Foreign leaders for Bush

Since I discovered that the Times of London is again accessible online without a subsciption, I've been poking around on their Web site a bit.  Foreign editor Bronwen Maddox takes a look at the foreign leaders who are supporting Bush's election in Putin plays his cards in the US election 10/19/04.

By her count, the leaders of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey and Russia are among those who would like to see Bush win.  As she dryly notes, it is "a distinctly small group."  If Turkey seems an anomaly, in her view US support for Turkish membership in the European Union is the reason.

She analyzes Putin's all-but-official endorsement of the Bush campaign as follows:

What does Bush give Putin in return? A lot. Tolerance of his crackdown on mainly Muslim Chechnya.

Tolerance of his authoritarian moves to increase his power over the regions, and over the supposedly independent Yukos, Russia’s best-run oil company. And a few baubles thrown in, such as US help in quashing a move to expel Russia from the G8 group of leading countries. The sense of mutual understanding is no surprise.

To explain it, there is no need to go back to Bush’s mawkish claim that he looked into Putin’s eyes and understood his soul. It has been years since Moscow looked warmly on the notion of a Democrat in the White House. There is a residual sense of resentment against the Clinton era for sending a stream of economists flying in to Moscow.

In Russian eyes, they helped to bring about hyperinflation and encouraged the sell-off of state assets at what turned out to be knock down prices. Kerry has also said he would be tough on Russia over human rights.

She doesn't say so, but presumably Tony Blair would also be unhappy to see Bush leave the White House in January.

Oh, and then there's this:  Bush Receives Endorsement From Iran by Ali Akbar Dareini, AP, 10/19/04.  The headline isn't kidding.