Think Progress

White House, Israel Reject Conclusion Of Aid Groups That Humanitarian Crisis Exists In Gaza

Yesterday, in response to EU pressure for a “humanitarian truce,” Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni said that “there is no humanitarian crisis in the Strip, and therefore there is no need for a humanitarian truce.” During today’s White House press conference, White House spokesperson Gordon Johndroe was asked by a reporter if the White House agreed with Livni’s claim.

Johndroe, while not immediately saying whether or not the Bush administration “agreed” with Livni, seemed to suggest that reports of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza are overblown:

Q: Recently, foreign minister Livni told the French foreign minister…that there is no humanitarian crisis. Is that a characterization the administration agrees with?

JOHNDROE: We want to make sure there is no humanitarian crisis. … The Israelis are reporting that Hamas hordes the humanitarian supplies and doesn’t allow them to reach the people of Gaza to create the idea of a humanitarian crisis. I can’t speak to the exact situation on the ground.

Watch it:

Despite the Bush administrator’s refusal to recognize it and Israel’s halting efforts to avoid it, a humanitarian crisis does exist and is getting worse in the Gaza Strip. As numerous international bodies and non-governmental organizations have documented, civilians in the Strip are short on food, water, and medical supplies:

International Red Cross: “There is almost no electricity in Gaza city and cooking gas has run out. The water supply is extremely limited.”

OxFam: “The water authority has only a couple of days’ stock of fuel and chlorine. Water supplies are being restricted in many areas to a few hours a week. Food and fuel are also becoming ever more scarce.”

United Nations Relief and Works Agency: “How can one carry out proper relief work in these conditions of violence? The people of Gaza have already suffered the most stringent economic sanctions. … [A]s things stand now, we have only a few days supply left.”

Amnesty International: Israeli forces must bear in mind that there are no ‘safe’ places in Gaza for civilians to seek shelter. … Strikes are virtually sure to kill and injure civilians.

Human Rights Watch
: “Israel’s severe limitations on the movement of non-military goods and people into and out of Gaza, including fuel and medical supplies, constitutes collective punishment, also in violation of the laws of war.”

The director of the World Food Programme operation in Gaza was “furious” when she learned that Livni was denying the humanitarian crisis, telling the Telegraph that the Programme’s “stocks in Gaza showed a 30 percent shortfall of dry goods such as flour and a much greater shortfall of ‘ready-to-eat’ goods.” A spokesperson for the United Nations said similarly, “When you look at the Israeli assertions about the humanitarian situation it is very hard to square this with the extraordinarily dire situation on the ground in Gaza.”

Despite the fact that both Hamas and Israel both share responsibility for the humanitarian situation in Gaza, as British Prime Minster Gordon Brown put it: “It is vital that moderation must now prevail — there’s a humanitarian crisis.”

Update Matt Yglesias writes, "At a minimum, duly noting that there are human rights abuses being committed by both sides and that human rights abuses are bad isn’t so hard."


195 Responses to “White House, Israel Reject Conclusion Of Aid Groups That Humanitarian Crisis Exists In Gaza”


  1. stateofthedivision says:

    Good Lord, where have these people been? Gordon JohnDroe must have his own little world.

    Down the rabbit hole goes America…

    Our warrior culture will likely soon infect our pioneering space program.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aOvrNO0OJ41g&refer=home


  2. stateofthedivision says:

    It’s hard for BushCo to see the Palestinians as human. Therefore, no crisis.


  3. Bullsmith says:

    So the PR line is that the Palestinians want to starve to make the Israelis look bad. Some shining city on a hill.


  4. bratboy says:

    Good God! Is there no decency at all in this administration? Not even an atom of decency?
    Shameless!


  5. delafield says:

    Don’t worry, the Jewish owned media in America has everything under control.

    According to FOX News, every Palestinian refugee murdered by Israelis over the past 60 years was a terrorist.


  6. stateofthedivision says:

    A seige is part of war. BushCo and Israel are a violent, heavy handed, carrot and stick bunch.

    They will do anything to get their way. That includes lying.


  7. Zooey says:

    **jumping up and down**

    No!! I won’t do it! I won’t believe my own eyes!!

    Waaahhhhhhh!!!!!


  8. RUCerious says:

    Yeah, Hamas is hoarding all the food and supplies that aren’t coming into Gaza.
    Lucking Fiars.


  9. delafield says:

    By the way, where the hell has Obama been the past two weeks? Obama has had plenty to say about Wall Street bailouts, auto manufacturer bailouts, Mumbai, the housing crisis, unemployment, etc, etc. But not a word about the continuous slaughter of Palestinian refugees?

    Maybe Obama is the same as Bush?


  10. darladooner says:

    oh, man, classic double talk:

    “there are reports that hamas is hording supplies”

    and the immediately after:

    “i can’t speak for the exact situation on the ground”

    so why throw out what you know to be blatantly untrue?


  11. darladooner says:

    If Palestinians are ever going to have peace they’re gonna have to practice peace. Scoreboard. The big, modern society is in control. That’s Israel. Israel could squash Palestine like a wet turd and noone, absolutely noone, would give a crap. Except Bush haters. And that’s not enough.

    but not the israelis, of course. they don’t have to practice peace but they are running the show, along with their puppet masters in Congress and Wall St.


  12. delafield says:

    <>

    That’s exactly what Hitler said to the people of Poland just before he destroyed their country and murdered millions of men, women, and children.


  13. gummitch says:

    Hamas came to power precisely because they didn’t hoard supplies (like Fatah) but instead built hospitals and schools.


  14. darladooner says:

    Israel could squash Palestine like a wet turd and noone, absolutely noone, would give a crap. Except Bush haters

    no one would give a crap? like jimmy carter’s sec of state said the other day,”your knowledge of the situation is so stunningly superficial that i am almost embrasses to listen to you speak about it.”


  15. gummitch says:

    Guido the Loving OBGYN Says:

    If Palestinians are ever going to have peace they’re gonna have to practice peace. Scoreboard. The big, modern society is in control. That’s Israel. Israel could squash Palestine like a wet turd and noone, absolutely noone, would give a crap. Except Bush haters. And that’s not enough.

    It’s also not true. This has little to do with Bush, mostly because he’s had little to do with the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

    There are a lot of people who would give considerably more than a “crap” if Israel did something so heinous.


  16. McWars says:

    A bomb’s anatomy apparently includes food, water, shelter, medicine and a cherry on top.


  17. Badger says:

    If the Israelis are ever going to have peace they’re gonna have to practice JUSTICE.

    And where is Justice???? On their side of the Border.

    The outlines of an Israeli/Palestinian Peace Deal Are not that elusive.


  18. DavidHart says:

    I honestly don’t know what the Israelis should do. There’s this group of lunatics – religious extremists – lobbing rockets at indiscriminate civilian targets in Israel, That same groupd denies Israel’s right to exist. Moreover, they are launching those rockets from civilian areas to purposely inflict civilian casualties on their own people in order to sway world opinion in their favor and the strategy is working. Hamas won’t even guarantee a reciprocal cease fire.

    I was jailed twice in the Vietnam era for protesting the war and I was a consistent opponent to the Iraq war from day one. Yet, in this case, I simply don’t see that Israel has anyh choices. To make matters worse, Israel is creating more terrorists than they are killing but what are they to do?

    To add insult to injury, I am seeing a great deal of posting on “progressive” blogs that borders on being anti-Semitic. Somehow, American Jews are to blame for this fiasco.

    On the other side is the Christian right – strong supporters of Israel solely to be rapture-ready — when all the Jews die by the way.

    Then there is George who has ignored this problem for at least seven years. Once again – no matter how justified – our support for Israel may diminish our standing in the world.

    What a mess!


  19. impeachcheneythenbush says:

    I am so ashamed for what my country has been turned into by this criminal administration. I used to support Israel, but as far as I can see, they’ve turned into a Nazi-like regime. There’s absolutely no hope for peace in this hundred-year conflict unless the U.S. can be a real honest broker, and stop taking sides…especially Israel’s. For the life of me, I don’t understand what American interests are served by always defending and supporting Israel. We spend millions providing military aid to them, which they use to attack and blow up their neighbors.


  20. Xisithrus says:

    Im pretty sure the Israelis, given their history, would not want to be treated that way.

    Now cut it out, BOTH SIDES.


  21. tokin librul says:

    For the life of me, I don’t understand what American interests are served by always defending and supporting Israel.

    Oh, don’t be naive.

    Israel is the 6th borough of NYC. To even be perceived as less than enraptured by Israel is a political death sentence in USer politics.

    It’s also a permanent foot-hold for USer influence projection (military presence, albeit vicariously) in the region.


  22. Rugby Reader says:

    More alternate reality from our White House zionists…

    Maybe things will be different after chimpy leaves office.


  23. nanlichi says:

    The news of a humanitarian crisis in the Warsaw ghetto were overblown too.

    Full circle my Jewish friends. Proud much?


  24. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    You never hear the news talking about the destruction of the Palestinians olive groves by the Israeli army and militant settlers.
    Israel takes away the Palestinians lively hood and then wonders why the Palestinians are angry and want to fight back.


  25. Fred says:

    DavidHart Says:

    Apparently you only see what you want to see in the posts. Calling the Israeli government to task for it’s outrages doesn’t qualify as anti-semite although many of you wish to use it in that capacity.

    Many Jews are against what Israel is doing too.

    The link

    Guido the Loving OBGYN Says:
    if Palestine simply quit resisting they could transform Israeli society. But they won’t because they are regressive.

    Like the blacks did in America? That has worked so well.


  26. funkmonkey says:

    Guido the Loving OBGYN Says:

    Wrong. I’ve been listening to this crap all my life. Everyday that Israel allows Palestine to exist Israel is practicing peace. There are enough liberal Jews in Israel that if Palestine simply quit resisting they could transform Israeli society. But they won’t because they are regressive.

    Man, talk about ignorant!!!!

    So then by me not finding where you live and shooting you in the face, I am practicing peace????

    Israel has been taking Palestine land for YEARS!!!!!!

    What do you expect Palestine to do when someone takes their land???? Sit there and say…… “oh, it’s OK”!!!!

    Israel HAS blocked food and water from the people for years……. They have prevented them from basic necessities.

    If I was them, I would be bombing Israel as well.

    Go ahead…… Call me anit-semetic!!!!!

    I simply do not believe in another country beating up or taking another countries resources……


  27. DavidHart says:

    I used to support Israel, but as far as I can see, they’ve turned into a Nazi-like regime.

    That is spectacularly offensive. This situation goes back to the Weizmann-Faisal accord shortly after WW I. Since it fell apart in roughly 1922, there has been one constant. There is one group of people who are willing to die and willing to cause others to die (friend and foe alike) for an ideology that Israel does not have the right to exist. I’ll remind you that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem spent WWII as Hitler’s guest in Berlin and may have participated directly in the Holocaust.

    How do you negotiate with a group that will never accept your sovereignty? What can you concede when nothing short of your departure from your land will satisfy them? I’ll also remind you that a considerable number of Israeli citizens are descendants of Holocaust survivors.


  28. Luis M says:

    Bullsmith Says:
    So the PR line is that the Palestinians want to starve to make the Israelis look bad. Some shining city on a hill.

    Just like the prisoners at GITMO that killed themselves “just to make the USA look bad”.


  29. Fred says:

    For those of you who think this is the problem of the Palestinians and because of their own behavior, please check out how we treat Muslims here…..they were born in Detroit and were professionals, doctors and lawyers:

    9 Muslim passengers kicked off flight after remark

    We create this problem by being hateful and intolerant and letting the fear mongers tell you to be afraid and so you are…….


  30. tarazan says:

    He must be reading the Israeli daily news bulletin.


  31. DavidHart says:

    Israel has been taking Palestine land for YEARS!!!!!!

    I don’t know if it’s a shortage of Prozac or good history texts. Israel seized Arab territory (not Palestinian territory) as a result of wars started by Arab nations. The vast majority of that land has been returned. There really is not such thing as “Palestinian land” except for Gaza which is a state that Israel essentially created.


  32. Fred says:

    Any man who says they would not do what the Palestinians are doing is a liar or coward.

    Why do people strap bombs on themselves and kill as many people as they can?

    Why do Palestinians fight with rocks and bottles knowing that their advisary has modern military capabilities.

    It’s because when you have lost everything, including your family you don’t care anymore. It’s called hopelessness.

    Just keep going the way we are going and it will never end. No one will see peace and that I believe is the objective of the “war mongers”

    Keep listening to them……they have been right…..well, never.


  33. Badger says:

    To borrow from the Clinton Campaign:

    It’s the SETTLEMENTS stupid.


  34. dasm says:

    Johndroe: “I can’t speak to the exact situation on the ground.”
    Then how can he or the White House even pretend to know what they are talking about here? Put Johndroe, or Rice, or Cheney, or Bush over there in Gaza, then let them report.


  35. hussein toasterhead says:

    DavidHart Says:

    How do you negotiate with a group that will never accept your sovereignty? What can you concede when nothing short of your departure from your land will satisfy them? I’ll also remind you that a considerable number of Israeli citizens are descendants of Holocaust survivors.

    January 2nd, 2009 at 2:58 pm
    ______________

    I don’t know. How do the Palestinian people negotiate with a group of militant Zionists who will never accept their sovereignty? What can they concede when nothing short of exodus into Egypt and Jordan and Lebanon will satisfy the Israeli right?

    It’s sadly ironic that so many descendants of Holocaust survivors would now turn to Nazi tactics after what their ancestors went through.


  36. Jackie says:

    Makes sence as Bush killed Millionts of Iraq without anyone thinking that was a problem and 5 million Iraq people left their country for safety as the US invaded Iraq. Now Israel has planet supporters in every part of the US Govenment and has worked closely with the Bush Administration to wipe Palestine of the face of the earth. One can only wonder while going to the Holocaust Museum and viewing the horror Jewish people endured now to see Jewish Leaders pick up the same policy as other Leaders like Hitler, Stalin and Saddam. I guess Israel/US learned the lesson of History on how to invade, murder, take others land and lie about it. With the US Media giving only the Israel point of view and fake stories it works. The President of France wasn’t fooled by the Israel Leader’s fake story on how much they love Palestine people it’s only Hamas. What will happen when Palestine has another Democraic Eletion and votes Hamas in again as President. I’m glad the American people didn’t remove Bush/Cheney when they stole the 2000 election and the 2004 election with the fixed voting machines. Americans don’t mine having a corrupt President for 8 years now it’s all about clean up and if Obama doesn’t repair the damage impeach him.


  37. Fred says:

    DavidHart Says:
    I used to support Israel, but as far as I can see, they’ve turned into a Nazi-like regime.

    That is spectacularly offensive.

    No less offensive than what Israel is doing to the Palestinians. You are in the minority. Most of the world does not agree with you.

    DavidHart Says:
    Israel has been taking Palestine land for YEARS!!!!!!

    I don’t know if it’s a shortage of Prozac or good history texts. Israel seized Arab territory (not Palestinian territory) as a result of wars started by Arab nations. The vast majority of that land has been returned. There really is not such thing as “Palestinian land” except for Gaza which is a state that Israel essentially created.

    Israel now exists where Palestine existed for 3000 years. The Israelie’s are living in houses that Palestinians still have the keys to.

    Don’t lecture on history unless you know what you are talking about.


  38. DavidHart says:

    Israel is the 6th borough of NYC. To even be perceived as less than enraptured by Israel is a political death sentence in USer politics.

    That’s right. Blame the Jews. We support Israel because it is the only stable and true democracy in the region. We support Israel because no other nation (including us) would take all of the WWII refugees except Israel. We support Israel because it is a sovereign country that has been under massive attack by much of the Arab world since it obtained statehood.


  39. Marie says:

    Bush&Co only see that Palestinians are suffering, therefore, there is no crisis.
    Those other groups, they must be anti-Israel.

    Bush has ignored this situation from day-one; and now it has exploded in his face, but he’s on his way out, so the “other guy” will have to deal with it. The best course of action as Bush&Co sees it, is to deny certain facts.


  40. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    Ask the Native Americans how they felt when we gunned them down and moved onto reservations where many of them starved to death. The average lifespan of a Native American is 44 years. Our government is still repressing the indigenous people of this continent. What is happening in the middle east is not much different than what the US did to the indigenous people.


  41. hussein toasterhead says:

    DavidHart Says:

    I don’t know if it’s a shortage of Prozac or good history texts. Israel seized Arab territory (not Palestinian territory) as a result of wars started by Arab nations. The vast majority of that land has been returned. There really is not such thing as “Palestinian land” except for Gaza which is a state that Israel essentially created.

    January 2nd, 2009 at 3:03 pm
    _____________

    No, they seized Palestinian territory during the 1967 war, as well as during the 1948 Nakba. These lands were owned and occupied by Palestinians. That makes it Palestinian land. It’s not just “Arab” land.

    “Arab” isn’t an ethnicity, and it’s not a culture. It’s a linguistic conglomerate. Arabs in Morocco are different from Arabs in Yemen who are different from Arabs in Syria, all of whom are different from Palestinian Arabs. Lumping Palestinians in with “Arabs” shows a willful ignorance of the regional reality.

    Palestinians have a dialect and culture distinct from other Arab groups, and their culture is centered on their ancestral land – land that has been systematically taken from them over the past 60+ years. That’s what this struggle is about.


  42. Fred says:

    DavidHart Says:
    We support Israel because it is the only stable and true democracy in the region.

    What happened to the noble notion of spreading democracy and wouldn’t that include helping the democratically elected governments that are too weak to defend themselves instead of standing with the oppressor?

    DavidHart Says:
    We support Israel because no other nation (including us) would take all of the WWII refugees except Israel.

    Uh, there was no Israel until 1948…..how do you rectify your obvious lack of knowledge on the subject?


  43. hussein toasterhead says:

    DavidHart Says:

    We support Israel because no other nation (including us) would take all of the WWII refugees except Israel.

    January 2nd, 2009 at 3:12 pm
    ___________

    Ahhhh, so now the truth comes out. You like Israel because you don’t want any of those Jews in the U.S. You’d rather ship them all off to a nice overseas ghetto, wouldn’t you?

    Well, that’s just disgusting. There’s no place for anti-Semitism in this thread, David Hart. None.


  44. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    I’ll remind you that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem spent WWII as Hitler’s guest in Berlin and may have participated directly in the Holocaust.

    You have no proof that the Grand Mufti participated in the Holocaust. It’s only an assumption on your part and it makes you sound stupid.


  45. DavidHart says:

    Israel now exists where Palestine existed for 3000 years. The Israelie’s are living in houses that Palestinians still have the keys to.

    So you are saying that Israel does not have the right to exist. ALL of the borders in Arabia were carved out by Europeans. Britain and France were provided with about 5,000,000 square miles of land possessed by the Ottoman Empire after WW1. 1% was given as a Mandate for the re-establishment of a state for the Jews on both banks of the Jordan River. In 1921, to appease the Arabs once again, another three quarters of that less than 1% was given to a fictitious state called Trans-Jordan.

    Israel is minuscule. It is currently comprised of less than 10,000 square miles while the surrounding Arab countries control 6.2 million square miles. BTW, Muslims are about 18% of the total population of Israel.


  46. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    DavidHart Says:
    We support Israel because it is the only stable and true democracy in the region.

    Wrong, Iran is a true democracy.


  47. sherifffruitfly says:

    Um, this is the Katrina Presidency. Why is anyone surprised by this?


  48. hussein toasterhead says:

    DavidHart Says:

    I’ll remind you that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem spent WWII as Hitler’s guest in Berlin and may have participated directly in the Holocaust.

    January 2nd, 2009 at 2:58 pm
    ____________

    So? A lot of people participated in the Holocaust. I don’t see what the big deal is…


  49. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    Jews should admit that they are of Arab decent and that they learned about monotheism from the Persians who were Zorasterians.


  50. Roket says:

    The Israeli God is a god of revenge. Their foreign policy is based upon this presumption. Until this changes, Israel will always be at war.


  51. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    The Catholic Church participated in the holocaust.


  52. ElBruce says:

    As for the rabid anti-Israel statements that get made here, people are justifiably upset about this, as well as a lot of things preceding it. However, when I start hearing “f**king Zionists!!!” left and right, well that raises some pretty big antisemitic red flags. It gets hard to tell whether you’re concerned about human rights or if you browsed here straight from Stormfront.org.

    .

    Guido the Loving OBGYN Says:

    If Palestinians are ever going to have peace they’re gonna have to practice peace. Scoreboard. The big, modern society is in control. That’s Israel.

    I would think it’s incumbent on the big modern society, i.e. the one with all the power to be responsible in the exercise of power. All the more so when their flag, name and laws all tout a religion which prides itself on its ethical leadership in history. As such, the destructive and murderous actions of Israel presently constitute a stain on the practice of Judaism, and an increasing number of Jews in Israel and America are realizing that.

    It’s pretty clear that Israel has much better control over their own military and population than Hamas does over theirs. Without any actual institutions developed to police and control their own people – even their own fighters, it can never be clear whether the rockets fired were launched by a decision of the Hamas leadership or were individual attacks by “bad apples.” Or how many of which, or when.

    Israel has refused to allow Gaza the resources (movement, supplies, their own tax revenue) necessary to bring Gaza from a state of anarchy into anything resembling a coherent, governed society. Until they do so, they can hardly point fingers at Hamas for failing to construct a coherent, governed society.

    .

    Guido the Loving OBGYN Says:

    Israel could squash Palestine like a wet turd and noone, absolutely noone, would give a crap. Except Bush haters. And that’s not enough.

    As the Nazis discovered, actually destroying a population is a long and difficult process, even if you exercise total control and factory slaughter techniques. Even with the amount of effort they put into it, they were still unable to kill every last Jew in Europe. And if they couldn’t pull it off, I doubt Israel could manage it with the Palestinians.

    As long as Israel continues to wage war against the entire civilian population of Gaza, it’s going to be very long, brutal, loud and messy – and more and more people will give a crap the longer it goes on. History demonstrates that’s been the case with all anti-population military campaigns, every time. Well, except for the Armenian genocide. That’s the only example I can think of where the perpetrators “got away with it” in terms of their own constituency not caring or noticing.

    .

    DavidHart Says:

    I honestly don’t know what the Israelis should do…

    They should stop killing people, stop creating settlements in the West Bank, and get back to the peace process that was already established, the one which they chose to abandon.

    If some Palestinians continue to commit violent crimes, those should be treated as violent crimes, and not as acts of war. Doing so elevates the criminals to soldiers, which legitimizes such actions. It also leads to the current situation where your military is attacking their population. The term for that is “genocide,” by the way.

    To suffer a few slings and arrows on the way to peace is courage. To do otherwise is cowardice.

    I understand the response of “people are dying, they’ve got to do something!” But when all of your options are both ineffective and evil, then it is in fact better to do nothing.

    .

    Guido the Loving OBGYN Says:

    Wrong. I’ve been listening to this crap all my life. Everyday that Israel allows Palestine to exist Israel is practicing peace.

    What is this “right to exist” stuff that Israel keeps talking about? So it’s a right for Israel, but a privilege for Palestine?


  53. DavidHart says:

    You have no proof that the Grand Mufti participated in the Holocaust. It’s only an assumption on your part and it makes you sound stupid.

    I said that the Grand Mufti “may” have participated in the Holocaust.

    Dieter Wisliceny, stated after the war that the Grand Mufti had actively encouraged the extermination of European Jews, and that he had had an elaborate meeting with Eichmann at his office, during which Eichmann gave him an intensive look at the current state of the “Solution of the Jewish Question in Europe” by the Third Reich.

    Some scholars have state that this testimony is uncorroborated. Some recent research, however, argues that the Mufti did work with Eichmann for the dispatch of a special corps of Einsatz commandos to exterminate the Jews in Palestine.


  54. hussein toasterhead says:

    Cats r Flyfishn Says:

    Jews should admit that they are of Arab decent and that they learned about monotheism from the Persians who were Zorasterians.

    January 2nd, 2009 at 3:29 pm
    ___________

    That’s really not genetically true. Ashkenazi Jews – and Palestinans, for that matter – do not share many of the same mutations as Arabs. They’re both much closer to each other genetically than they are to Arabs.


  55. stateofthedivision says:

    Israel, the democracy that admits discrimination. P.M. Ehud Olmert did that very thing months ago.


  56. DavidHart says:

    Wrong, Iran is a true democracy.

    Utter nonsense. Iran is not run by its elected officials. Iran is a theocracy. The power continues to reside in the Ayatollahs.


  57. katy says:

    Human Rights Watch: “Israel’s severe limitations on the movement of non-military goods and people into and out of Gaza, including fuel and medical supplies, constitutes collective punishment, also in violation of the laws of war.”

    Do unto to others, as was done to you?


  58. DRxJ says:

    It appears that DavidHart is getting his “information” word for word for this website.

    Interesting read, until it says to ignore the Leftists, the Leftist media, and the Arab Nazi allies.


  59. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    If some Palestinians continue to commit violent crimes, those should be treated as violent crimes, and not as acts of war. Doing so elevates the criminals to soldiers, which legitimizes such actions. It also leads to the current situation where your military is attacking their population. The term for that is “genocide,” by the way.

    To suffer a few slings and arrows on the way to peace is courage. To do otherwise is cowardice.

    That is the most intelligent comment on this post. Thank you for saying this.


  60. DavidHart says:

    The Israeli God is a god of revenge. Their foreign policy is based upon this presumption. Until this changes, Israel will always be at war.

    So all Jews are vengeful? Thank you for proving my point. I am Jewish. Ironically, I authored this yesterday:

    http://www.tips-q.com/content/i-dont-support-death-penalty-period

    Next, you’ll be saying that we control the media.


  61. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    Wrong, Iran is a true democracy.

    Utter nonsense. Iran is not run by its elected officials. Iran is a theocracy. The power continues to reside in the Ayatollahs.

    Go back and study Iran. You are wrong. Iran has three equal governing bodies. No single governing body has complete say in how Iran is governed.


  62. hussein toasterhead says:

    DavidHart Says:

    Israel is minuscule. It is currently comprised of less than 10,000 square miles while the surrounding Arab countries control 6.2 million square miles. BTW, Muslims are about 18% of the total population of Israel.

    January 2nd, 2009 at 3:23 pm
    __________

    Never mind, of course, that it’s the 10,000 square miles that just happens to be central to three of the largest religions in the world, spans two critical bodies of water, and lies atop one of the most critical acquifers in the region.

    There are plenty of much larger countries in the region that would gladly trade their millions of square miles of desert for Israel’s 10,000 square miles.

    But do carry on, please.


  63. hussein toasterhead says:

    DavidHart Says:

    Utter nonsense. Iran is not run by its elected officials. Iran is a theocracy. The power continues to reside in the Ayatollahs.

    January 2nd, 2009 at 3:34 pm
    _________

    Replace “Ayatollahs” with “corporations” and you’ll have the United States. Are you saying we’re not a democracy either?


  64. Zooey says:

    I love to watch toasterhead kicking ass. :-)


  65. ElBruce says:

    DavidHart’s reasons for U.S. support of Israel are correct and appropriate, which is why the situation is much more complicated than assigning bad/good to one side or the other.

    DavidHart says:

    We support Israel because it is the only stable and true democracy in the region.

    Actually there are a number of pretty good ones these days, such as the UAE and well, let’s admit it, present-day Iraq. But Israel has been a leader in the Middle East in terms of the stability and scope of its democratic institutions. Democracies are good. Even Republicans think so.

    .

    DavidHart says:

    We support Israel because no other nation (including us) would take all of the WWII refugees except Israel.

    The refusal of the U.S. to take in European Jews during WWII was a horrible crime. Most of those we refused to take in ended up back in Europe to be slaughtered. The creation of the state of Israel was supposed to prevent that from ever happening again, so that Jews wouldn’t have to go hat-in-hand to somebody else’s country to avoid the next extermination attempt. As such, our support for Israel acts as an attempt to make amends for our previous mistake.

    .

    DavidHart says:

    We support Israel because it is a sovereign country that has been under massive attack by much of the Arab world since it obtained statehood.

    The six-day war was an unprovoked attempt by all of Israel’s neighbors to destroy it. And the Arab world started complaining about the existence of Israel a long, long time before Israel started taking actions that justify their complaints. But the fact remains that Israel’s current actions do presently justify the complaints of the Arab world. Way to go, guys.

    .

    hussein toasterhead Says:

    No, they seized Palestinian territory during the 1967 war, as well as during the 1948 Nakba. These lands were owned and occupied by Palestinians. That makes it Palestinian land. It’s not just “Arab” land.

    A few bits (including Gaza, I believe) were owned by other Arab states, but yes, the majority of the real estate involved previously said “Palestine” on the map.

    .

    hussein toasterhead Says:

    “Arab” isn’t an ethnicity, and it’s not a culture. It’s a linguistic conglomerate. Arabs in Morocco are different from Arabs in Yemen who are different from Arabs in Syria, all of whom are different from Palestinian Arabs. Lumping Palestinians in with “Arabs” shows a willful ignorance of the regional reality.

    While that’s true, Arab Muslims do share a common sense of brotherhood, and most of them across the Middle East are extremely disturbed by Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. If that complaint were resolved satisfactorily (in terms of human rights) they wouldn’t have much of a beef with the West at all.


  66. Fred says:

    Israel now exists where Palestine existed for 3000 years. The Israelie’s are living in houses that Palestinians still have the keys to.

    DavidHart Says:
    So you are saying that Israel does not have the right to exist.

    Nice try of putting words in my mouth….did they teach you that?

    No, I’m saying that I can’t wrap my head around why you don’t understand why the Palestinians are so angry? Guess you would be so like….whatever…right?


  67. hussein toasterhead says:

    Zooey Says:

    I love to watch toasterhead kicking ass. :-)

    January 2nd, 2009 at 3:44 pm
    _______

    I aim to please :)


  68. wiley says:

    David Hart.

    Utter nonsense. Iran is not run by its elected officials. Iran is a theocracy. The power continues to reside in the Ayatollahs.

    O.K. Fine. Then you understand that the ayatollah has a long-standing fatwa against nuclear weapons and want be carrying on about what an existential threat Iran is. They aren’t developing nuclear weapons anyway, but let’s use your argument.


  69. wiley says:

    typo correction: won’t be carrying on…


  70. Fred says:

    ElBruce Says:
    As for the rabid anti-Israel statements that get made here, people are justifiably upset about this, as well as a lot of things preceding it. However, when I start hearing “f**king Zionists!!!” left and right, well that raises some pretty big antisemitic red flags.

    Well El, I would agree but the problem is that it has not been said here so far until you said it….nice try though…


  71. theswan says:

    Asking the perpetuator of crisis is hardly the way to legimate opinion? Warmongers always defend their wars.
    This crisis was initated to make sure the legimate Gazian vote will be overturned, if only by force. Bush will not leave office with Hamas in control of the people in Gaza. This is why Bush hides. Coward always hide in innocence.


  72. DavidHart says:

    It appears that DavidHart is getting his “information” word for word for this website.

    Actually, no. There is a great deal of information that is cut and paste. About two years ago, I wrote an extensive paper on this subject. I used many sources including Israeli web sites. I used Wikipedia when I could confirm the assertions.

    My conclusion, by the way, is that there are several Arab countries that want peace and stability in the region and are not bent on Israel’s destruction. Much of the Arab world intelligentsia and leadership feel that they are captive to the Palestinian agenda. Working with the west, it is my opinion that the world could effect stability. Most of what I have posted comes from the beginning of the paper; “First we must agree on the facts.”


  73. Badger says:

    The Mullahs in Iran are kind of like the Supreme Court here in the USA.

    The Islamic Council can Veto anything, by calling it UN Islamic.

    The Supreme Court can Veto anything by calling it UN Constitutional.

    Three equal branches of Govt.??? I suppose…


  74. hussein toasterhead says:

    ElBruce Says:

    A few bits (including Gaza, I believe) were owned by other Arab states, but yes, the majority of the real estate involved previously said “Palestine” on the map.

    While that’s true, Arab Muslims do share a common sense of brotherhood, and most of them across the Middle East are extremely disturbed by Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. If that complaint were resolved satisfactorily (in terms of human rights) they wouldn’t have much of a beef with the West at all.

    January 2nd, 2009 at 3:44 pm
    __________

    Perhaps. There’s still the underlying reality you alluded to above, in that the modern Middle East is a subdivided product of European imperialism, designed to maximize instability and conflict rather than group its inhabitants by shared ethnicity, culture, language, or identity. Iraq is a perfect example of this.

    Israel, in a wide geopolitical context, can be quite accurately viewed as the last European/Western colony in the Middle East. Its genocidal behavior towards the Palestinian people, then, is just old-style Western imperialism with modern technology.

    Religion, I believe, has very little to do with it.


  75. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    toasterhead – you can include Pakistan, India and Afghanistan in your comment regarding European imperialism.


  76. bonzo 1958 says:

    I can’t speak to the exact situation on the ground.

    Drop him there so he’ll know what he’s talking about next time he opens his mouth.


  77. Fred says:

    DavidHart Says:
    Much of the Arab world intelligentsia and leadership feel that they are captive to the Palestinian agenda.

    The Palestinian agenda has been for 60 years to survive and exist in intolerable and injust circumstances.

    I don’t think the “Arab world intelligentsia” think they are captive to it but I think it complicates their money’d relationships when the people they are doing business with.

    Especially since those people have allies who are oppressing the Palestinians.


  78. DavidHart says:

    Never mind, of course, that it’s the 10,000 square miles that just happens to be central to three of the largest religions in the world, spans two critical bodies of water, and lies atop one of the most critical acquifers in the region.

    Actually, the Bas Saharan Basin aquifer is considerably larger but that is all irrelevant. Israel was carved out by Europeans. It is what it is. The Israelis aren’t going anywhere. Palestinians were offered partitioning in 1948 – a proposal that they wouldn’t accept.

    Israel is a complex, mostly secular society. There are no simple answers. However, the starting point is that the Israelis aren’t going to pack up.


  79. hussein toasterhead says:

    Cats r Flyfishn Says:

    toasterhead – you can include Pakistan, India and Afghanistan in your comment regarding European imperialism.

    January 2nd, 2009 at 3:58 pm
    __________

    I could, sure. I could also include Africa and South America. But that’s really another topic entirely.


  80. ElBruce says:

    The Iranian Mullahs also decide who gets to run for elections.

    Fred Says:

    Well El, I would agree but the problem is that it has not been said here so far until you said it….nice try though…

    There have been a number of other conversations on this same topic here at TP that have produced some pretty eyebrow-raising rhetoric. So we can let my point about people using “Zionist” as an epithet stand as a warning.


  81. hussein toasterhead says:

    DavidHart Says:

    Israel was carved out by Europeans. It is what it is. The Israelis aren’t going anywhere. Palestinians were offered partitioning in 1948 – a proposal that they wouldn’t accept.

    Israel is a complex, mostly secular society. There are no simple answers. However, the starting point is that the Israelis aren’t going to pack up.

    January 2nd, 2009 at 4:02 pm
    ___________

    Neither are the Palestinians, also a complex, multi-religious society. Why should either side accept ghettoization?

    Nobody is suggesting that either the Israelis or the Palestinians pack up and leave. That’s a ludicrous and unworkable idea.

    The only way both peoples can live together is if they live together. One land, shared by all, with equal access to rights and resources for all. There is no two-state solution. There is only a one-state solution.


  82. Badger says:

    The Iranian Mullahs also decide who gets to run for elections.

    The Supreme Court gets to decide who WINS elections.


  83. hussein toasterhead says:

    ElBruce Says:

    The Iranian Mullahs also decide who gets to run for elections.

    January 2nd, 2009 at 4:04 pm
    _________

    So do ours, except our Mullahs are named GE, Time Warner, News Corporation, and Viacom.


  84. Game of Life says:

    How fake is johnboy? Can we have a bias opinion please?

    Israelis are strangling the Palestinians. It’s that simple. Bully tactics, lies, wiretapping and so on is not worth the deaths of US citizens. Israel is basically a mini chimpy’s US.

    I’m I to believe Israel is giving aid and comfort to the people they are bombing the hell out of? GMAFB Israel. Are we suppose to believe your bs too? chimpy’s doofy bs? chimpy’s and Israel/Jewish (get over it, The Star of David?) bs?

    Enough!

    Tell the same bs to the Israelis’/Jewish settlements and see if it holds water?

    Can we say convect the truth for death?


  85. drew3rd says:

    I keep reading that all of these other countries need us to butt out and let them elect who will represent them. No regime change, isn’t that it? Why then do you wish us to intercede on behalf of the Palestinians? Please, don’t be so stupid as to suggest it’s because of our being allied with and arming Israel. The Palestinians are aligned with and armed by Russia and China, let’s be big boys and girls. You hate Jews and I don’t get it. The people of Palestine elected a known terrorist organization to lead their nation. That has led to a humanitarian crisis for the entirety of their rule. Somehow, “we get the government we deserve” rings through here. I know, I know, I’m drunk and stupid. Go on and spin killing Jews however you wish. Goebbels would be proud.


  86. hussein toasterhead says:

    drew3rd Says:

    I know, I know, I’m drunk and stupid.

    January 2nd, 2009 at 4:13 pm
    _________

    Those are the first correct words I’ve seen you write on this site. Congratulations!


  87. Oval12345678 aka James K. Sayre says:

    The Bush Nazi regime is supporting the Israeli Nazi regime. We supply the Israelis with bullets and bombs to fire at and drop on the residents of the Gaza Strip. The Israelis have been maintaining a blockcade of Gaza, shutting off food, medicine and fuel supplies. Fascism on parade in Israel and in the USA.


  88. Game of Life says:

    I have read only a few comments. Thank God people are not going for “headlines” lies.


  89. ElBruce says:

    drew3rd Says:

    I keep reading that all of these other countries need us to butt out and let them elect who will represent them. No regime change, isn’t that it? Why then do you wish us to intercede on behalf of the Palestinians?

    Threatening to even slightly reduce our military, financial, and diplomatic support of Israel would be a huge game-changer. It’s our right to determine how much support we provide. We wouldn’t have to “intercede” at all.


  90. hussein toasterhead says:

    drew3rd Says:

    The people of Palestine elected a known terrorist organization to lead their nation. That has led to a humanitarian crisis for the entirety of their rule.

    January 2nd, 2009 at 4:13 pm
    ____________

    I wish I could say the same thing about the United States electing a bunch of neo-con Republicans to lead our nation in 2000 and 2004, but I can’t in good conscience say that. It’s a truly unfair and untrue ana|ogy and it would be intelectually remiss of me to say so.

    After all, we know very well that Bush was never actually elected.


  91. Marie says:

    Ryan Powers:

    Horde: crowd, swarm
    Hoard: a supply or fund stored up, often hidden away.


  92. RUCerious says:

    Thanx for the grammar chex Marie, I knew something was bothering me about that paragraph!!


  93. drew3rd says:

    Yeah hussein, you live in a terible country, a country with not an ounce of distinction between it and Palestine. What a reposte, sir, you have cut me to the quick! I wish there were someone here with an ounce of integrity. My goodness, you’d think Bush was Chavez, Hussein and Castro if you didn’t actually live here.


  94. funkmonkey says:

    DavidHart, go look at the history…….

    Then tell me in HONESTY that you would do nothing while your land is being taken and controlled by another country.

    Israel has been doing this for YEARS, as I said before.

    http://palestinethinktank.com/2006/05/10/the-shrinking-map-of-palestine/


  95. Fred says:

    drew3rd Says:
    The people of Palestine elected a known terrorist organization to lead their nation.

    Some of thier elected leaders have won the Nobel Peace Prize. You call them terrorists, others obviously think they are freedom fighters…..

    Have any Isrealies won the Nobel Peace Prize?


  96. Fred says:

    drew3rd Says:
    I wish there were someone here with an ounce of integrity.

    You have the same humility as gw bush, and with an equal amount of credibility.


  97. drew3rd says:

    Fred, Hitler won the Nobel. That’s how you measure the world?


  98. Game of Life says:

    DavidHart Says:

    Israel has been taking Palestine land for YEARS!!!!!!

    I don’t know if it’s a shortage of Prozac or good history texts. Israel seized Arab territory (not Palestinian territory) as a result of wars started by Arab nations. The vast majority of that land has been returned. There really is not such thing as “Palestinian land” except for Gaza which is a state that Israel essentially created.

    Yeah, yeah, yeah. Palestinians didn’t exist until Jews stole their land. Or maybe, Arabs and Palestinians are mutually exclusive.


  99. drew3rd says:

    I’m not the one who loves Nobel prize winners. Humility is never on display here. No one believes what is right in front of their face.


  100. Fred says:

    The israeli defenders are good at asking questions (mostly based on a variety of logical fallacies), but they are short on answering questions from others.

    They are not holding a discourse, and they not supporting their arguments. In particular they do not continue dicussions that others try to have with them — they simply avoid that and ask more ridiculous questions.


  101. Zooey says:

    drew3rd Says:

    Fred, Hitler won the Nobel. That’s how you measure the world?
    January 2nd, 2009 at 4:35 pm

    Hitler was nominated, and the nomination was withdrawn. He did not win the Nobel Peace Prize.

    You’re an idiot.


  102. funkmonkey says:

    drew3rd Says:

    I’m not the one who loves Nobel prize winners. Humility is never on display here. No one believes what is right in front of their face.

    So if “nobody here believes what is right in front of their face.”, I take it that you also agree that Bush committed War Crimes, Committed crimes against the US Constitution, and Humanity?

    I can provide PROOF of these actions, so that must mean that you believe “what is right in front of your face”?


  103. hussein toasterhead says:

    drew3rd Says:

    My goodness, you’d think Bush was Chavez, Hussein and Castro if you didn’t actually live here.

    January 2nd, 2009 at 4:31 pm
    _____________

    Is this supposed to make sense?

    Cause it doesn’t.


  104. ElBruce says:

    Fred Says:

    Have any Isrealies won the Nobel Peace Prize?

    Yeah, Menachem Begin 1978 and Yitzhak Rabin 1994. The guys who did the opposite of what they’re doing today.


  105. Fred says:

    drew3rd Says:
    Fred, Hitler won the Nobel. That’s how you measure the world?

    When the past nominations were released it was discovered that Adolf Hitler was nominated in 1939 by Erik Brandt, a member of the Swedish Parliament. Brandt retracted the nomination after a few days.[7] Other infamous nominees included Joseph Stalin and Benito Mussolini. However, since nomination requires only support from one qualified person (e.g., a history professor), these unusual nominations do not represent the opinions of the Nobel committee itself.

    drew3rd Says:
    I’m not the one who loves Nobel prize winners. Humility is never on display here. No one believes what is right in front of their face.

    Well then, do you understand the meaning of the word irony?


  106. drew3rd says:

    Zooey, thank you for that correction. He didn’t win, he was only nominated. There have been Israeli Prime ministers, most notably Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. My point is Nobel Winners do not a great country make. You seem to hate America yet Carter and Gore have won the Nobel. Don’t try to argue the Middle East through Nobel prize winners. Arafat won and was an unabashed Egyptian preening as a Palwestinian terrorist.


  107. Fred says:

    Fred Says:
    Have any Isrealies won the Nobel Peace Prize?

    ElBruce Says:
    Yeah, Menachem Begin 1978 and Yitzhak Rabin 1994. The guys who did the opposite of what they’re doing today.

    Seems more ironic than if I had been right…..


  108. Fred says:

    Zooey, you’re right, drew3rd is an idiot.

    later..


  109. RUCerious says:

    DREW3RD, it would appear that the other two who drew before you got all the cards.


  110. Game of Life says:

    drew3rd Says:

    I keep reading that all of these other countries need us to butt out and let them elect who will represent them. No regime change, isn’t that it? Why then do you wish us to intercede on behalf of the Palestinians? Please, don’t be so stupid as to suggest it’s because of our being allied with and arming Israel. The Palestinians are aligned with and armed by Russia and China, let’s be big boys and girls. You hate Jews and I don’t get it. The people of Palestine elected a known terrorist organization to lead their nation. That has led to a humanitarian crisis for the entirety of their rule. Somehow, “we get the government we deserve” rings through here. I know, I know, I’m drunk and stupid. Go on and spin killing Jews however you wish. Goebbels would be proud.

    Number one, I don’t like people like you telling me what doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t make sense to kill on a ratio or bomb children and civilians. On one hand Israel is bragging about their technological bombs then on the other hand stating Palestinians deserve whatever hell they can think of.

    If it doesn’t make sense it’s bullshit. Face it.


  111. drew3rd says:

    Funkmonkey, with all due respect, you can PROVE nothing. If you could, then so could someone else. Do not tell me that there aren’t powerful people who wouldn’t have loved to impeach Bush for war crimes. Bush has destroyed our country’s economy. He hasn’t committed war crimes. He has prosecuted the war on terror admirably even though he didn’t do it perfectly. Hopefully President Obama will correct our domestic ills. Don’t presume to make Bush out as some third world dictator. He will NEVER be president again. Can you say the same about Putin?


  112. Marie says:

    OT –
    The Washington Post is launching a secret new political website in two weeks, and has hired TPM’s Greg Sargent as blogger-in-chief. This will be competition for the right-wing Politico, which touts itself as independent, but is far from it.


  113. drew3rd says:

    Game of Life. I guess you think it is a game?


  114. impeachcheneythenbush says:

    Impeachcheneythenbush says: I used to support Israel, but as far as I can see, they’ve turned into a Nazi-like regime.

    DavidHart says: That is spectacularly offensive. This situation goes back to the Weizmann-Faisal accord shortly after WW I. Since it fell apart in roughly 1922, there has been one constant. There is one group of people who are willing to die and willing to cause others to die (friend and foe alike) for an ideology that Israel does not have the right to exist. I’ll remind you that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem spent WWII as Hitler’s guest in Berlin and may have participated directly in the Holocaust.

    How do you negotiate with a group that will never accept your sovereignty? What can you concede when nothing short of your departure from your land will satisfy them? I’ll also remind you that a considerable number of Israeli citizens are descendants of Holocaust survivors.

    As the Israeli government is acting in many respects like Nazis, I call it as I see it. In addition, the “situation” did not begin with the Weizmann-Faisal agreement following WWI. Jewish settlement, mostly from Russia, began in substantial numbers in 1882. The Balfour Declaration of 1917, by the British, endorsed the creation of a Jewish Homeland in Palestine. It was adopted by the League of Nations in 1922. UN Resolution 181 partitioned Palestine into two states, with Jerusalum as a UN controlled territory. Palestinian arabs and the arab states were opposed to the resolution, and once the British Mandate ended 6 months later, the arab states invaded Israel. Why? Where did the land that the Jewish migrants were settling come from? Who lived there before?

    How do you negotiate with a group that will never accept your sovereignty? What can you concede when nothing short of your departure from your land will satisfy them?

    This is a question that should be asked of the Israeli government and it’s supporters as well.

    The bottom line is that violence only begats violence. Israel will gain nothing from it’s non-proportional response to Hamas missiles (which don’t even have explosive tips). Obviously, Hamas gains nothing by lobbing missiles into Israel. But because of the much larger number of deaths and injuries of civilians on the Palestinian side, and their behavior of “overkill,” their attack against Gaza will have very negative blow-back, just as their unremitting attack against Lebanon did. Israel is turning the whole world away from itself, with the exception pretty much now of the U.S. And our support of what they are doing is turning the world even further away from the U.S.


  115. Game of Life says:

    drew3rd Says:

    I’m not the one who loves Nobel prize winners. Humility is never on display here. No one believes what is right in front of their face.

    HAHAHAHAHAHAAA

    And you haven’t had enough of chimpy and his gang administration?

    Answer truthfully, do you want more of the same failed policies? Can you understand your own idiotic reasoning?


  116. Marie says:

    From HuffPo:
    With time running out on the Bush presidency, the administration seemed increasingly ready Friday to let the crisis in Gaza fall to President-elect Barack Obama. Although aides to President George W. Bush insisted they are still working hard to secure a “durable and sustainable” cease-fire _ even as their influence wanes with less than three weeks on office _ they all but ruled out a more direct approach and stood behind Israel, squarely blaming Hamas militants for the latest flare up in Mideast violence.

    Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice briefed Bush on developments in Gaza, …Yet, she said she had no plans to make an emergency visit to the region.

    There have been growing calls for Rice to intervene with Israel in person …Her decision to stay away will likely disappoint those calling for a more robust U.S. role, particularly as French President Nicolas Sarkozy intends visit the region next week.


  117. ElBruce says:

    drew3rd Says:

    Funkmonkey, with all due respect, you can PROVE nothing. If you could, then so could someone else.

    Classic wingnut anti-intellectualism: there is no truth, there are no facts, there is no logic, only opposing opinions.

    .

    drew3rd Says:

    Do not tell me that there aren’t powerful people who wouldn’t have loved to impeach Bush for war crimes. Bush has destroyed our country’s economy. He hasn’t committed war crimes. He has prosecuted the war on terror admirably even though he didn’t do it perfectly. Hopefully President Obama will correct our domestic ills. Don’t presume to make Bush out as some third world dictator.

    Congratulations, you just blew this thread the hell up. You win the troll award of the day. I’d take a bite out of this one myself, but I think I’m just going to duck the incoming fire you just drew and let everyone else rip this one apart.

    GO!

    .

    drew3rd Says:

    He will NEVER be president again. Can you say the same about Putin?

    Nobody’s defending Putin. Take note of this: in order to defend Bush, you have to pull out some of the worst dictators living to get a favorable comparison. What does that tell you?

    .

    impeachcheneythenbush Says:

    As the Israeli government is acting in many respects like Nazis, I call it as I see it.

    There are plenty of ways to criticize Israel without pulling a Godwin, which you just did. Your argument is hereby disqualified; start over.


  118. funkmonkey says:

    drew3rd Says:

    Funkmonkey, with all due respect, you can PROVE nothing. If you could, then so could someone else. Do not tell me that there aren’t powerful people who wouldn’t have loved to impeach Bush for war crimes. Bush has destroyed our country’s economy. He hasn’t committed war crimes. He has prosecuted the war on terror admirably even though he didn’t do it perfectly. Hopefully President Obama will correct our domestic ills. Don’t presume to make Bush out as some third world dictator. He will NEVER be president again. Can you say the same about Putin?

    Oh…. But I can……. Just look at the Constition, the Geveva Convention, and the UN Charter….. They all SPECIFICALLY lay out what is a War Crime!!!! Just because the Dems are too chicken Hsit to present Articles of Impeachment does not mean that a crime has not been committed.

    When Bush disregarded the Constitution, he did become a dictator…….. What do you not understand about the Constitution?????

    If your still here later, I will gladly provide you with the GC and UN Charter links that PROVE my statement…….

    Any “treaty” we sign becomes the law of the land…… The GC and UN Charter are “law of the land”, which Bush did not follow. That makes him a War Criminal!!! Torture IS a War Crime, and the US (Bush) has Tortured people on this LIE of “war on terror”.

    By the way….. What has Putin got to do with the price of gold?


  119. Game of Life says:

    drew3rd Says:

    Game of Life. I guess you think it is a game?

    Just for you, pea brain.


  120. Game of Life says:

    repugs alway leave a position worse off.


  121. Game of Life says:

    There are children who are born of Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs, Christians, Jewish, African, Buddhist heritage.

    What about it?


  122. ElBruce says:

    As for drew3d’s “you can’t prove Bush is a war criminal thing,” it’s like this: imagine there was a law saying you can’t pick your nose with your left hand. In full view of everyone, Bush picks his nose with his left hand – AND EATS IT!!! – but then says he didn’t pick his nose. He admits he inserted his left index finger into his nose, dug out a booger, and stuck it in his mouth. “But,” he says, “I didn’t pick my nose.” And everyone on FAUX News and hordes of freepers agree with this.

    That’s pretty much the level of insane that the R’s are at in trying to justify the war crimes and constitutional crimes of the Bush Administration. It’s difficult to know how respond to this stuff because after listening to them, you’re not even sure they’re participating in the same time/space continuum that the rest of us are.

    .

    Marie Says:

    From HuffPo:
    With time running out on the Bush presidency, the administration seemed increasingly ready Friday to let the crisis in Gaza fall to President-elect Barack Obama…

    As such, maybe he should say something and give some hint what his approach will be. If done right, it could help the situation a lot.


  123. Brain From Planet Arous says:

    What is sadly ironic about this Gaza Genocide is that both the Left and Right agree on something. Cynthia McKinney is becoming more of a hero to Libertarians than Ron Paul, and Progressives are reading Justin Raimondo. The fact that seems to elude the Zionist-Controlled media is that Israel broke the cease fire on November 5th. However, the controlled media says exactly the opposite, sort of a Newspeak meets Bizarro World. GW Bush could care less what happens over there, as his stock in Lockheed-Martin and Raytheon goes higher. The Israel-Firsters also do not care. Show them a picture of 5 dead Palestinian babies and the response is, “effing sand N….s, or camel humpers. I even had one Pro-Israel poster on a NYDailtnews forum call me a ditch digger or janitor for questioning Israel. Pretty good considering what my real profession is. One last thought or question: Where is Obama in all of this?


  124. Badger says:

    As such, maybe he should say something and give some hint what his approach will be. If done right, it could help the situation a lot.

    IMHO Obama is doing the right thing. He should condemn the violence on all sides…and repeat that we only have ONE president and one foreign policy at a time.

    Saying “something” or giving “hints” would be counterproductive and fraught with political risk.

    WHEN he is sworn in, he should (and I believe he will) give a well thought out PLAN to diffuse the situation and move towards an Israeli/Palestinian Peace Settlement.

    DONE RIGHT is what is Important.


  125. stateofthedivision says:

  126. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    My goodness, you’d think Bush was Chavez, Hussein and Castro if you didn’t actually live here.

    Funny you should mention it… Bush IS Chavez, Hussein and Castro all rolled up into one. Cheney on the other hand would be more Stalin like.


  127. RUCerious says:

    Maybe Bush should resign immediately, then Obama could start working on a public solution to this mess.


  128. stateofthedivision says:

    Wow, I guess that “Gaza Phone bank” for Obama didn’t result in any loyalty. Unless, it was more Rove-like fiction….

    So far, Obama’s official position is to monitor the situation while the most violent, heavy handed nutjob in U.S. history finishes his term in office.


  129. katy says:

    i forget – what was raygun saying about the iranian hostage problem the whole time after his election, before HE was actually sworn in?

    curious…


  130. RUCerious says:

    state, I’m frankly surprised BushitCo hasn’t used this as a window of opportunity to bomb Iran, or Kenya.


  131. stateofthedivision says:

    What happened to ThinkFast? I like being able to post other news stories, i.e. one’s TP didn’t find worthy of commentary.

    Today, IndyMac Bank will be sold to a consortium of private equity firms and hedge funds. In other words, our shadow banking system will own a real bank, all 100% of it.

    This is a very bad sign. More hair of the dog finances and Bush’s latest round of disaster capitalism.


  132. Perry logan says:

    History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.

    –James Joyce

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_Ocbt6l5NE


  133. stateofthedivision says:

    RU, George W. has 18 days left. The whole point of a surprise attack is for it to be a real surprise. Who could’ve envisioned:

    Wall Street would implode
    The levees would fail
    Bush would pull the trigger in his final weeks?

    Bob Gates is staying on for continuity and we have an amazing amount of firepower in the Persian Gulf. No breath holding allowed…


  134. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    katy – Reagan made a deal with Iran, something about guns for hostages so that he could get elected. Very Nixon like behavior which continues to this day.


  135. Zooey says:

    stateofthedivision,

    TP is on holiday duty. ThinkFast will probably be back on Monday. I miss it.


  136. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    Someone asked about Obama and how he should react… well, here’s a suggestion from The Nation.


  137. impeachcheneythenbush says:

    drew3rd Says:

    Fred, Hitler won the Nobel. That’s how you measure the world?

    Hitler was nominated in 1939 by Erik Brandt, a member of the Swedish Parliament. He withdrew the nomination shortly after. Hitler was NOT awarded the prize. (Nominations only require a nomination by one qualified person).


  138. ElBruce says:

    Badger Says:

    IMHO Obama is doing the right thing. He should condemn the violence on all sides…and repeat that we only have ONE president and one foreign policy at a time.

    Saying “something” or giving “hints” would be counterproductive and fraught with political risk.

    WHEN he is sworn in, he should (and I believe he will) give a well thought out PLAN to diffuse the situation and move towards an Israeli/Palestinian Peace Settlement.

    The problem is that no plan is going to work if it’s obvious that we’re with Israel 100% and have 0% concern for the Palestinians. The Israelis would have no incentive to compromise – they could just walk away again and it wouldn’t hurt them a bit. Furthermore, the Palestinians would have no incentive to negotiate in good faith – since they’d have been given no reason to trust the other side, the only gains they could hope for would be whatever violations they could get away with, which incents them to deal dirty. That in turn gives Israel further reason (or at least justification) just to walk away from talks.

    A hint (like Greenspan used to do with interest rate discussions) would lend local political power to the peacemakers on both sides, as well as taking some away from the warmongers. That would help lay some groundwork regarding who to work with when the time comes. If it becomes obvious that the asshats on both sides don’t have a future in internation relations, and that the decent folk on both sides can make significant gains with the U.S. then the decent folk will have a chance to get the upper hand on the asshats.

    Due to how hawkish Obama was forced to get during the campaign what with AIPAC and Florida robocalls, it’s not at all clear that his normal “centrist and competent” approach is going to be employed in this sitation. I’d like to think that it will, but that’s not obvious to all the actors in this situation. That means that the asshats get to rely on the status quo and keep on doing what they do.

    Meanwhile, human beings are really being killed in the real world.

    There isn’t much I dislike about Obama, but his tendency to shy away from controversy unless and until he has a comprehensive answer to the issue really gets on my nerves. Sometimes you have to get off a half-assed response quickly.


  139. dbearton says:

    The White House Gangsters belong in jail, not issuing statements. Let them issue statements, why they should not recieve the death penalty or life in prison for treason and war crimes.


  140. iamwhoiam says:

    Hamas bombed Israel’s southern cities for 8 straight years. They kept doing so even after Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza strip and there are no Israeli citizens or soldiers there (well, except for one captured soldier, that no one saw for three years). Hamas kicked the democratically elected palestinian president, Mr. Abas, out of Gaza, and now even Mr. Abas doesn’t criticize Israel for it’s just retaliation after being bombed with no reason or provocation. Hamas is a terror organization with no intention to make peace with Israel. Hamas use women and children as human shields. Hamas steals all the money that should reach the people of Gaza. Hamas is completely responsible to whatever horror HIS people are going through.
    Israel is trying to reach peace with the Palestinians since the Oslo Accords in 1993. Yassr Arafat received the Nobel Peace Prize, no less, and in return sent terrorist to bomb themselves in buses, schools and restaurants in Tel Aviv.
    You can ignore all that all you want, but don’t be surprised when Barack Obama will support Israel too. People who support terror organizations are disgrace, no matter how “Liberal” they think they are.


  141. Badger says:

    Cats,

    Thanks for the link to the Nation Article.

    I agree, something essentially like that, is the way to Solve this Dilemma once and for all.

    All it will take is the Political Will… let’s see if President Obama can deliver.


  142. impeachcheneythenbush says:

    impeachcheneythenbush Says:

    As the Israeli government is acting in many respects like Nazis, I call it as I see it.

    ElBruce says: There are plenty of ways to criticize Israel without pulling a Godwin, which you just did. Your argument is hereby disqualified; start over.

    Sorry…but Godwin’s doesn’t apply to genocide or propaganda. The government of Israel is working on the first, and definitely employing the second. My argument is valid.


  143. stateofthedivision says:

  144. stateofthedivision says:

    Funny, the Japanese Foreign Minister could tell P.M. Ehud Olmert to stop the bombing.

    http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i55zFJQQVxIINWIgS1uXSMlCwX4Q


  145. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    Here’s a little about life as a Palestinian.
    *
    Curfews: Palestinians who leave their homes and venture into their olive groves can be immediately arrested or shot on site for violating Israeli imposed curfews.
    *
    Permits: Israeli occupation authorities require Palestinian farmers to apply for permits to access their lands in certain areas. The application procedure for these permits is long, tedious and often impossible for Palestinian families. The permit system is used by Israeli occupying forces as an institutionalized method of discrimination and dispossession.
    *
    Confiscation of ID Cards: Palestinian farmers violating Israeli imposed curfews or accessing their lands without certain Israeli issued permits can have their ID cards confiscated by Israeli occupying forces. Palestinians are required to carry these Israeli issued identification cards (hawiyya) at all times. If a Palestinian is stopped by Israeli soldiers and cannot present this identification card he or she can be immediately detained and held indefinitely without charge or trial.
    *
    Confiscation of Equipment: Palestinian farmers harvesting olives in certain areas without an Israeli issued permit may also have their equipment confiscated by Israeli occupying forces.
    *
    Fines: These same farmers may also be fined excessively for ‘trespassing’ on their own lands if they attempt to cultivate their olives without the required Israeli issued permits.
    *
    Destruction of Crops: Israeli occupying forces have uprooted almost 400,000 Palestinian olive trees in the last four years.[12] The Israeli army has also been known to burn Palestinian crops and even drop chemical agents, such as napalm agents, on Palestinian agricultural land in certain areas.


  146. ElBruce says:

    iamwhoiam Says:

    Hamas did this. Hamas did that. Hamas did the other thing. Hamas is bad. If I saw Hamas in a dark alley, I’d kick its ass.

    (or something like that)

    Thank God people who think like you aren’t going to be in power any more. Political opinions and movements withing populations aren’t the same as individual people. And nothing ever gets accomplished by putting black hats on some people, white hats on others and then throwing a big brawl.

    What “Hamas” did or didn’t do is subject to debate on a number of levels. Who says they did that? Was each given action authorized at the top, or do individual actors go rogue from time to time? Given that they don’t seem to have a very stable society, the latter seems quite likely in many instances. Even if some actions were authorized, are there any differences of opinion within Hamas, with new leadership that could be given opportunities for advancement, and carrots that could be offered to promote them?

    In any case, you can’t get around the fact that Hamas was put in charge in a free and fair election. Blanket declarations of their absolute illegitimacy automatically fail on that point alone.

    .

    impeachcheneythenbush Says:

    My argument is valid.

    I didn’t say it wasn’t, sorry to imply otherwise. I just meant that crying “Nazi” tends to rather corrupt a discussion rather than present a useful comparison. It’s not that the comparison is invalid on its merits, it’s just that sending the conversation in that direction tends to make everybody get real stupid real fast.


  147. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    Confiscation of ID Cards: Palestinian farmers violating Israeli imposed curfews or accessing their lands without certain Israeli issued permits can have their ID cards confiscated by Israeli occupying forces. Palestinians are required to carry these Israeli issued identification cards (hawiyya) at all times. If a Palestinian is stopped by Israeli soldiers and cannot present this identification card he or she can be immediately detained and held indefinitely without charge or trial.

    Didn’t the Nazis do something similar to this to the Jews?


  148. Uncle Fester Lurks says:

    iamwhoiam Says:
    ““““““““““““““““““““““““““
    I find your comment ironic because for a second there you could have very well been taking about our own government instead of Hama’s.

    We love war and have used fear and terror not only world-wide but within our own country. We also have tax loopholes that favor the super rich at the expense of the rest of America.

    We bail out the banksters, corporations and the crooksters on Wall Street while the American citizen struggles to survive by
    privatize the gains and socializing the losses.

    We spend more money on our military then we do on our own people or aging infrastructure.

    Sure Hama’s is an evil, murderous, terrorist organization but the US government and the Israeli government are two of the largest terrorist organizations on the planet. I guess it’s all in the eye of the beholder.


  149. Witch1 says:

    Please check out…..opednews.com for the the fact’s on Cynthias humatarian aid trip or her web site listed there…Peace, Blessings and Justice


  150. Witch1 says:

    Thank you Uncle fester for the truth and posting here…Blessings


  151. Uncle Fester Lurks says:

    I feel for the innocent Palestinian and Israeli people who are caught in the middle of all this carnage! Both Hama’s and the Israeli government are to blame for this genocide. I will say this though, the holocaust should not give a green light for the Israeli government to commit their own atrocities.

    Shame on the USA for continually backing the Israeli governments horrific actions. Some of their actions are no different then the condemned actions of Iraq, Iran, Russia, Syria, North Korea or Venezuela.

    If Israel continues this carnage I have a feeling that the rest of the world is not going to sit back any longer and allow this to continue, regardless of where the US stands.


  152. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    If Israel continues this carnage I have a feeling that the rest of the world is not going to sit back any longer and allow this to continue, regardless of where the US stands.

    Uncle Fester – The US has already lost credibility because of the failed Bush/Cheney foreign policies. This heavy handed aggression by Israel will only further decrease what little respect is left.


  153. delafield says:

    America blames Hamas just like Hitler blamed the Jews.


  154. katy says:

    Cats r Flyfishn Says:
    katy – Reagan made a deal with Iran, something about guns for hostages so that he could get elected. Very Nixon like behavior which continues to this day.

    yes, we found out all that after the fact… all that was very much under the radar… or was suppposed to be…

    what i meant was in reference to all the calls for obama to do or say something about the problem…

    i just wondered if there were some past reference to something similar – the iranian hostage crisis came to mind…
    that ronnie is the patron saint of all fright-wingers, i assumed he must’ve made many comments, before assuming his office, on how to solve that situation…


  155. Bilbo Hussein Baggins says:

    I am very disappointed to hear Livni say that. She is one of the two major candidates in the election and I was hoping that since she was a woman, she would be more inclined towards looking at peace rather than war. Too bad.


  156. Bilbo Hussein Baggins says:

    Sixty four percent of the people in Israel favor direct talks with Hamas. Sixty eight percent of the American public wanted us out of Iraq.

    Neither government cared one bit what it’s citizens wanted and look where we are right now.


  157. Constant Weader says:

    The way I read the “American position” is, “We want to make sure the Red Cross (or Crescent), the U.N., Amnesty International, etc. aren’t lying so as to support Arab terrorists.” The Israelis just say flat-out these relief groups are dupes at best & liars at worst.


  158. delafield says:

    Jews continue to slaughter defenseless Palestinian men, women, and children in Palestinian refugee camps that are controlled by Israel’s military.

    If the Jews are God’s chosen people then who the hell is God?


  159. ElBruce says:

    Constant Weader Says:

    The way I read the “American position” is, “We want to make sure the Red Cross (or Crescent), the U.N., Amnesty International, etc. aren’t lying so as to support Arab terrorists.” The Israelis just say flat-out these relief groups are dupes at best & liars at worst.

    If humanitarian shipments are being intercepted, then the best solution would be to send so many humanitarian goods that it would overload the ability of anyone intercepting it to store it all. Have food and medicine overflowing in the streets.

    Whether or not such shipments are being intercepted has nothing to do with the fact that the Gaza Palestinians have been trapped in a small space and are being bombed. There’s no relation between the two things. There’s also no evidence whatsoever for the assertion.


  160. wiley says:

    Livni is ex-Mossad. Deception is her milieu.


  161. superid says:

    This what happens when you let the evangelicals in the White House. All things Israel are an eschatological wet dream for these people.


  162. Marie says:

    I disagree with those who want Obama to say more at this time, or hint at his plan for peace. He is not president, nor is his team in place.
    Reagan was working with the Iranians before he got into office and regardless of the outcome, it was considered unethical if not illegal. Then again, much of what Reagan did was illegal if not unethical.

    Bilbo, Israel’s Livni is a big disappointment — she impresses me as a female Netanyahu.

    Elbruce, I understand the frustration, but half-baked answers to these very serious matters would undermine Obama’s own credibility.


  163. wiley says:

    Superid, the neocons are pro-Israel and many of them have dual citizenship. The evangelicals are just suckers who send money and help to disseminate Israel propaganda. They have no idea what a joke they are to the fundamentalist Israeli settlers they support so fervently.


  164. Game of Life says:

    funkmonkey Says:

    drew3rd Says:

    I’m not the one who loves Nobel prize winners. Humility is never on display here. No one believes what is right in front of their face.

    So if “nobody here believes what is right in front of their face.”, I take it that you also agree that Bush committed War Crimes, Committed crimes against the US Constitution, and Humanity?

    I can provide PROOF of these actions, so that must mean that you believe “what is right in front of your face”?

    Typical lonely troll response. s/he doesn’t understand the process of reasoning without going on a wild tangent.

    s/he unintentionally lacks cognitive skills.

    troll, do you prefer to talk about chimpy’s ignorance or rainbows and butterflies?


  165. Game of Life says:

    stateofthedivision Says:

    The world is waiting for Obama to say something:

    Obama’s silence on Gaza confirms low Arab expectations

    President-ELECT is doing what he should be doing. A response is not necessary. You know his position on this fake war SO DON’T ACT SO INDIGNANT.

    What is President-ELECT Obama suppose to do…interrupt chimpy’s vacation\tour?

    this is another one of chimpy’s fail dangerous policies f9ck ups.


  166. delafield says:

    I don’t understand how the world can allow Jewish demons to murder hundreds/thousands of unarmed, starving, Palestinian women and children who are trapped in refugee camps.

    If Jews are God’s chosen people then who the hell is God?


  167. Game of Life says:

    Marie@161

    I agree with you.

    the war preznut begun his reign as a war profiting* decider and is ending his reign in the same place…wondering what to do next, who to blame, what jokes can be had.

    shoot-em-up-cheney: I will relinquish all ties to kbr/haliburton.

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA yeah, right.

    *drunk-rummy: Let them loot Iran treasures! It’s a natural occurrence.

    to the brave:you go to war to die not to look good in a decked out hummers (proper, adequate amour) and special vests (proper, adequate amour.)****smirk***hiccup#%

    Magically gas prices are where they should be. Why? Why did the oil companies deserve a huge influx of cash?

    Worse preznut in the universe.


  168. katy says:

    well said, marie, as usual…
    i agree with you, and with game…

    but what a mess… an ugly massive mess…

    more planned chaos, no doubt…


  169. bogglesthemind says:

    but not the israelis, of course. they don’t have to practice peace but they are running the show, along with their puppet masters in Congress and Wall St.

    no, no, no, Congress and Wall St are the puppets of Israel.


  170. Quizmos says:

    Makes one wonder how this media would have reported the atrocities of the Holocaust under a Hiltler administration!


  171. sacopenapa says:

    The TRRORIST STATE OF ISRAEL and its TERRORIST sponsor USA/UK are murderers!


  172. sacopenapa says:

    They want to escalate War before ObamaNoChange gets in.


  173. Game of Life says:

    Quizmos Says:

    Makes one wonder how this media would have reported the atrocities of the Holocaust under a Hiltler administration!

    Just like they do now. A 2 ton bomb kills 2 Palestinians while a a woman with a light weight bomb kills 35.


  174. drew3rd says:

    Game of Life, thank you for the most poignant thought of this entire thread. The Jews have been hitting specific targets. They are only killing those they are being attacked by. They don’t indiscriminately wipe out whoever a 2,000 lb bomb can reach, they only kill the two they are looking for. There is far too much hatred of Jews here. Using Nazi to describe Israel and Bush diminishes the word. Makes it weaker when it is placed on entities not remotely as evil.


  175. Rowan Berkeley says:

    I have come to the conclusion that the qualities of religions are neither imaginary nor relative. Some religions are completely destructive from the word go, and this, I suggest, is true of the post-Ezra, JHVH-dominated phase of the Jewish one. I would suggest that every ‘victory’ gained by JHVH, throughout his ghastly history, has turned into a nightmare for the Jews themselves and also for everyone affected by them. I would also suggest that Jews reform their religion, by restoring it to its original, God-given form, when the name God chose to be addressed by was Elohim. JHVH will not be missed when he is consigned to the scrap heap of dead cult objects.


  176. drew3rd says:

    Which peaceful GOD of the pre-Ezra era are you referring to. The one who destroyed Israel through Babylonian captivity or the one who drowned Ramses? The GOD of the New Testament is far more forgiving. That’s why we Christains are stupid but nice.


  177. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    drew3rd – hristians can be just a evil. Look up the Spanish Inquisition and study the history of Christianity and the South American indigenous people.

    There is far too much hatred of Jews here.
    These are your words. No one here said that they hate Jews. Your problem is that you don’t have the ability to differentiate between religion and government. You comment as if they are one and the same.
    Let’s ask the Lakotahs about this current situation. After all, the US has stolen their lands.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3lB8akRO0E


  178. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    hristians can be just a evil.

    Should read: Christians can be just as evil.


  179. Game of Life says:

    drew3rd@172

    My post was definitely a snark. I guess you’re a little slow.

    What I’m saying is that the reportings are false. The numbers don’t add up. Both methods of single and multi-bombing are achieved for very different reasons.

    As long as Israel is doing the reporting I won’t believe the numbers.


  180. Game of Life says:

    #
    katy Says:

    i forget – what was raygun saying about the iranian hostage problem the whole time after his election, before HE was actually sworn in?

    curious…
    January 2nd, 2009 at 5:54 pm Add Karma Recommend (2) | Report Abuse

    How soon repugs forget. This is a typical repug response that doesn’t work.

    repugs say – cold is clean
    damn breaks and sludge shit is everywhere

    repugs say old dried up superior-to-the-world bs, chimpy’s basic policy mode when making big decisions.

    the opposite of dems sure ain’t repugs.


  181. delafield says:

    The Jews only have until January 20th to murder all the Paletinian women and children they can. That’s the day that Bush leaves office.

    Does anyone think Obama will be different than Bush?


  182. drew3rd says:

    Christians can be just as evil? You trot out the Inquisition? 3,000 confirmed deaths over 500 years? Wow, give me a good old CATHOLIC, not Christian, purge anyday. BTW seperation of Church and State doesn’t happen in Israel folks. It’s supposed to, but don’t fool yourselves. They are a secular/religious society.

    You don’t even acknowledge that comparing Israel to Nazi’s is hatespeech? Well, my good liberal counterparts are as blinded by hate as the repubtards say. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it 100 more times, Nazi is a very serious word that describes a period of unyielding evil in our world. Applying it to Bush and Israel diminishes it’s power.


  183. USpace says:

    .
    Hamas are evil garbage, they must be eliminated. Then, if the rest of the ‘Palestinians’ really want peace they can give up their dream of destroying Israel, if not, they will never have peace.

    Israel must destroy as much of Hamas as possible before the MSM and the idiots and ignorants whine loud enough for them to stop. They must only quit when they are ready.

    For EVERY missile shot into Israel at least ONE missile should be returned to the area as close as possible to the shooter. Tit for tat. Every single missile should be returned. Period. Treat them like adults, if they kill, they will be killed. If they send missiles, they will receive them. That is the only way they will learn. Screw public opinion, force them to see the truth, or let them be damned.
    .
    absurd thought -
    God of the Universe says
    hope your kids grow up

    to strap bombs on babies
    to kill other children

    .
    absurd thought -
    God of the Universe says
    form a terrorist country

    then wish to be destroyed
    by committing acts of war

    .
    absurd thought -
    God of the Universe says
    blame your failings on the Jews

    for a few more thousand years
    they are Earth’s scapegoats

    .
    absurd thought -
    God of the Universe says
    give Israel away

    to appease her enemies
    dishonor America
    .
    All real freedom starts with freedom of speech. Without freedom of speech there can be no real freedom.
    .
    Philosophy of Liberty Cartoon
    .
    Help Stop Terrorism Today!
    .
    USpace

    :)
    .


  184. stateofthedivision says:

    Senator Barack Obama weighed in twice on Israel’s pummeling of Lebanon in 2006.

    “I don’t think there is any nation that would not have reacted the way Israel did after two soldiers had been snatched. I support Israel’s response to take some action in protecting themselves.” (August 22, 2006)

    “I don’t fault Israel for wanting to rid their border with Lebanon from those Katyusha missiles that can fire in and harm Israeli citizens, so I think that any cease fire would have to be premised on the removal of those missiles.” (July 2006)

    What’s keeping him from saying anything today? Does he agree with everything Israel’s doing? He didn’t challenge their narrative two years ago. Plus, Barack hired special US Middle East envoy General James Jones as his National Security Adviser.

    The Bush administration helped plan the Lebanese incursion two years ago. Did General Jones lay the groundwork for today’s carnage?


  185. stateofthedivision says:

    On June 28, 2006 Barack Obama gave a speech encouraging Democrats to reach out to evangelicals.

    July 12, 2006 Israel begins a month long pummeling of Lebanon.

    Senator Barack Obama supports the Israeli narrative.


  186. stateofthedivision says:

    Uncle Fester, Bush signed an executive order for the Transporation Department to provide insurance for airlines. He did so on December 23rd.

    How do those 47.5 million uninsureds feel? That group he ignored for eight long years.



  187. EugeneDebs says:

    USpace Says:

    You are an ignorant lying propagandistic piece of stupid. Hamas is who the Palestinians ELECTED. What are you calling for genocide? You ignorant soulless moron. You are just a stupid brainwashed idiot who has no idea what you are talking about and regurgitates whatever Rush Limbaugh TOLD you to think today. You moronic toady


  188. EugeneDebs says:

    By the way SpacyMoron the God of the Universe wants you to stop slandering his name by linking it to your abject stupidity what is absurd are your posts.


  189. stateofthedivision says:

    Obama spokesman noted the President elect is still monitoring the situation, now in its 9th day. What happened during that time?

    1. The death toll rose from a handful to over 400
    2. The number of wounded soared from a few hundred to thousands
    3. Many of the dead and wounded are innocent civilians
    4. Israel sent in ground troops, dividing the Palestinian Territory
    5. Roughly 100 Palestinians died for 1 Israeli
    6. The US blocked a United Nations Security Council resolution on the conflict

    Two years ago, Junior Senator Barack Obama weighed in on Israel’s pummeling of Lebanon. He repeated Israeli talking points.

    Two years ago, President George W. Bush’s administration helped plan the Lebanese incursion. I fully expect history to repeat itself, both in words and deed. Did special U.S. Middle East envoy General James L. Jones help craft Gaza strategy? He’s now Obama’s National Security Adviser and likely providing the updates.


  190. stateofthedivision says:

    The Pope weighed in:

    http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3650188,00.html

    Pope: War won’t solve Holy Land problems

    Benedict XVI calls for end of violence in Gaza Strip in speech before pilgrims, saying history has shown ‘war and hate aren’t the solution,’ urges faithful to pray for peace.

    Barack Obama monitors.


  191. stateofthedivision says:

    Yes, the man everyone has been waiting for spoke on the Israel-Gaza situation. NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg went to Israel to show his support for Operation Cast Lead:

    http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3650245,00.html

    Here’s the kicker from Mike:

    Stressing the deep ties with Israel, the mayor said that both US President George Bush and President-elect Barack Obama gave legitimacy for the Gaza operation.


  192. USpace says:

    EugeneDebs Says:

    So what if the people elected Hamas? So what if they were forced to elect Hamas? Hamas is bombing Israel, attacking Israel. Israel has the right to defend themselves, period. It doesn’t matter that some terrorists were ‘elected’. That doesn’t absolve them from being destroyed and killed in self-defense, Hamas started it. I’m not advocating genocide you communist fool. Hamas is advocating the genocide of ALL Israel and ALL the Jews. That is called for in their ‘religious political ideology’.
    .
    absurd thought -
    God of the Universe says
    there is no good or evil

    every thing’s relative
    don’t judge a terrorist
    .


  193. dbadass says:

    So how does one tell a freedom fighter from a terrorist?



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