Bush Warns U.S. Against the Rise of Isolationism

SYDNEY, Australia —  Former President George Bush spoke out Wednesday against the rising influence of isolationists such as Ross Perot and Sen. Jesse Helms in the United States, urging America to resist “that faulted siren’s call.”

Speaking to executives at a leadership forum, Bush took note of his fellow Republicans’ victory in this month’s congressional elections.

The Republican sweep put Helms--an outspoken foe of foreign aid and perpetual critic of U.S. foreign policy--in line to be chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“The President is going to be under pressure from some of these quasi-isolationists at home,” Bush said.

He did not mention Helms by name, but did take a swipe at Perot, who may have cost him reelection in 1992 by running as an independent and siphoning off conservative votes.

“We cannot listen to the Ross Perots of the world and pull back into isolation, saying ‘Let someone else do it,’ ” Bush said.

The former President said the United States should opt for quiet diplomacy instead of lecturing other countries on human rights.

“I think sometimes my country makes a mistake by lecturing too loudly,” Bush said, adding that the United States has its own human rights problems.

Bush painted a mixed picture of human rights in Asia, saying economic reforms in China have improved human rights since the 1989 Tian An Men Square massacre, but that more needs to be done in East Timor and Singapore.