Former President George Bush has a love affair with conservative Republicans and the Teaparty here in America. As far as they are concerned, the 43rd president could not do no wrong and was the best thing that ever happened to America, next to their supreme idol, Ronald Reagan that is. But in Switzerland, it’s quite a different story, as they took the initiative to cancel a scheduled fund raiser by the former president, because of “security concerns.”
The organizer of the event in Geneva, the United Israel Appeal, informed Bush of the cancellation on Friday. The Associated Press reports the following;
The Swiss daily newspaper Tribune de Genève reported Saturday that the charity feared that protests against Mr. Bush planned by left-wing groups could result in violence.
“The calls to demonstrate were sliding into dangerous terrain,” the charity’s lawyer, Robert Equey, told the newspaper. “The organizers claimed to be able to maintain order, but warned they could not be held responsible for any outbursts.”
Other possible reasons for the cancellation? The report continues;
Several human rights groups including Amnesty International and the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights had planned to ask Swiss prosecutors to open a criminal investigation against Mr. Bush over the admission in his recent memoirs that he personally authorized the waterboarding of terrorism suspects.
“Whatever Bush or his hosts say, we have no doubt he canceled his trip to avoid our case,” the Center for Constitutional Rights and others said in a statement.
