Posted on 08/01/2002 9:57:08 AM PDT by Momaw Nadon
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President Bush ( news - web sites) said on Thursday he was "furious" about a Palestinian bombing that killed five Americans and two Israelis in Jerusalem but he still believed peace was possible in the Middle East.
"I'm just as angry as Israel is right now," Bush told reporters in Washington before meeting Jordan's King Abdullah. "I'm furious that innocent life was lost. However, through my fury, even though I am mad, I still believe peace is possible."
Bush's remarks followed scathing condemnation by U.S. ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer of Wednesday's attack, which he said marked "a new depth of depravity" for Palestinian militants waging a 22-month-old uprising against Israeli occupation.
Seven people were killed and more than 80 hurt when the lunchtime blast tore through a cafeteria at Hebrew University, one of the few places in Jerusalem where Arabs and Israelis still studied and lived peacefully together.
U.S. officials identified four of the dead as Janis Coulter, 36, Benjamin Blutstein, Marla Bennett and David Gritz. Gritz also had French citizenship. Israeli police identified the fifth American as Dina Carter, 37, who also had Israeli citizenship.
The two Israelis killed were identified as David Ladovsky, 29, who had recently joined the diplomatic corps, and Levina Shapira, a 53-year-old student counselor.
Hamas, an Islamic militant group dedicated to Israel's destruction, said it carried out the attack to avenge an Israeli air strike in Gaza last week that killed its military leader, his lieutenant and 13 others, including nine children.
The attack was the bloodiest in Israel since June 19 when a bomber killed seven Israelis at a Jerusalem bus stop, and was unusual because of the high toll of foreign victims.
It further dented hopes of an early breakthrough to end violence since Palestinians rose up against Israeli occupation in September 2000 after statehood talks deadlocked.
Asked if he supported Israeli military retaliation for the latest bomb attack, Bush said Israel had a right to defend itself "but I say to all parties involved, we must keep the vision of peace in mind."
ISRAELI SHOT DEAD
In new violence, an Israeli man was found bound and shot dead near Israel's border with the West Bank on Thursday.
The Israeli army accused Palestinian gunmen of shooting the man at close range at the Buds of Peace industrial zone near the West Bank city of Tulkarm after going there to make deliveries.
A senior Israeli security source said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ( news - web sites) had decided in consultations with Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer to "retaliate strongly against Hamas targets for what happened."
But the government did not say exactly how it would respond to the blast, which was condemned by the Palestinian Authority ( news - web sites) and which followed a suicide attack that wounded four people in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
In Beit Jala near Bethlehem in the West Bank, witnesses said Israeli forces blew up the home of Hazim Saras, who carried out that bombing.
It was not clear whether Israeli pledges to ease the hardship of 700,000 Palestinians living under Israeli military curfew in the West Bank since mid-June would be affected.
Laying a wreath at Hebrew University a day after the blast, U.S. Ambassador Kurtzer demanded immediate action by the Palestinians and Arab states to end the violence.
"The terrorist murderers, those who sent them and those whose action and inaction contributed to this despicable act, have descended to a new depth of depravity," Kurtzer, a former student at the university, said.
CONDEMNATION BY "QUARTET"
Washington's partners in the 'Quartet' leading efforts to revive peacemaking -- Russia, the United Nations ( news - web sites) and the European Union ( news - web sites) -- also condemned the bombing.
"Terror has brought death and suffering in...a lively center of culture, of communication and of learning where students of different nationalities and ethnic origin work closely and harmoniously together, including of course Israelis and Palestinians," EU Commissioner Michel Barnier said.
At least 1,473 Palestinians and 574 Israelis have been killed in the violence, including a 63-year-old Gaza man who medical officials said died on Thursday of earlier wounds.
Suicide bombings have continued despite a six-week Israeli offensive in the West Bank launched in late March.
A U.N. report on Israel's assault on the Jenin Palestinian refugee camp during the offensive criticized all sides, saying Israel endangered civilians by using heavy weapons in heavily populated areas while 200 Palestinian fighters used the camp as a base.
The report by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan ( news - web sites) avoided the word "massacre" and dismissed Arab claims that 500 Palestinians died in Jenin during Israel's "Operation Defensive Shield."
It said there were cases when Israeli forces did not respect the neutrality of medical and humanitarian workers, and that 52 Palestinians and 23 Israeli soldiers died in Jenin over 10 days.
This may work on some planets, perhaps yours, but the Pallies have become like the Borg. There are countless thousands of rag-waving replacements for dead leaders, who by the way expect and even welcome death. And don't forget that even if we somehow could take out every single Pallie that hates us at one whack, there would still be the radical Imams who are busily creating new generations of hatred in every mosque. They don't even wait for Sundays. And it's so un-PC to go after the slobbering Imams with gunships...isn't it? Hmm...
It's pretty sad when we have to battle both the liberals and those who our supposedly on 'our' side.
Face it, Bush is an idiot AND a coward, who, by his failure to treat this international fanatical muslim enemy seriously [one wonders exactly how President caddie would "treat international fanatical muslim enemies", beyond what we're doing], is setting us up for another September 11 bloodbath.
There's no reasoning with someone who makes absurd statements like this, rw. I wouldn't waste my time.
Bingo!
I wouldn't be too sure about that.
Suppose somebody took out Syria's Bashar Assad -- Syria may well experience a serious power struggle that takes them out of the game: it almost happened when the elder Assad died.
Similarly, taking out Saddam and a few of his closest friends would throw Iraq into chaos.
Iran is probably the biggest problem, though there are apparently some rumblings of real discontent with the leadership there. Direct assault would be counter-productive, and it probably wouldn't work to simply take out Iranian leaders; however, it may well be possible to find, groom, and arm a dissident movement.
The Saudis are a whole different story. They're cravenly paying off both sides in order to stay in power. If the other terrorist states dissolve, I suspect the Saudis will go after the terrorists themselves, as they represent the greatest danger to the Saudi regime.
It's sad, but that's about the stinkin' truth.
But he's not.
He kisses the asses of Saudis who fund and organize the whole Pal thing.
He talks "peace process" after day after day of carnage occurs in Israel, when he should be helping the Israelis defeat the Pals.
He says, "you are either with the terrorists or with us," but then kisses the ass of Pakistan.
You are unwise to think that there is anything beneath the surface with this POTUS.
Who are you, Colin Powell, or some other State Department person?
Sounds as if you are a professional apologist for this worthless POTUS.
So basically, what that amounts to is when enough people die?? This murder by "onesies and twosies" obscures that fact that enough people have already died. The time for talk would seem to be over. Granted, I'm not privy to all the deep, dark intel that the President has, but for crying out loud, how many people have to get blasted to bits??
Are you sure he's doing nothing? Are you sure that anything he could do -- short of genocide -- could actually prevent the terrorists from doing what they're doing? Your specific complaints suggest that you need to leave the cramped confines of your keyboard for a visit to the real world. Take the Pakistanis, for example. You'd have him mount an attack on the country that is allowing us to conduct operations into Afghanistan from their borders, and which has been more than a little helpful in tracking down Al Qaeda operatives. They have been imperfect partners, but they've certainly been more help than hindrance.
You are unwise to think that there is anything beneath the surface with this POTUS.
Well it's for damned sure that this POTUS has made sure there are no living Al Qaeda beneath the surface of Afghanistan. The war is continuing apace, though out of sight. He was able to ease the tensions between Pakistan and India -- which was mighty helpful to our own interests. He's getting a hell of a lot done -- much as it must gall you.
As for your insinuations concerning worthlessness or whether there's anything beneath the surface, I'd suggest that you throw nothing harder than a nerf ball.
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