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.
If every islamiat arab finally gets kicked out of Israel, I agree with him.
Good point. Although my cat sometimes vomits on the carpeting, and my dog occassionally slobbers on my guests, I love them both and hate it when they're put in the same boat as Islamic nutballs. Anyway, animals act out of instinct, and Islamists commit intentional acts of evil.
Yeah, and Mr. Bush has a bridge for sale.
From an Apr. 30 speech -- I left in the "accountability" stuff, 'cuz it's either meaningless, or will require another tier of bureaucracy. (emphasis and commentary mine, throughout):
"...The same principles of compassion and responsibility apply when America offers assistance to other nations."(Haven't quite got the bugs outta this part yet.) "Nearly half of the world's people still live on less than $2 a day." (And that's my workin' behinds' problem 'cuz???) "When we help them, we show our values, our belief in universal human dignity. We serve our interests and gain economic partners." (We show them we're a bunch of roll over chumps.) "And by helping the developing nations of the world, we offer an alternative to resentment and conflict and terror." (We yield to extortion.)
"Yet the old way of pouring vast amounts of money into development aid without any concern for results has failed, often leaving behind misery and poverty and corruption. America's offering a new compact for global development." (Differing how from the old money pit?) "Greater aid contributions from America must be and will be linked to greater responsibility from developing nations." (Applause.)
"I have proposed a 50-percent increase" (Some of which will come directly from Old Fud!!!) "in our core development assistance over the next three budget years. Money that will be placed in a new Millennium Challenge Account. At the end of this three-year period, the level of our annual development assistance will be $5 billion higher than current levels." (Compassion in action.)
"This is a record amount of spending." (er, what party am I in???) "And in return for these funds, we expect nations to rout out corruption, to open their markets, to respect human rights, and to adhere to the rule of law." (And their word on it is as good as gold.) "And these are the keys to progress in any nation, and they will be the conditions for any new American aid." (Applause.)
"It is compassionate to increase our international aid." (It's damn foolish, but don't let that stop ya.) "It is conservative to require the hard reforms that lead to prosperity and independence. And with this approach, we'll make a real difference in the lives of people around the world. (Making a difference, stiff by stiff.)
That's where things are at with compassionate foreign aid, folks.
That is: "Peace through strength."
I too believe "peace is possible" but to achieve peace we must use our strength to wage this war.
Could that be what our president might mean? Do the posters on this thread want perpetual war? Or do they want the peace that comes only when one's enemies are defeated? If the answer to the latter is in the affirmative, then we all here think that "peace is possible."
Not in the foreseeable future and then only AFTER the enemy is completely vanquished.
No, it's not compassionate President Rino. It's socialistic, stupid, and crimminal.
I do get it, but you apparently do not. The individual terrorist organizations are pretty small and independent, and are basically defined by their leaders. Remove the leader, and the organization falls apart. This is, BTW, a good way to apply direct and massive force to the terrorists without inflaming the rest of the nice folks living in the PA (who, BTW, outnumber tie Israelis).
Killing the leaders is also an effective reminder to all who would step into the shoes of the dear departed that they, too, will be killed.
It's not possible to kill them all at once, of course, because they're never in the same place at the same time.
There are still ways, though. Israel's springtime invasion allowed them to target multiple bad guys near-simultaneously, and I guess they got quite a few of them. But their ability to continue the campaign had to be weighed against the possible loss of foreign support that that invasion provoked. (For Israel, please note, PR is a vital national security issue.)
I do see that they've been continually taking out one or two bad guys every couple of weeks. That's actually a pretty rapid pace, but spread out enough to allow the Israelis to avoid the bad PR that would accompany a concentrated and short-duration extermination effort.
The downside to this approach is that it does expose civilians to danger. But the alternative probably puts them in even greater danger.
Beyond that, killing the terrorist leaders will also probably have a greater long-term payoff than would creating a bunch of Palestinian "martyrs." For the former, the driving force behind terrorism is systematically taken away. As for the latter, you've just created a whole new batch of reasons for kids to strap bombs to their bellies.
Now it's your turn. What exactly do you mean by "direct and massive force?" Against whom? And to what end?
The Bush haters here is just the usual bunch of Johnny One-Notes, and they can't even sing on key. One cannot expect to condict a reasonable discussion with them because everything they say is colored by their hatred for Bush.
BTW, I think if you looked under their respective rocks, you'd see nary a libertarian among them. More likely you'd find them sitting on stacks of attractively printed Pat Buchanan flyers.
I don't think so. The gov'ts of Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia all finance terrorist activities, so they are by definition terrorist orgs themselves. So we won't be solving the problem by taking out a few Al Qaeda, Hamas, and Hizbollah leaders. Those people are replacable. Solving the problem requires regime changes in the above mentioned nations (among others), and this can only be accomplished by a full scale war.
It's not possible to kill them all at once, of course, because they're never in the same place at the same time.
An program of targeted killing of terrorist leaders could be effective, and as military leaders they are legitimate targets, the reprecussions of operating in civilian areas out of uniform is their responsibility, not Israel's. However to be effective the program must be stepped up, and Israel's allie must be supportive in confronting world opinion. An operation like last week, which is condemned by the US, is a terrorist victory, and a disincentive for Israel to continue what could be an effective strategy. The terrorists responded predictably, with another attack.
No terrorist should feel safe. No terrorist's family should feel safe being around him.
Bush is a total disgrace.
If he were POTUS after Pearl Harbor, he would be all, "Our argument isn't with the Japanese people...Shinto is a peaceful religion...etc. And we would all be speaking German right now.
Face it, Bush is an idiot AND a coward, who, by his failure to treat this international fanatical muslim enemy seriously, is setting us up for another September 11 bloodbath.
I think you, and all our countrymen, need to set the bar a little higher for POTUSES.
If you look at how Thos. Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, JFK, and other POTUSES treated barbarians like these who were threatening our nation, you will see how pitifully inadequate Bush is as POTUS.
It's just the sad truth.
Lay off the cats (LOL). Actually if you want to have a laugh go to the following website:
www.mycathatesyou.com
Guaranteed to make you laugh.Cats rule (because they are sooooo evil)!
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