[LarryM]

Arafat IS the problem.

No, Bush is the problem. His phony war on terrorism is starting to turn the US into a laughing stock. How many terrorist mass murderers does Bush have to protect before everyone realizes that the oil-stained Bush family works for the Saudis?

[ovrtaxt]

While I agree that there's some bad blood between the Bushes and the Saudis, I must disagree with your sorry, weak opportunistic rant. As far as Israel is concerned, ARAFAT IS THE PROBLEM.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

If having "terrorist mass murderers protected" truly bothers you so terribly as all of that... then, logically: you should be the first to applaud the (welcome) extinction of Arafat.

Perhaps it's simply that you don't equate "terrorism" or "mass murder" with ghoulish atrocities committed versus certain... oh... types of people, shall we say...?

Back to DU with you, laddie-buck.

[tcostell]

Larry, the middle east is a chess game not checkers so you have to try to think a few moves ahead. Everything that happens there has a subtext which we may or may not be seeing so you have to examine the motives of the players.

Saying "Bush is a liar and he's just after the oil so he can get rich" is childish nonsense because he has no motive to do so. What is much more likely is that Bush wants to apply pressure to the Saudis but can't do so directly because he knows if the Saudi's cut off the oil, unemployment in the US will skyrocket. (This isn't opinion, it's economic fact.) So what CAN Bush do?

Well he can depose a scumbag dictator who is on the Saudi border and move in a substantial military presence. Then he can stop direct military support of the current Saudi rulers. Then he can loosen the leash on the Israelis. He would have to do this last bit un-officially of course because otherwise it would be too direct a confrontation, but he could do it.

Then the Saudi's can either clean their own house or we can credibly threaten to clean it for them.

Any reasonable person can see that this is a much more likely scenario than all the nonsense that is being spewed up by the left.

[OldFriend]

Go back to DU, we're patriots here.

[tet68]

Oy, you're not series?
Do you just like hanging with Palestinian murderers or what?
I don't see anyone laughing, do you?
Maybe you can point them out to us.

Oh right, it's all those leftists who are laughing or are they really crying in their beer.