Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright criticized President George W. Bush's handling of the war on terror in a speech at Georgetown University Monday night.
Albright was the guest of honor at the fourth annual Snowdon Lecture, a speech by a public figure addressing the intersection of faith and social justice in the world. In the speech sponsored by the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, Albright attacked Bush's policies in Iraq and in third world countries.
"I hope I'm wrong, but I'm afraid that Iraq is going to go down in history as the greatest disaster in American foreign policy," she said. "We took our eye off the ball."
Bush's practice of calling terrorist organizations and governments haroboring them "evil" was challenged by Albright, who said that human nature does not lend itself to the absolutes Bush emphasizes.
"Evil depends on different perspectives," said Albright, who was the country's first female secretary of state. "This does not imply moral relativism, as critics may suggest, but instead acknowledgement that with great evil often comes a conviction of doing great good."
Albright urged listeners to win over the poorer nations of the world with kindness.
"The extremists appeal to fear," she said. "The moderates must appeal to hope."
Albright, the U.S. representative to the United Nations in the mid-1990s, recognized that it is easy to forget about the world's poor and sick because they do not directly benefit the United States by giving us money or oil.
"We cannot survive long as an island of prosperity in a sea of poverty and desperation," Albright said. "We will not have peace of mind if the world has not a piece of bread."
Albright began the lecture saying she would give her opinion "from a policy-maker's point of view." She said her observations are drawn from her experiences as the secretary of state during President Bill Clinton's second term and the many other public-service positions she has held.
Albright was the guest of honor at the fourth annual Snowdon Lecture, a speech by a public figure addressing the intersection of faith and social justice in the world. In the speech sponsored by the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, Albright attacked Bush's policies in Iraq and in third world countries.
"I hope I'm wrong, but I'm afraid that Iraq is going to go down in history as the greatest disaster in American foreign policy," she said. "We took our eye off the ball."
Bush's practice of calling terrorist organizations and governments haroboring them "evil" was challenged by Albright, who said that human nature does not lend itself to the absolutes Bush emphasizes.
"Evil depends on different perspectives," said Albright, who was the country's first female secretary of state. "This does not imply moral relativism, as critics may suggest, but instead acknowledgement that with great evil often comes a conviction of doing great good."
Albright urged listeners to win over the poorer nations of the world with kindness.
"The extremists appeal to fear," she said. "The moderates must appeal to hope."
Albright, the U.S. representative to the United Nations in the mid-1990s, recognized that it is easy to forget about the world's poor and sick because they do not directly benefit the United States by giving us money or oil.
"We cannot survive long as an island of prosperity in a sea of poverty and desperation," Albright said. "We will not have peace of mind if the world has not a piece of bread."
Albright began the lecture saying she would give her opinion "from a policy-maker's point of view." She said her observations are drawn from her experiences as the secretary of state during President Bill Clinton's second term and the many other public-service positions she has held.
