As Violence Ignites In The Middle East, Bush Falls Back On Standard Talking Points
As Violence Ignites In The Middle East, Bush Falls Back On Standard Talking Points
Reacting to a new conflict igniting on Israel’s northern border, President Bush stuck to his standard talking points about freedom and democracy during today’s press conference with German Chancellor Merkel:
We’re concerned about the fragile democracy in Lebanon. We’ve been working very hard through the United Nations and with partners to strengthen the democracy in Lebanon. The Lebanese people have democratic aspirations, which is being undermined by the actions and activities of Hizbollah.
Indeed, the United States must support the advance of freedom and democracy in the Middle East. But simply holding elections – the focus of the Bush administration – will not create stability in the region. Consider:
- In Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, elections have empowered, not defeated, Islamist extremists like Hizbollah and Hamas who espouse violence.
- In Iraq, two elections and a constitutional referendum still has not brought freedom or stability to the country, which slips further into violence each day.
Democracy is not simply about going to the polls. It also means having institutions operating within the rule of law, a system of checking the power of strong executive bodies, and political actors that respect the rights of women and religious minorities.
We need to think beyond elections and take serious diplomatic steps to promote stability in the Middle East.
– Brian Katulis
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About time, TP.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:14 amThat’s a rather Israel-centric write-up, don’t you think?
Perhaps if some of the facts were known, we could have a more informed and balanced discussion.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:17 amTalking points & vague philosophy will not end this.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:18 amIsrael will not end this.
Lebanon will not end this.
Voting will not end this.
This has been going on here for 2,500 years, and
it’s getting damn sickening.
If you can’t play nice, maybe we should take all that
land back & give it to the African refugees.
Or ‘Globalize’ it as an historic area where all the world
citizens can share it, because this sure as HELL isn’t working.
“and political actors that respect the rights…” – - It may be descriptive, it may even be accurate, but it’s an unfortunate choice of words.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:18 amWhat has to happen, as a first step, is the Lebanese government in Beirut must denounce the terrorist tactics of Hezbollah.
Until they have the militants under control, their ability to ensure security in their territory is compromised.
Lebanon did not kidnap the IDF soldiers but in failing to rein in Hezbollah, they are complicit through dereliction.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:24 amI have been reading ex CIA analysts essays on the middle east for almost three years now…who better understands the volatility of that part of the world than those that made it their business.
Let’s Stop a US/Israeli War on Iran
By BILL and KATHLEEN CHRISTISON
July 14th, 2006 at 11:26 amFormer CIA analysts
Too late, Brian. Nice thought though. Serious skilled diplomacy may have worked, but it’s too late. Really, thinking on it, when Bush was appointed in 2000, it became too late. Many didn’t know it, perhaps, but that disastrous voting fraud appointment to the oval office doomed the middle east because Bush is no diplomat. He’s a self-described “war president”. War presidents deal with problems by militarizing. Look what his solution to the border issue problem is… send in the troops!
July 14th, 2006 at 11:26 amThat is, unless you have a 100,000 people drowning in an American city. Then he can’t find the troops. Then he sends in airheads for photo ops.
Israel is in charge of this conflict now, not the US. Buckle up!
BK: In Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, elections have empowered, not defeated, Islamist extremists like Hizbollah and Hamas who espouse violence.
The same must be said of Iraq.
The Al Dawa party and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution of Iraq are fundamentalistIslamic factionwhich have been trying to forcefully transform a secular Iraq into a fundamentalist Iraq during the twenty years prior to the deposing of Saddam Hussein.
Hezbollah is widely held to be an offshoot of the Al Dawa party of Iraq.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:27 amTHE ROOT – THE ROOT – THE ROOT
ISRAEL CREATED HEZBOLLAH!
July 14th, 2006 at 11:27 amThe only steps we can take to “promote stability in the Middle East†involve getting the destabilizing forces out of the Middle East. DUH.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:27 amLebanon did not kidnap the IDF soldiers but in failing to rein in Hezbollah, they are complicit through dereliction.
Comment by Chase
So if American neo-nazis or the KKK kidnapped canadian police officers or soldiers, then Canada would have right to bomb the US according to your flawed logic.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:27 amThank you for posting an article about this.
If you read the link to the press conference, you will be able to note a marked difference between the White House speech writers and the War-Time President.
It is almost as if we’re watching a movie where a buffoon has been elected President and must play the part as the world collapses around him.
Israel’s response to the kidnapping of its soldiers is a radical change from earlier tactics of surgical strikes to free hostages.
The wildfire has started, and the United States has blocked the only international voice capable of putting it out. It will burn its course, unchecked.
I pause a moment in silent reverie for the innocent men, women, children, husbands, wives, brothers and sisters who have, or will suffer and die in this conflagration.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:28 amIt doesn’t matter to them – the administration – it seems to me they side with the rapturists – somehow they think they get to take their fortunes with them.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:29 amIn Iraq, elections have empowered, not defeated, Islamist extremists like Al Dawa who have espoused violence.
Al Dawa, the party of PM Al Maliki, is a terrorist group with direct and long standing ties with Iran.
A `suicider’ from the Al-Dawa party bombed the US embassy in Kuwait in 1983.
In 1984, four men from Al Dawa highjacked a Kuwait airbus travelling from Kuwait to Pakistan.
They held the plane for six days.
During this time, these four men from Al Dawa shot and killed two Americans: Mr Charles Hegna and Mr William Stanford.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:30 am“It is almost as if we’re watching a movie where a buffoon has been elected President and must play the part as the world collapses around him.”
Too bad its not a movie, but is sadly real, the president is a buffoon.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:31 amTalking points are lame, what is needed is real talk, peace talks that have substance and where everyone is treated with equanimity.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:31 am“We’ve been working very hard through the United Nations and with partners to strengthen the democracy in Lebanon. ”
Working hard, hard work, working hard. Sound familiar? Working hard doing what? If I have a coworker who claims to be working hard but seems to be producing little, I look into how they work. Often a minor correction will allow all that hard work to pay off instead of being poured down the drain. Sometimes it turns out that they were working hard on something other than what they were supposed to be doing, or not working hard at all. Claims about working hard are useless. If that whole “CEO presidency” schtick is supposed to mean anything, it must mean that our president is just as accountable for results as would be the case if he were in business.
“Democracy is not simply about going to the polls. It also means having institutions operating within the rule of law, a system of checking the power of strong executive bodies, and political actors that respect the rights of women and religious minorities.”
Democracy begins at home, eh? ;)
July 14th, 2006 at 11:33 amThis has got to be the ReichWing’s Wet Dream.
Seems like Bush Cabal supporters have been slobbering all over themselves to have some Armigeddon-like event in the middle east. They LOVE de-stabilization in the name of Jesus.
But who would Jesus bomb?
July 14th, 2006 at 11:35 am#14
July 14th, 2006 at 11:36 amOne thing I always thought of the rapture crap thing is that is says that the many people(don’t know how many) will ascend to heaven while the rest live in a hell on earth. How do you ascend to heaven? By dieing. SO great number of people will die and the rest will live in a hell on Earth. Yep that sounds like where we are heading.
bears repeating…
What is so terribly sick about the whole situation in the “Holy Land†is that the evangelicals are having their FIELD DAY! This is exactly the scenario they envisioned. They will throw ALL their support behind Israel, board planes to the hot spot and CONVERT the JEWS that can be converted. Then their jesus will descend and ascend them to heaven. Then the fun part begins for them. We disbelievers of the rapture will be left behind to suffer from disease, famine, etc., and they get to watch in glee.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:43 am“Democracy is not simply about going to the polls. It also means having institutions operating within the rule of law, a system of checking the power of strong executive bodies, and political actors that respect the rights of women and religious minorities.”
This applies to the US as well thanks to Bushco. Why should they do elsewhere something that they are incapable of doing at home?
July 14th, 2006 at 11:44 am#12 – If the US said “we can’t control them, so we won’t even try.” That, in effect, is what the Lebanese government has said. They permit the Hezbollah paramilitary to operate in the south. That policy must be ended immediately.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:44 amWayne, you asked “So if American neo-nazis or the KKK kidnapped canadian police officers or soldiers, then Canada would have right to bomb the US according to your flawed logic. ”
Well, yes. And no. Because the US and Canadian governments ARE responsible for ANY military attack coming from behind their borders. Canada can fully expect the US authorities to find and stop the group that fires on Canada. And we would do it. Because if we did not, we would be turning US soveriegnty over to the neo-Nazi or the kkk.
Oh, wait, we already did… with ELECTIONS!
Can you imagine Canada allowing a group that fires rockets on America to operate openly within it’s borders?
Your comparison is not a good one. Try another tack, Emma.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:46 amThe Geneva Convention perhaps?
In Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, elections have empowered, not defeated, Islamist extremists like Hizbollah and Hamas who espouse violence.
It’s like we have absolutely ZERO understanding of the culture in that part of the world (not us specifically, but our country as a whole). If we take the time to do a bit of research, we will understand why this is the case and why Democracy doesn’t not work with their culture.
- In Iraq, two elections and a constitutional referendum still has not brought freedom or stability to the country, which slips further into violence each day.
There were reasons Saddam was an asshole. It is what works with their culture.
There are tribes of people who culturally think cannibalism is acceptable. To many of us, they are barbaric, because we value people above all other forms of life in our culture. To them, we are ridiculous because we do not understand their rituals. It is purely cultural. This is another of many examples of why we must understand the culture of a person before we judge him.
Even in Democratic elections, a culture with a violent ideology will elect others who share their violent ideology. Think about it.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:48 am#21, yes, it would behoove us to ensure that any politician we elect is not in a death pact with his church.
Who knew?
Every****-ing-body in the US knew!
Collectively, we are the clowns of the Solar System.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:52 amIn case there were any lingering doubts, the Bush Doctrine can now be pronounced officially dead.
For more on the short and unhappy life of the Bush Doctrine’s political expediency, intellectual dishonesty and strategic confusion, see:
“The Myth of the Bush Doctrine.”
July 14th, 2006 at 11:57 am#12
Only IF the U.S. ALLOWED militants armed with military weapons to operate inside the it’s borders and carry out continuous terrorist bombings and firing rockets into Canada…then yes. Nice try. LOL!
July 14th, 2006 at 12:06 pm#25
Democracy didn’t work in our culture (anglo-European) either….along time ago.
July 14th, 2006 at 12:11 pmThe Bush Administration doesn’t believe in things like “institutions operating within the rule of law, a system of checking the power of strong executive bodies, and political actors that respect the rights of women and religious minorities,” how are they to encourage them in our allies like Israel, let alone our or our allies’ opponents?
July 14th, 2006 at 12:12 pmGWB is just SOOOOOO concerned with the ‘fragile democracy’ in Lebanon. My pudendum he is! That’s why he said that Israel has the right to defend herself. And then we vetoed a UN resolution, aimed at making Israel cool her jets. Yup, GWB is clearly concerned about Lebanon, I’m sure they are grateful for his ’support’. Snort.
July 14th, 2006 at 12:18 pm**CHECK OUT: today’s Noam Chomsky interview on the Israeli attacks and jounalist Ron Suskind’s interview about his new book “the One Percent Doctrine” at democracynow.com. Worth reading
I like the Bit in Ron’s interview about Cheney’s nickname in the CIA, Edgar,after Edgar Bergan the ventriloquist.
July 14th, 2006 at 12:18 pmWhat has to happen, as a first step, is the American government in Washington must denounce the world oil domination of the Bush administration.
Until they have the neocons under control, their ability to ensure security in their territory is compromised.
The US did not start the war Isreal is fighting but in failing to rein in the Bush administration, they are complicit through dereliction.
July 14th, 2006 at 12:19 pmdemocracynow.org
July 14th, 2006 at 12:20 pmSo, if the Crypts or Bloods kidnap some Canadians, you think that Canada has the right to bomb the US?
Because the US government and local governments have not reined in either one of those terrorist gangs.
July 14th, 2006 at 12:26 pmDemocracy didn’t work in our culture (anglo-European) either….along time ago.
Comment by Tracy — July 14, 2006 @ 12:11 pm
Nonsense. Guess you’ve never heard of Ancient Greece – who created the system? A couple thousand years ago.
Your fear and desperation to justify killing people are showing again Tracy… BOO!
July 14th, 2006 at 12:27 pmWayne,
I guess you beat me to that one.
July 14th, 2006 at 12:28 pmTracy,
Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution
Democracy was our choice…. Hence we revolted to declare independence.
July 14th, 2006 at 12:28 pmHey, haven’t Mexican drug gangs murdered and abducted Americans on the border several times in the last couple of years? Attack Mexico, they have oil!
July 14th, 2006 at 12:34 pmWell I don’t know ,do you think perhaps the fact that hamas fares so well at this juncture in democratic elections could have anything at all to do with injustices faced by arabs in palestine at the hand of Isreal and the US.or the history of the wests endless occupations of the entire region over a century.Nah ….they must just be savages without a culture that values basic human rights.
July 14th, 2006 at 12:38 pm…But I don’t know ,maybe a quick look at the votes at the UN will tell us something about how the rest of the world views Isreals behavior over the past half century.Oh big suprise the whole world has stood virtually united in condemning Isreals behavior and the US vetoed countless sanctions by the world community against the Isreali state.Gee ,Looks like global opinions swing toward the plight of the arabs affected by isreals occupation and reprehensible behavior……The whole world must be wrong….
TAKE THE BLINDERS OFF ,I could care less what your ethnicity is ,Do you ?…Then maybe your racist !!!!!!!
When will both parties realize that it is not advisable at all to try and promote democracy at the point of a gun?
July 14th, 2006 at 12:38 pm#35 – No (and it’s Crips).
The reason is because the US is actively trying to police the Crips, Bloods and other violent street-gangs. Lebanon, on the other hand, has said it cannot so it will not try and rein in Hezbollah.
If the US threw it hands up and said “uncle”, the situation would be different.
Stop being so obtuse.
July 14th, 2006 at 12:40 pmSo what is your plan TP to stop this conflict and bring Peace to the MIddle east? Are you guys advocating the removal of all Jews from Israel?
I fail to understand what your are standing for other then just taking shots at leaders and there policies. Don’t attack someones plan unless you have one yourself!
As far as I am concerned, it was a mistake back in the day to create Israel. I also believe that we HAVE to support them now as simply removing them is obviously not an answer. We do need to better understand the culture of the middle east, but they also need to better understand ours. America will always promote democracy whether you guys like it or not. We will never tolorate terrorism either.
So, what should we be telling Israel? Stop attacking the terrorists that kidnap your soldiers? Should we tell them to only use as much force as the terrorist use (doesn’t make sense at all)?
Personally, I believe we should demand that the UN put a military force in Israel, Lebanan, Syria, Iran, and Palestine for starters. This military force will protect Israel. It will also mean that Israel could not attack anyone. Furthermore, this UN force would be able to remove the terrorist groups from the countries above. They could even decide to overthrow leaders and start democracies. This would all be a UN mission that the free world could support and get behind.
The whole point is to force Israel not to attack its neighbors that are harboring terrorists and to force it’s neighbors to remove the terrorists or risk losing their governments all together.
July 14th, 2006 at 12:40 pmFrom the Noam Chomsky interview on democracy.org he says “It was when Israel abducted two Gaza civilians, a doctor and his brother. We don’t know their names. You don’t know the names of victims. They were taken to Israel, presumably, and nobody knows their fate. The next day, something happened, which we do know about, a lot. Militants in Gaza, probably Islamic Jihad, abducted an Israeli soldier across the border.”
I find that very disturbing. You don’t hear about it because THEY don’t want you to know.
Once again, religion is sending us all into a hell on earth.
July 14th, 2006 at 12:41 pmHey if we were going to attack other countries because they can’t control their fanatics wouldn’t Saudi arabia be first on the list,the 911 terrorists were virtually all Saudi.
July 14th, 2006 at 12:44 pmI wholeheartedly agree with #2.
Israel’s economic strangulation of Gaza and the West Bank is a startling case of one country denying the rights, aspirations and even livelihood of another people.
Why, exactly why, are Hizbollah and Hamas described as Islamic extremists and Israel is not described as Jewish extremists?
July 14th, 2006 at 12:46 pmGary thats probably a GREAT idea!!!!!
July 14th, 2006 at 12:46 pmJust so we remember that innocent Israeli civilians are under attack as well.
Both sides should end hostilities, Lebanon should move in and broker a deal with Hezbollah to permanently lay down arms and Israel should support them as much as possible.
How about that for a way out?
July 14th, 2006 at 12:50 pmAnyone seeing Isreals behavior in the region as civilized is either blind or jewish !!!
July 14th, 2006 at 12:53 pmViewing other people as essentially different from us because of race is racism .Viewing ourselves as essentilly different from others based on race is racism.
#47
How could the capitalist, corporate media ever let us forget?
Wake up, friend. You may want to investigate the possibility that Hizbollah and the Palestinians have legitimate grievances against Isreal. This is much better course than a one-sided, pro-Israeli, knee-jerk reaction of an ignoramous because that is what you always hear!
July 14th, 2006 at 12:54 pmComment by Jesus Christ God of WAR — July 14, 2006 @ 11:35 am
You know, but since others apparently do not: The only group of people Jesus exercised his wrath against was the “money changers” – the people who sought to make a profit from religion.
But, can you see a correlation between that, and the attack on the Twin Towers?
July 14th, 2006 at 12:54 pmIsrael Ignites World War 3 in Middle East
Friday 14th of July 2006
by Jay Randal
Israel yesterday declared war on Lebanon, when Israeli jets bombed the Beirut International airport, and invaded the southern border with tanks and troops!
The fascistic government of Israel also threatens to attack Syria, and Iran at any moment, so WWIII is on the verge of being ignited in the entire Middle East region!
President George W. Bush has willfully allowed Israel to commit barbaric aggression for NO legal legitimate reasons and all the troops in Iraq are in dire jeopardy!
It’s the duty of the US Congress to prevent a president from exceeding the Constitutional limits, on executive power, so the Congress must cut-off all aid to Israel!
The Israeli ambassador should be told to depart from the United States ASAP, and the Israeli government informed that US relations are severed permanently!
Israel has decided to endanger the entire world, with its infantile antics of warmongering stupidity, so the entire world must forthrightly condemn their actions!
( Jay Randal, political activist and writer in Stone Mountain, Georgia.)
July 14th, 2006 at 12:55 pmStop being so obtuse.
Comment by Chase — July 14, 2006 @ 12:40 pm
Chase,
Even assuming -for the sake of the argument- that a retaliatory attack from Israel on Lebanon is justified, the strikes carried on Lebanon are way out of proportion.
What Israel is engaging in is -in a nutshell- collective punishment on all Lebanese. Israeli forces have targeted entire neighborhoods and civilian infrastructure such as airports, bridges, power stations, radio and TV stations.
Collective punishments and targeting civilian infrastructure are against international law.
July 14th, 2006 at 1:00 pmAbout time, TP.
Comment by TripMaster Monkey — July 14, 2006 @ 11:14 am
Dont want to piss on TP, I think it is a good effort to keep changes going, but this thread was posted by a guest…mmmmm.
July 14th, 2006 at 1:02 pmHey, haven’t Mexican drug gangs murdered and abducted Americans on the border several times in the last couple of years?
July 14th, 2006 at 1:06 pmNo, they dont.
[...] Question not asked of the press: Does anybody care? Pigs will continue to fly as long as reporters let them. And what Bush does will fly until somebody shoots it down. Something reporters might want to ask about: “Bush hasn’t spoken to any Middle Eastern leaders in the past couple of weeks. Why? [...]
July 14th, 2006 at 1:07 pmYeah chase Isreali civilians are also suffering but at a very unbalanced ratio,AN eye for an eye might have been a usefull philosophy 3000 years agobut I think it is obviously outmoded and should be relegated to antiquity ,where it belongs
July 14th, 2006 at 1:10 pmIn the old testament god tells the Jews thru his profits they should commit genocide repeatedly ,but not to stay only to rape ,burn and pillage ,and that slavery is fine as long as it is not another jew.When they arrive at the promised land the people there ,who have never seen a Jew will be so terrified they’ll fall on their own swords(GO TEAM ).Sounds like the rational used by every conquering people to dehumanize their enemy since then.
Oh and a little foot note(correct me if I’m wrong) there hasn’t been war between jews and palestinians for 1000’s of years.The romans scattered the jews 2000 years ago,and these hostilities have only been with us since the creation of Isreal 60 years ago.
Considering that Israel recieves several billion in US aid and has many investment ties to the US, and that Palestinian groups are starved for cash, the US could easily control the situation by threatening to cut (and actually cutting) cash and logistic support for Israel, and by offering funding for moderate Palestinian groups (we are the world’s last superpower, remember?). However, there are those in both Iran and Israel (and other places) who idiotically hope to use a violent and chaotic situation to strengthen their own hand, and who also seem to have forgotten the ‘Great War’, the ArchDuke Ferdinand, and the Berlin-to-Baghdad oil railway (blown up by the Brits in 1917). The rest of the world is hoping the peace pipe will be smoked soon.
July 14th, 2006 at 1:15 pmDemocracy is not simply about going to the polls. It also means having institutions operating within the rule of law, a system of checking the power of strong executive bodies, and political actors that respect the rights of women and religious minorities.
Democracy also means that the shots are called by the people living in the country, not by a foriegn power on the other side of the globe.
Just what “rule of law” are we talking about? Whose law? Does the same law that applies to Hamas apply to the US Republican Party?
If somebody wants to elect “Islamist extremists who espouse violence,” that is their right. If the people they elect end up actually carrying out violence, that may be our business, but who they elect is not.
July 14th, 2006 at 1:15 pmiraelis are f. criminal. these pricks are still occupying land that doesn’t even belong to them. why is is ok for them to kidnap soldiers from syria and palenstine in which theyare still holding and it is ok? so why isn’t anyone in outrage over israel for their kidnaps and repeated attempts of agression. and when the muslim fight back everyone has a problem. the muslims have the right to defend themselves. folks this is not a u.s. led war, we are fighting the israelis war. since we borrowed 65% of the world money loaned and war is the best machine for producing money we have alot of debt to pay. to be the baddest who have to be capable of being the baddest. and this gov. is a bunch broke ass cowards. world power my butt, first you need money. we can’t even control what we started. please stop the nonsense.
July 14th, 2006 at 1:17 pmanyone remember the warsaw ghetto,The lesson learned ?As long as its happening to someone else its allright .Right?
July 14th, 2006 at 1:17 pmKnow any um pa pa songsHey nice lederhosen
July 14th, 2006 at 1:20 pm#40- Erroll, one of the parties has known this ALL along, and the other one had no intention of promoting democracy, no matter what they claim. After every other excuse failed, this one finally worked for them, WHEW!! And with Arafat’s passing, followed by Sharon’s continued “Terri Schiavo” impersonation, the opportunity to make some real progress was wasted by BushCo, due to their own warmongering ways. But NOW they are paying attention, and making everything worse, like always. It is the one skill they have mastered, unfortunately for the world. This is all BushCo, baby, they don’t like to share anything but the blame. And they are VERY willing to give that all away.
July 14th, 2006 at 1:21 pm#51 Jay, Bravo, I agree and thank you for the post…….Blessings
July 14th, 2006 at 1:23 pmStop being so obtuse.
Comment by Chase — July 14, 2006 @ 12:40 pm
Chase,
Even assuming -for the sake of the argument- that a retaliatory attack from Israel on Lebanon is justified, the strikes carried on Lebanon are way out of proportion.
What Israel is engaging in is -in a nutshell- collective punishment on all Lebanese. Israeli forces have targeted entire neighborhoods and civilian infrastructure such as airports, bridges, power stations, radio and TV stations.
Collective punishments and targeting civilian infrastructure are against international law.
Comment by Gregor Samsa
July 14th, 2006 at 1:25 pm============
Gregor,
As you no doubt already know,Israel has a history of out-of-proportion retaliation.
And it never stops the violence.
They need to seriously re-think their policies–or they may not have any defenders left in the world.
Anyone see ‘Munich’?
July 14th, 2006 at 1:33 pmI found another blog that mentions that Israel kidnapped two civilians the day before thr first soldier was kidnapped. http://www.gnn.tv/headlines/9724/A_Black_Flag_Over_Israel
And from sf.indymedia.org http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/06/1730222_comment.php
It appears that two articles about this are out there but of course the main stream media won’t touch this with a ten foot pole.
July 14th, 2006 at 1:34 pmPost 63 > Thank you Sharon > I believe that Bush gave the green light for Israel to attack Lebanon, then to attack Syria, and Iran too! Rumsfeld was just in Iraq a couple of days ago, so the Neocon plans are being implimented to attack Iran! Israel is being used to set off the new war, so Bush cannot be blamed for starting it! WWIII has arrived everyone > thanks to Bush!
July 14th, 2006 at 1:41 pmSuppose a Mexican drug lord ambushed a group of our border patrol agents, killing some and kidnapping a couple of them > would it be justified to declare war on Mexico for the acts of one crazed drug lord? NO it would NOT be justified to bomb the entire nation of Mexico, but taking out the drug lord would be appropriate action! Israel has used the capture of a couple of their soldiers, by thugs, as an excuse to declare war on Lebanon, then to insinuate that Syria and Iran were involved to justify attacking them too! Israel and the Bush Regime are pulling a con job on the world again to mask their aggression for controlling the entire Middle East for OIL!
July 14th, 2006 at 1:50 pmJay, don’t forget Israel started this entire mess by arresting 10 Palestenians and others and turning off all the power to Palestine. Would guess it limited water as well during the hot time of year. Then we have the holding out of the funds they were suposto get from the U.S. Which inturn ment no food or medical supplies. All the while Israel get’s all the goodies…..I remember 50 years of crap instigated by Israel and then when other countries complain the U.S. backs Israel. Just like Iraq in one way…..We have no right to support one nation over another to pillige and occupy…We need to get out of Iraq and we need to drop Israel like a hot potato, right after we bitch slap bull shit bush and Israel for their waring murderious way’s…..Blessings
July 14th, 2006 at 2:04 pmBoy, the market is taking another tumble today and CNN is reporting that the Palestinians have blown their border fence with Egypt and Palestinians denied access are flowing back into Gaza and being fired upon. I wonder who else and what else is flowing in from Egypt along with the Palestinians.
July 14th, 2006 at 2:17 pm#70 Individual criminal actions do not compare to state sponsored terrorism and aggression. Point? Intention,premeditation,and calculation are completely different when considering the violent actions of a large group(nation) vs an individual.
July 14th, 2006 at 2:29 pmThis is a little unfair–El Busho says a lot of things, but this time he’s not entirely wrong. Lebanon _did_ have a budding democracy; it just didn’t know how to come up with enough force to kick out Hezbollah. It’s not as if they overwhelmingly invited Hezbollah in to sit on their ministries. In fact, this may be one of the few places where giving enough firepower to the people who want peace can help them kick the extremists out.
July 14th, 2006 at 2:37 pmHezbollah ready for ‘open war’
• Hezbollah leader ready for “open war” with Israel
• Israeli jets destroy Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut
• Hezbollah fires missiles into six Israeli towns
• An Israeli naval ship off the coast of Lebanon was damaged by what appeared to be a rocket
• Israeli woman, grandson reported killed by a rocket
http://www.cnn.com
July 14th, 2006 at 3:06 pmbush oil regime is slobbering at their mouths ,going through the back door to get to Iran without the U.N. interferring …Its all part of the plan .
July 14th, 2006 at 3:23 pmPost 74 > the Israelis wanted a big war, so they got their wish! If one of their ships got hit they deserve it! When Israel fires a missile into Syria, or bombs them by jet aircraft, then the Neocon war on Islam begins, which I call WWIII!
July 14th, 2006 at 3:37 pmAnd our troops are stuck between Iran and Isreal… great… is Rummy the dummy still over there or did he get his fat ass out there before the bombs struck Lebanon? All this for OIL… How do these creeps (Cheney, Bush, Rummy, traitor Rove etc…) sleep at night? How do these creeps live with themselves? Bet the American Taliban is happy… they may get their Rapture sooner than expected. Only thing is, their Rapture is about as real as the suicide bombers’ 14 virgins. How stupid can people be? Maybe intelligent design is correct because these fools have not evolved at all… about as much brains as an earthworm and dumb as dirt.
July 14th, 2006 at 3:45 pmThese wars have been going on since the days of Abraham and even before him. There will never be peace in the Middle East. As long as people believe that god spoke to them through some schizophrenic, there will be war… the old testatment of the bible preaches war and the stories from the old testament are the same stories told by the followers of zorastor. How can anybody be right when everybody is wrong?
Jesus was a Liberal persecuted by Conservatives. Marx was correct, religion is the opiate of the masses.
July 14th, 2006 at 3:51 pm#13 I pause a moment in silent reverie for the innocent men, women, children, husbands, wives, brothers and sisters who have, or will suffer and die in this conflagration.
Comment by Briseadh na Faire — July 14, 2006 @ 11:28 am
July 14th, 2006 at 3:54 pmamen
The Isrealis were always terrorist. They bomb and terrorized the English until they English left what is now Isreal and Palestine. The Islamic terrorists learned from the Isrealis. We supported Isreal because we needed someone to keep an eye on OUR OIL.
July 14th, 2006 at 4:08 pmAnd we needed someone to protect the Suez canal.
July 14th, 2006 at 4:08 pmhttp://www.informationclearinghouse.info/
scroll down to see the article and picture on
Lebanon paying for Hezbollah…
Gregor is right. (See post #53)
July 14th, 2006 at 4:18 pmDid the October surprise arrive early?
July 14th, 2006 at 4:19 pmTP thanks for finally commenting (however lamely) on the current war crimes perpetrated with our (US) tax dollars by the isrealis. The comment from this post that:
“In Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, elections have empowered, not defeated, Islamist extremists like Hizbollah and Hamas who espouse violence.”
Well the same could be said for democratic elections in the US and “democratic” elections in isreal. How many times did the isreali citizens reelect that war criminal sharon bitch.
The fact is the majority of people in Palistine and Lebanon voted for parties with hard lines against isreal.
20: Speaking of rapturists; I take it less like they fear for people that don’t think like them, but wish hell on them.
July 14th, 2006 at 4:54 pm43: Heres a solution. South Africa.
July 14th, 2006 at 5:00 pmALL of these countries are to blame, and they are all acting like a bunch of lunatics.
Israel and Palestine have proven time again that NEITHER party is capable of creating peace.
The failure to find a solution by these irresponsible and childish governments has created the problem of global terrorism.
Sometimes I wish we would have invaded the border between Israel & Palestine instead of going to Iraq. Enforcing separation between both incapable countries would have done a lot more to end terrorism than invading Iraq ever will.
July 14th, 2006 at 5:17 pm#87 Dtree
July 14th, 2006 at 5:29 pmIraq has OUR OIL so we needed to go there first. Our government really doesn’t give a rat’s ass about Isreal, Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria. Any middle eastern nation that doesn’t have oil is meaningless to us. Bush&Co could care less if they blew up themselves into oblivion. The scary part is that our troops are stuck over there. This is why WE NEED TO BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
I agree that your suggestion makes sense. No one ever accused Bush&Co of acting sensibly.
no quick fix for the situation we are in. But I say INDEPENDENCE FROM OIL would begin to treat the biggest symptom of terrorism.
July 14th, 2006 at 5:30 pm#88 I agree with a lot of what you say such as:
July 14th, 2006 at 5:57 pm“As long as people believe that god spoke to them through some schizophrenic…”
But I disagree with: “Our government really doesn’t give a rat’s ass about Isreal, Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria.”
From what I can tell our govt has been totally subverted by isreal. If a congressman doesn’t vot in favor of one of the many resolutions supporting isreal, or giving them another boatload of our (US) tax dollars, that congressman is somehow immediately voted out of office.
The only possible explanation for the iraq war is that isreal considered iraq a threat.
I must reiterate that I am not anti-semitc, but I strongly disagree with isreal.
I pause a moment in silent reverie for the innocent men, women, children, husbands, wives, brothers and sisters who have, or will suffer and die in this conflagration.
Comment by Briseadh na Faire
I join you in that moment.
July 14th, 2006 at 9:00 pm69. Jay Randal – You’re certifiable.
July 14th, 2006 at 10:09 pmYeah history will certify Jay. RIGHT ON..!!!
July 14th, 2006 at 10:26 pmThanks Freeman!
rickd > Bush is certifiable insane!
July 14th, 2006 at 11:29 pmJay made an interesting point. It’s certainly difficult, to say the least, to justify Israeli attacks that have killed more than 100 civilians and injured hundreds more—in response to the kidnaping of 2 soldiers. I’m not saying kidnaping is ok by any means. You just have to wonder about this response.
perhaps Israel does see this as an opportunity to try to dismantle Hezbollah. I would still ask if that is worth killing so many civilians I truly don’t know how to sort this all out. But it’s ridiculous to attack Jay for raising these valid questions, which will almost certainly never get raised in mainstream media
July 15th, 2006 at 1:19 pmcorrection: 82 civilians confirmed killed in Lebanon as of now, per CNN
doesn’t change the questions raised though
July 15th, 2006 at 1:20 pmeblair > Thanks for your comment about my post 69 > Bush and Olmert desire war on Syria and Iran, so they are using this event as justification to attack them next > sad but true!
July 15th, 2006 at 1:35 pm“Indeed, the United States must support the advance of freedom and democracy in the Middle East. But simply holding elections – the focus of the Bush administration – will not create stability in the region….Democracy is not simply about going to the polls. It also means having institutions operating within the rule of law, a system of checking the power of strong executive bodies, and political actors that respect the rights of women and religious minorities.”
******You’re absolutely right Brian! (I NEVER thought Brian Katulis and I would agree on much) but I think it’s evident NOT all cultures are equal.
AND THEN WE HAVE A PRIME MOONBAT MOMENT…..
#10 – “THE ROOT – THE ROOT – THE ROOT – ISRAEL CREATED HEZBOLLAH!”
Comment by maDaschle
*****Thank you maDaschle Moonbat, for your clear and concise illustration of what a non-thinking conspiracy theorist “believes”.; but DON’T forget Hamas! Those clever Israelis – who would of thought they would kidnap their OWN soldiers, kill eight after PLOTTING a kidnapping in the Gaza?? Anti-Jews conveniently forget the Gaza give- back…but why confuse bigots with facts.
July 15th, 2006 at 3:41 pm#69 – “…then to insinuate that Syria and Iran were involved to justify attacking them too!” Comment by Jay Randal
July 15th, 2006 at 3:49 pm******I don’t insinuate that Syria and Iran we’re behind Hezbollah – they FUND and they DIRECT. THEY ARE the core of Hezbollah. But thank you for trying to make the debate more interesting with your moral relativism and defense of a terrorist organization which killed more Americans than al Queda before 9/11.
#52 – “Israel yesterday declared war on Lebanon, when Israeli jets bombed the Beirut International airport, and invaded the southern border with tanks and troops!
The fascistic government of Israel also threatens to attack Syria, and Iran at any moment, so WWIII is on the verge of being ignited in the entire Middle East region!”
Posting of Jay Randal on a readerless blog.
*******Jay – EXCELLENT WORK!!!! We appreciate your support! Your loyalty and clever analogies (as well as your ability to neatly skirt the issue) allows Al Jezeera and Hezbollah Media to offer you a news writing position.
Your friend,
Ali Bashan Rakit
P.S. The RNC sends a big SWAK your way!!! Thank you Jay and other anti-Jews for so clearly demonstrating the anti-Semitism of MANY on the LEFT. The Republican Party is DELIGHTED so many American Jews have chosen to join our Party as America proudly stands by their oldest Middle Eastern ally.
July 15th, 2006 at 4:12 pm#80 – “The Isrealis were always terrorist. They bomb and terrorized the English until they English left what is now Isreal and Palestine. The Islamic terrorists learned from the Isrealis. We supported Isreal because we needed someone to keep an eye on OUR OIL.” Coffin
***** Thank you, Coffin – I have been e-mailing my friends in the ADL, B’nai Brith, etc. and recommeding their Demand prog members re-think their party affiliation. I appreciate your help.
July 15th, 2006 at 4:30 pmCorrection: delete the word “Demand” in response to Coffin. (Or the word “demand” could simply be revised to “demented” or “delusional” – either will do…)
July 15th, 2006 at 5:49 pmMA > we do not care what crazed GOP drag queens like yourself spew on here! Blog less on here and go cut more hair at your DC salon > lol.
July 16th, 2006 at 3:12 am#36
“Nonsense. Guess you’ve never heard of Ancient Greece – who created the system? A couple thousand years ago.”
Democracy as you and I know it, i.e. representative Democracy didn’t take root in Europe untill the Middle Ages. Back in then European countries were not democracies they were aristocracies were a prividleged few made up the councils that in turn were loosely defined as a “democracy”. BTW was Europe “civilized” back in the day with all of those hangings, putting people of the rack and beheadings? Look at the reality of Europe during these times and give us your opinion of whether or not you think they were civilized.
The fact the you think so little of the people in the Middle East absolutely proves that you don’t think they are capable of moving toward democracy and their culture evolving. Apparently you think that democracy, if it doesn’t come to the Middle East in your pathetic life time isn’t worth it. Typical snob.
July 16th, 2006 at 4:46 pm#38
“Democracy was our choice…. Hence we revolted to declare independence.”
We already knew what democracy was you dolt.
July 16th, 2006 at 4:47 pmWhen is the legitimate Lebanese governement going to do what it was suppose to do along time agoe and eject Hezbollah from it’s southern territory? Hezbollah’s genisis is from Lebanese militants that are allowed to operate in Lebanon with full knowledge of the government.
July 16th, 2006 at 4:56 pmeveryone well ive been trying to let everyone know about the real truth… how much we lebaneses are suffering… my whole family is there now we are crying for the worlds help but no one manifests… plzzzzz stop this warrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!
July 17th, 2006 at 7:58 pmthe real truth is what everyone heard today when Bush mentioned that whts happening there in the Middle East is a Bullshit!!!!! he doesnt care for the ppls hearts… he aint a person hes a monster….
well i lived in lebanon for many years… ive seen it all from near…. everyone was living in peace… we were trying to reconstruct our country…
this year now when the summer season began they came to attack us… and everyone knows why… because its full of turists and to scare them all away… so that the lebanese economy go from bad to worse…
many arabs think that israel wanted to give hezballah a lesson for getting them out of lebanon in 2000…
they are destroying everything there.. all the infrastructure for wht???? are they gonna help reconstruct everything after they “finish” with the hezballah..
hezballah is a group for lebanese resistence they arent terrorists!!! plz world open ur eyez and try to see the truth!!!!!!!! if it wasnt for them lebanon wouldnt be a free country like we are now (still)..
they killed hundreds of civilians in less then one week now… now tell me who are the terrorists????
God be with everyone now… speacially with those in lebanon and palestine.. only He can help them…
“hezballah is a group for lebanese resistence they arent terrorists!!!”
Resistance from what? Israel pulled out of southern Lebanon in 2000. Hezbollah has already stated that their mission is to destroy Israel. That’s not resistance.
July 18th, 2006 at 11:49 am