Former president (Bush Sr.) faces hecklers in Kan.

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Source: AP

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- Former President George H.W. Bush faced a few hecklers Sunday at the University of Kansas as he reminisced about his career and reflected on the economic and international issues dominating the end of his son's presidency.

The elder Bush said it's too early to know how history will judge his son's two terms. He defended his son's recent oversight of the current war in Iraq after discussing the decision in the first Gulf War not to attempt to topple Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The former Republican president also dismissed the idea, advanced by many Democrats, that deregulation of the nation's financial markets led to the economic meltdown this fall. He argued for continued U.S. involvement with China, saying that nation does not want to dominate its neighbors.

The crowd of about 2,000 people was mostly friendly, but security officers escorted a half-dozen hecklers from the auditorium while Bush answered questions from Bill Lacy, director of the Dole Institute of Politics, and submitted by e-mail. The hecklers appeared to be critics of the current president, and none was arrested.

"These guys yelling at me, that doesn't bother me anymore," Bush said. "It goes with the territory, and you have to get used to it."



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