Posted on 06/26/2002 8:04:31 PM PDT by RedBloodedAmerican
You are the one that is exalting Larry to the status of a foreign policy expert, not me.
Well, there's the rub, isn't it? He wasn't accurate.
That IS an elitist notion and is not Jeffersonian at all in principle or practice.
I didn't think this article was valid.
That's why I posted it under HUMOR.
To the contrary, Bush's message to the long-suffering Palestinian people -- currently exploited as pawns by Arafat and the totalitarian/theocratic dictatorships in the Middle East -- is *IF* you repudiate terror and homicide-bombings and replace the gangster Arafat and his thugs with new leaders who genuinely seek peace, then not only will you have statehood, but you will also receive our help in achieving peace and prosperity.
Bush's speech gives hope to the beleagured Israelis who genuinely seek only to live in peace and who have been abandoned or scapegoated by the rest of the world. Bush's speech also give hope to the fledging and persecuted pro-democracy elements in Iran and throughout the Arab world, including the few peaceful Palestinians still left after years of brainwashing and murder by Arafat.
The Israelis were extremely pleased with Bush's speech. Knowledgable pro-Israeli conservative pundits like Dr. Charles Krauthammer, Michael Kelly and George Will praised Bush's speech. What are the odds that the most interested parties and the most knowledgable experts are completely wrong and only Larry got it right?
The fact is Larry is as spectacularly wrong on Bush's speech as Yasser Arafat was when he claimed Bush's insistence on replacing the corrupt and failed Palestinian leadership was not a reference to him. Arafat, of course, is either delusional, senile or lying. What's Larry's excuse?
I see no problem with Larry's opposition to a Palestinian state. Again, I find it very unencouraging that President Bush had to tell these people publically, that they were not going to be allowed to re-elect Arafat to public office. Are the Palestinians really ready for transition into democracy if they cannot understand that electing a known TERRORIST to office is not a democratic principle?
What's more, should we as a country, support a democratic Palestine when the average person was out cheering in the streets on September 11th? The thought of these fanatics getting a free state scares me, because they aren't responsible enough to handle what a democracy entails.
Also, I feel sorry for Israel. Afterall, they have would have to live next to a Palestinian state, not us. They are on the front lines everyday fighting these fanatics.
That's not "putting forth" an opinion on anything, that's predicting what the president was about to do, and Larry was (as usual) spectacularly wrong.
Now, you and I argued once that implications carry weight when you supported Larry's distortion on the promotion of a mid-level government employee. Larry claimed (and you supported his claim) that the fact that Bush and Ashcroft were in charge at the time, this implied that the promotion was their doing.
Now, Larry accepted to appear on a radio program to discuss official US government policies concerning the Middle East, that implies that Larry considers himself an expert on this issue, otherwise, why would the station invite him, or why would he accept?
So then, according to yours and Larry's own logic, the fact that he appeared on a radio show to specifically discuss US Middle Eastern policy implies that Larry claims to be a Middle Eastern policy expert.
Or were you both wrong on that other thread?
Oh, one last thing...what's Larry doing criticizing Bush's foreign policy anyway? There was nothing illegal done by the Bush administration here.
Is Judicial Watch a public interest, non-profit law firm? Or is it in reality a Liberal Political Action Committee.
I know what I would answer to that.
And no matter how you dress it up, there will be NO Palestinian state in September, which is EXACTLY what Larry Klayman said George W. Bush was going to do.
Think about it: right now (aside from the ongoing "you slap me, I slap you" games) the Palestinians are basically part of a second-world nation, with various benefits thereof. Decent jobs are available, standard gov't services are provided, basic food & goods & services are available, etc.
BUT...should a separate state be created, can it survive? With practically no farming or industry or ports of its own, with much of the jobs severely reduced by a new real border with real checkpoints & visas, with no gov't services provided or subsidized by its current reluctant supporter, with no apparent motivation on the citizens' parts toward self-sufficiency, and with a total size so small as to be practically impotent in all national/international matters, creating a Palestinian state would regress the Palestinians to a seriously third-world status with no hope or purpose except war.
Perhaps the strategy SHOULD be "give 'em enough rope and they'll hang themselves". As an occupied territory, they'll whine & moan forever. As a soveriegn nation, methinks they'll regress (either on their own or as consequence to attacking Israel) to the natural state of the region: barren wasteland. Maybe Bush is onto something...
Send your $26 million to: The Banana Republican, P.O. Box 0001, The Banana Republic of FL., USA.
I promise to use 10% of what you send for whatever it was that I told you I needed the money for.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.