Chretien Apologizes For Aide Calling Bush ‘moron’; Bush Apologizes For Pronouncing Ch

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CHRETIEN APOLOGIZES FOR AIDE CALLING BUSH ‘MORON’; BUSH APOLOGIZES FOR PRONOUNCING CHRETIEN ‘CRETIN’

NATO Summit Ends In Name-Calling Free-For-All

NATO Summit 2002 ended on a sour note in Prague today, with every world leader present insulting at least one other world leader in what observers described as a “name-calling free-for-all.”

The insults had started flying earlier in the summit, when an aide to Prime Minister Chretien of Canada called President George W. Bush a “moron” – a remark for which Mr. Chretien quickly apologized.

But moments after Mr. Chretien’s attempt to patch up Canadian-US relations, Mr. Bush seemed to stir the pot once more, telling reporters, “I accept Mr. Cretin’s apology.”

When asked if he was calling the Canadian Prime Minister “cretin,” Mr. Bush replied, “That’s his name, ain’t it?”

White House aides scrambled to tell Mr. Bush that he had mispronounced Monsieur Chretien’s name, after which the President apologized, saying, “It seems like I mispronounced that Cretin guy’s name. I owe that Cretin an apology.”

After hearing the President’s apology, aides to Mr. Bush reportedly “gave up” trying to correct him.

NATO’s rapid expansion may lead to similar embarrassing incidents in the future as world leaders struggle to learn how to pronounce each others’ names, according to Professor Douglas Idiut of the University of Minnesota.

“Given how many new members there are, it’s not surprising that they’re calling each other moron and cretin,” says Idiut.

The summit concluded with President Bush calling Prime Minister Juncker of Luxemburg “Mr. Junkie,” Prime Minister Aznar of Spain “Mr. *******,” and President Vladimir Putin of Russia “President Putz.”

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