President Bush's father was forced into an emotional defense of his son yesterday in the Persian Gulf when an Arab audience launched a blistering surprise attack on his first-born.
"We do honor Americans, and I believe that they are highly respected in our country. However, we do not respect your son, and we do not respect what you are doing all over the world," college student Nevine Al Rumeisi told the former President at a leadership conference in the United Arab Emirates.
Her comment was roundly cheered by the business and political leaders gathered in once pro-American Abu Dhabi.
The elder Bush just looked stunned.

"It takes a lot of guts to tell a father what you said about his son when I just told you that the thing that matters to my heart is my family," he said. "My son is an honest man, he is working hard for peace, and how come everybody wants to go to the United States if the United States is so bad?"
That prompted another audience member, an American ex-pat, to tell Bush, "I think the remarks that you made about why people need to go to America to be very hostile and make the country look even worse."