“Despite all the warnings that this misleading framework distorts reality and could lead to disaster, Team Bush just blows by the stop signs and continues until it crashes into reality, causing one catastrophe after another. The destruction caused by this flawed policy framework is strewn all over the Middle East — Lebanon, where Bush and Condi Rice foolishly encouraged Israel’s ill conceived war against Hezbolla but managed only to weaken the Lebanese government, Iraq, and now Palestine.”

But what if this is the intent of the Bush Israel plan to disrupt the Middle East. Moslems and Arabs killing Moslems and Arabs?

Don’t you think this bodes will for Israel by reducing the Moslem and Arab population?

Dennis

Rahm, a one trick pony is a hell of a lot better than a no trick pony.

Israel was not willing to save the face of those raining rockets on its settlements, and Hamas was not willing to forego whatever leverage and self pride the rockets provided, and so a possible opportunity to avoid the far worse violence to come was missed.

The implicit message in Hamas was using missiles without mentioning all the other stuff going on (in any given time period the death toll amongst Palestinian civilians is ALWAYS higher than Israeli citizens) leaves an impression that Hamas was comitting violence when Israel wasn’t. This simply isn’t the case.

As it happens, during the period in question, Hamas did agree to a ceasefire, and while I don’t recall if they were using rockets at the time I do know that they stopped all of their suicide bombing attacks and I do know that they didn’t start up violence again until Israel shelled a Palestinian beach.

This isn’t just my opinion, scholars who have studied the Irish peace process (which worked) have stated that by the protocols used in those talks Hamas would have been considered a good faith actor worthy of a place at the table… and Israel wouldn’t.

Finally, the civil war in Palestine was ginned up by explicit US policy of providing guns and aid to Fatah.

As usual lately, the US showed an exquisite ability to pick the weaker, more corrupt faction.

…
Other than the Korean War, intervention in Vietnam and recognizing Israel, Truman hardly made any other mistakes.

Would you rather Truman have let North Korea conquer the South? You a commie or something?

What “intervention in Vietnam”? Didn’t we have a treaty which pushed us into it? Wasn’t the real build-up only years later when LBJ and the Gulf of Tonkin revved it up?

In the rear-view mirror Israel might look wrong, but at the time it was absolutely the best solution they could stomach. We live with their choices and to grouch about it now is just whiny bitching and not productive.

katymine @ 51

Good Morning from AZ….

just cracks me up that the Immigration bill has risen from the dead now… The Repugs here are just in a lather over it that the VERY interesting thing is that they have joined US in our recall effort for McCain AND now want to push for Kyl….. teehee….

The more that bill is put on the front burner, the more it destroys the Repug party here. One friend said that this is Ted Kennedy’s revenge for NCLB …. that Kennedy knows the immigration bill will never pass but while it is out there it will tear the GOP asunder….

I love Teddy.
Teddy is a masterful politician…

Looks like he’s using the same tactic on Republicans that Bushies are using against Sunni & Shia in Iraq — let ‘em kill each other while we sit quietly nearby watching. In Iraq it’s immoral since neither was apparently our enemy. In Arizona it’s hilarious.

Hamas has widely advertised its mission to destroy Israel for over ten years. It has systematically fostered genocidal hatred of Zionism and Jews, worldwide. It has put guns and demonization in the hands and heads of a full generation of Arab Palestinians. Now it seeks to harvest its returns on this investment. …

Once it became clear, near the end of the Clinton administration, Arafat couldn’t get political support to sigh a treaty with Israel there had to be something other than the long long never-ending internecine war — they had to go to full-blooded all-out war. That’s where we are now. It’s only in this mode of war that Golda Meir’s wisdom will be made more clear. She said the war will end when the mothers value their children’s lives more than the war. With a low-level of violence it might’ve been acceptable, but with a lot more violence they will quickly discover peace is better.

Sadly, it has to be noted there are hawks in Israel (and around the world) who almost must learn this the hard way.

At least we can hope for that.

Which side do you think an Hillary/A*P*C Administration, or Israel biased Congress would support — or more to the point willing to arm?

Remembering her colleagues both Schumer and Albright are still into total spread the democracy ‘intervention’ mode… in the ME through their membership for one with the:

Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1475

Why when “…the U.S. economy is not dependent on Mideast oil; 70% of U.S. energy supplies do not originate in the Middle East. The United States is actually more dependent on Latin American oil than it is on Saudi and Persian Gulf oil…” are we still trying to change the ME in our own image?

Time to Ignore the Middle East?
Leon Hadar | June 7, 2007
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/rw/4294

Seriously, with our current front runners would they have caused even more chaos with their track record of having such an un – “evenhandedness’ approach…

Why aren’t WE asking our own candidates the hard FOREIGN POLICY type questions so we aren’t jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.?

Great to see you.

Come forward a couple threads to Christy’s, and talk with us.

I just finished reading a phenomenal and non-partisan book by Yasmina Khadra– “The Attack”– well worth the read and about this painful tragedy.

It’s the Occupation……..imho. It’s madness to plant a flower with one hand while pulling another with the other–(paraphrased)

Hope to visit soon again when the ‘puter problems are resolved! In the meantime, I’ll continue to hope y’all are well and that peace and justice emerge everywhere that people suffer.