.....At the same podium Friday, Bush briefly discussed trade, preferring to focus on the threat terrorism poses to economic prosperity. He confused the occasion for the speech, thanking Australia for inviting him to an OPEC summit of oil exporters, instead of the APEC summit of Asia-Pacific economies that brought him to Sydney. He called Australians "Austrians" and fumbled the name of Myanmar's democratic opposition leader.
Perceptions of a distracted U.S. and a rising China have dogged the Bush administration all week, putting it on the defensive. As Bush headed to Australia—making a surprise stop in Iraq on the way—former State Department official Richard Armitage decried Washington's preoccupation with Iraq at Asia's expense in an interview with The Australian newspaper......
While Bush has done nothing but throw money at Iraq, other countries, like China, have widened their trade. Other countries have had better economic growth because they've been able to put money and resources into manufacturing, trade, and job creation. Bush just keeps dumping American money in Iraq.
I'm sure the Australians had some interesting things to say to each other after Bush called them "Austrians."