CNN?
Our country has been betrayed by a bunch of absolute idiots!

[mamak]

If CNN or AP changed it...then it's really serious .....

[Gma11]

How pathetic is this?

How SCARY is this . . .?!

[LeoMarvin]

There's no history of ethnic violence in Tibet. When we overthrow the Dalai Lama, the Nepalese people will greet us as liberators.

[Marichu]

Well, the mistake made by National Security adviser Hadley, seems on par with the level of incompetence demonstrated by any member of this administration. This country needs to have a moratorium on any and all foreign policy decisions until competent, knowledgeable personnel can be found.

I find it hard to believe that Stephanopoulos didn’t pick up on Hadley’s repeated mistake of confusing Tibet with Nepal. Either George too, mixed-up Tibet with Nepal and can’t tell them apart like Hadley (at least he confused two countries in Asia that border each other having five letters in their name-three consonants/two vowels) or he purposely allowed Hadley to make an ass of himself. As host of a news show, he should have quickly corrected Hadley. At least that’s what a responsible correspondent would have done.

[RadicalWhig]

Can't be sure, it seemed to me that Stephanopoulos knew the first time he said it and suppressed a chuckle. I agree it's irresponsible to let this slide -- a functionary in that role needs to know and it is news if he does not.

[LeoMarvin]

I promise you Stephanopoulos knew the first time. I'm glad he kept his mouth shut, and gave Hadley the rope to hang himself.

[Joh5n]

Yes, Stephanopoulis is ignorant as he shows by repeatedly ignoring Hadley's gaffe. Not a surprise, but frustrating because he nevertheless manages to pull down an income much bigger than most of us. Timing is everything; he knew when to leave the Clinton team.

Hadley has Nepal on the brain because they held an election Thursday in which the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) seems to be winning the majority of the seats in parliament. This is not good: it represents the first time a Maoist party has achieved power through elections. (In 1994 the Nepal Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) was elected to power for a few months.)

The Nepal Maoist party has been accused of using children as soldiers in its long war against the unpopular royal government, and as a Maoist organization it believes that "power grows from the barrel of a gun" (almost sounds like Hillary Clinton's talking point of the day). I hope that Nepal avoids a repressive dictatorship.

[ceti]

Not good? I think the Nepalis feel differently. They are looking forward to getting rid of the hated king, and trying a new party, untainted by the corruption and fecklessness of the past two decades. Moreover, the UML (United Marxist Leninist) is a social democratic party despite its name, and Jimmy Carter is calling for the US to recognize the Maoists, especially as they are poised to take power.

And most human rights observers say that a majority of the deaths from the civil war can be attributed to the police and army, not the Maoists.

[Rickter]

Surprise! Most members of the Bush administration couldn't find their butt in a dimly lit room.

Iran, Iraq - Nepal, Tibet. Tomato err.. dunno...

[argent1]

Tomato, NATO

[paulfromportland]

Ah, but Rickter, there is a rumor that they could those of others without any difficulty.

[BatedBreath]

Nothing new here.

[ylpatriot]

Hmmmm.....­..... Bidness as usual ?

[emerywood]

Here is a very good example of why we have a problem with our politician's dependency on their so-called top aides and policy experts to direct our foreign or domestic policies. The politicians are understandably not geniuses and can't be so knowledgeable as to know everything and anything happening in this world. But their aides and experts have no screening tests to make sure they know what they think they know. In fact, nobody knows how qualified these people are. Perhaps they are just loyal to the politicians and their loyalty promoted them to top posts. And yet, their advice and information could easily become the U.S. policies. And if the politician is not so smart or alert, the experts could even intentionally misdirect the course of the nation and calling the shots.
I hope I am wrong, but I worry for our future. Many of these experts have their own philosophy and believes, too besides being Democrats or Republicans.

[pakaal]

Your worst case scenario comes across as an abstract, as if every statement you've made hasn't already happened under the Bush/Cheney administration. "Loyalty over qualifications" has been the cornerstone of this administration, and Hadley is just the latest in an endless stream of incompetent officials hired or appointed by the Bush/Cheney regime.

[emerywood]

You are right.
The " top aide "/ " expert " in the top strategy team who advised Rumsfeld that the Iraqis would welcome the Americans once we're there, with open arms and flowers in their hands is a typical example. For all we know, GW might have swallowed a lot of such garbage advices and made his decisions accordingly. In particular, the " now that we are there " Iraq war argument and the "we should be there for the next 100 years" argument of McCain cannot possibly be expert advice. They just don't make sense to this non-expert­..

[venicesurfer]

i dont think george knew the difference since he didnt call him on it.

[pfc1369]

I was waiting for S'tpolous to ask Hadley if the Sh'ia and Sunni were in Tibet or Nepal.

Would have made for a little fun viewing...­.

[AmericanSinceFeb08]

I am appalled by the lack of knowledge of the world and its history by people in this Bush administration.

Another one to join the ranks of Mr. Jackson, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Brown, Mr. Libby, Mr. Goeglein, Mr. Cunningham and Ms. Meyers (these names just from the top of my head, no research necessary).

If McCain gets the White House, they will all be (re)considered for cabinet posts. The dumbing down of the executive branch continues. I hope that whenever our commander in chief has to make a tough decision about war, he can rely of intelligent, knowledgeable staff. I sincerely hope that we can take the country in a different direction. (They might bomb Jordan instead of Iran.....o­r even "we didn't know" Turkey (a NATO member).

[The Impartial]

The question is: "Do all of them, from GWB down, have any knowledge of the World and its history AT ALL?" They would not have taken us, the U.S, there to begin with, if they had known some of the culture of the Middle East.

[ailbhe]

How on earth did the interviewer not notice that he mentioned the wrong country seven times??!!

No suprise you ended up in Iraq.