...not that you're Don Vito or anything. You're more like Sonny (before he was shot--LOL).
Posted on 08/10/2006 8:58:40 AM PDT by presidio9
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has flunked her first foreign policy crisis in the Middle East.
She went to the turbulent region last month in the early days of the war that began when Hezbollah forces in Lebanon crossed into Israel and kidnapped two Israeli soldiers.
Rice had orders from President George W. Bush to oppose any immediate ceasefire, which was hardly the proper policy by the U.S. if it wanted to end the suffering among Israelis and Lebanese.
Rice apparently was dispatched to the Middle East to pass on to Israel the message that it has the green light from the White House to do whatever it wanted and could take more time to clobber the rocket-firing Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, despite Lebanese and international pleas for a truce.
Israel took that message to heart, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert seems bent on proving that he can be as tough as his predecessors.
During her trip, Rice was snubbed by Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who told her she was not welcome in Beirut if the U.S. did not support an immediate cessation of hostilities.
She was later blindsided in her personal visit with Olmert and other Israeli officials. During the meeting, the Israelis failed to alert Rice of their bombing massacre that day of Lebanese civilians in the village of Qana. The attack evoked worldwide indignation.
Rice was notified of the attack later by e-mail from a State Department staffer. After learning the news of Qana, Rice appeared shaken and stressed out. Perhaps the human dimension of a threadbare foreign policy finally hit home.
Rice is out of her league and seems to have little knowledge about the Middle East. Her expertise was always on the now-defunct Soviet Union and the Cold War.
Nor does she seek the advice of her former boss, Brent Scowcroft, who served as President George H. W. Bush's national security adviser. Scowcroft is a pro in Middle East diplomacy.
Her style is to lecture the leaders of sovereign countries as though they were school boys. When asked why the U.S. won't talk to the Syrians, who she blames for sponsoring Hezbollah, she said, "Syrians have known for a long time what they need to do."
Insiders claim that after her return from her Middle Eastern swing, Rice began pushing for a quick ceasefire but that Bush refused -- apparently to accommodate the wishes of the Israeli leaders, who wanted more time to rough up Hezbollah.
Former President Jimmy Carter has been critical of the Bush-Rice policies, which he said have fostered violence in the Middle East and "encourage the continuation of attacks on both sides."
Rice said she is working for a lasting and sustainable peace, but I'm sure the people in the war zone would be happy if the U.S. would just take steps now to stop the guns of August.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. William Odom recently zeroed in a fundamental truth about the Hezbollah-Israel war when he said U.S. policies in Iraq "opened the door for Iran and Syria to support Hezbollah." The U.S. presence in Iraq has had a "radicalizing impact" in the region, Odom recently wrote.
It will be a long time before America regains the great respect and reverence it once enjoyed among the peoples of the Middle East, before Bush's aggressive policies took hold, starting with his unprovoked invasion of Iraq.
The Iraqi war -- which Rice helped to pump up when she was Bush's national security adviser -- is one of her foreign policy failures. The failure of the U.S. to take steps to halt the current Israel-Hezbollah war is merely another sign that she's in over her head.
(Helen Thomas can be reached at the e-mail address hthomas@hearstdc.com).
Bwahahahahaaa!!!!!
Yes, Condi Rice didn't get ceasefire breathing room for Fugly Thomas' Hezbollah friends to get more weapons from Syria and Iran. SHE FLUNKS!!! Thank god Condi flunked. An A grade from Fugly for Condi would have meant Hezbollah was given an advantage. Unfortunately the diplomatic types have managed to hold off Israel's need land invasion into Lebanon. That is what we non-terrorist supporters would give a failing grade to.
lol! I was gonna click on the story...then I saw it was helen thomas so i wasn't gonna...then i saw "hateful bitch" and i just had to come on and laugh at the old sea hag.
"Rice is out of her league and seems to have little knowledge about the Middle East. Her expertise was always on the now-defunct Soviet Union and the Cold War. "
If Republicans had listened to the DemonRAT experts that Hell-en worships, the Soviets would NOT be "DEFUNCT".
Put the axe down, sir.... ;-)
There were two posts to the "Discuss Helen Thomas' Opinion" link. The second one was:
Helen,
Thank you for your predictible observation of the OUR President's and Secretary of States performance in the current conflict in the Middle East.
As usual you are a pacifist when it comes to handling terrorists! Helen they want to kill you ane me. They break all treaties and we must wipe all terrorists off the face of the earth.
Also, why does the US have to always be the solver of the worlds problems? Let Russia and China do a little work!
Liberals all have a POV! It is just the wrong one!
ILUVW
Great response! Could that be FReeper ILuvW?
I think I read somewhere Helen was Lebanese. IMO she should go back there and do something. Maybe be a human shield.
It's pretty obvious that Helen's not jellin'!
God, if there was ever an image of a true human witch (mimicking the cartoon version of the 'witch') Helen Thomas would be it. Scary stuff.
Condi 08!
Like, who gives a flip?
I wouldn't be surprised if this were her actual "by-line" these days.
Guess we can't surrender fast enough to please Helen..
From Wikipedia:
Thomas was born in Winchester, Kentucky to Lebanese immigrants.[1] She was raised in Detroit, Michigan and attended Wayne University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1942.
[1] Contemporary Heroes and Heroines. Vol. 3. Gale Research, 1998; Encyclopedia of World Biography Supplement, Vol. 19. Gale Group, 1999; Current Biography, H.W. Wilson Co., 1993.
Ms. Rice has done a marvelous job. Israelis are continuing to kill terrorists, aren't they?
Hmmmm.... I did not realize that Helen Thomas was a military and foreign affairs expert. Maybe Bush should fire Condi and replace her with Helen?
I bet Helen would get along with Jung-Il almost as well as Albright did.
I Got Helen Thomas to Hang Up on Me
DFU phone call to the troll | 10-11-02 | Doug from Upland
Posted on 10/11/2002 11:50:31 AM PDT by doug from upland
THIS HELEN THOMAS NONSENSICAL PIECE inspired my phone call to her. Her number is at the bottom.
I was surprised to actually get through to the troll. I gave my name and indicated that I participate on FreeRepublic where I saw her article posted. Trying not to be confrontational with the troll, I said that I found it interesting but had a few questions.
First, she said that Iraq is under total surveillance from the air. I asked whether that was good enough considering that we have no access to the palaces or perhaps hundreds of other buildings that are off limits. She told me that he agreed to give access to everything. I questioned that and she directed me to ask the State Department.
She came back at me with "Should we check every nation?" My response was that I was not quite as much concerned that our friends in England had nukes as I am that someone like Saddam Hussein had them.
Helen immediately launched into an attack on Israel talking about the nukes the Israelis have and that they occupy territory that does not belong to them. Then she went on to babble that someday everyone would have nukes. She asked why I don't go along with non-proliferation and she mumbled something else that was somewhat incoherent.
She appeared to be growing weary in the exchange so I asked her if she had time for just one more question before I left. I asked her opinion about Juanita Broaddrick. "Who is that," she said. As I was about to explain (of course, she knows) she said, "I don't have any more time for this. Bye bye." And then, Helen the troll hung up the phone on me.
I had so many more questions for her. I wondered if the economy began its slide on Jan. 20, 2001. I wondered whether corporate greed began on Jan. 20, 2001. I wondered if stocks began the downturn on Jan. 20, 2001. I wondered how many corporate execs Bill Clinton had ordered to be led away in orange jump suits during his tenure. Unfortunately, we were not able to discuss those issues.
Maybe Helen had to go take a nap. Or, maybe she had to down another pint.
I guess this could be considered a phone FReep, right?
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