Bush caught swearing at G8 summit
17/07/2006 - 13:51:29Not realising his remarks were being picked up by a microphone, US President George Bush told Tony Blair today that Syria should press Hezbollah “to stop doing this sh*t".
Bush’s remarks were picked up by closed-circuit television at the G8 summit in St Petersburg, Russia, as the leaders were being filmed sitting down to eat.
“See, the irony is what they really need to do is to get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this sh*t and it’s over,” Bush told Blair as he chewed on a buttered roll before the Group of Eight leaders began their lunch.
Blair, whose remarks were not as clearly heard, appeared to be pressing Bush about the importance of getting international peacekeepers into the Middle East.
Bush also spoke to other leaders, and his unscripted comments ranged from escalating Middle East violence to light banter about his preference for Diet Coke and a sweater he received as a gift from Blair.
Bush expressed his frustration with the United Nations and his disgust with the militant Islamic group and its backers in Syria as he talked to Blair during the closing lunch at the Group of Eight summit.
He told Blair he felt like telling UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who visited the gathered leaders, to get on the phone with Syrian President Bashar Assad to “make something happen".
He suggested US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might visit the region soon.
As he chatted with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bush expresses amazement that it will take Putin and an unidentified leader just as long to fly home to Moscow as it will take him to fly back to Washington. Putin’s reply could not be heard.
“You eight hours? Me too. Russia’s a big country and you’re a big country. Takes him eight hours to fly home. Not Coke, diet Coke. … Russia’s big and so is China. Yo Blair, what’re you doing? Are you leaving,” Bush said.
Bush thanked Blair for a gift of a sweater and joked that he knew Blair had picked it out personally. “Absolutely,” Blair responded, with a laugh.
Bush, a stickler for keeping to his schedule, could also be heard saying: “We have to keep this thing moving. I have to leave at 2:15. They want me out of here to free up their security forces.”
Bush also remarked that some of the speakers at the meeting had the tendency to talk too long.
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