Posted on 10/18/2001 3:03:53 PM PDT by Sparticle
Edited on 04/29/2004 1:59:24 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
WASHINGTON (CNN) --Members of the House International Relations Committee Wednesday criticized the Bush administration in unusually harsh language for opposing Israeli targeted killings while it hunts down suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden "dead or alive."
Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-New York, the ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Asia, said it was inconsistent for the United States to denounce Israel when "they go after the miserable SOBs [who launch terrorist attacks against Israel] ... and they have every bit as much evidence as we have" for the September 11 terrorist attacks.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
I thought I heard the President say on Sept 13th that we were at war with all terrorism! Israel's war is our war. And BTW don't waste your time calling me a Jewish American with dual allegiance. I am 100% American, Roman Catholic with an Irish/Cajun heritage. I hate terrorism whether it's conducted by Osama Bin Laden, the Hezbollah or IRA doesn't matter to me, it's evil and should be defeated.
NO! What the Israeli's would really like is a free hand to defend themselves, without US interference. Clinton twisted Barak's arm to get him to CAmp David in search of a legacy. As a resultBarak gave Arafat everything he said he wanted and Arafat, in a panic rushed home and started the current intifada. Blame the toon and the terrorist, not Israel.
I do hope that with this kind of pressure, though, Bush seriously looks at some "house-cleaning" in his administration. From what I've been able to gather, his management style is to put qualified people in place and trust them to do their jobs. But these Clinton leftovers just aren't cutting it, they're running counter to most of what he seems to be saying, and they need to be gotten rid of ASAP. They're undermining what appear to be his goals and mission and are doing his foreign policy a great deal of harm. I think it is crucial to remember that the *only* comments seen as unsupportive of Israel (outside of the Palestinian State strategy) are not coming from Bush himself, but from his staff. He's still responsible for those comments, but I believe they're not representative of his actual goals and policies in the area.
Who knows, perhaps he's planning on waiting until we've built up our military to the point where we "don't need no stinking coalition" to accomplish our goals and then he can get rid of the people who are keeping the arab states on board. I heard today that there was mention a while ago that our military can't handle a "two theater" conflict right now, that may be influencing some of our policies.
-penny
Arabs regard any attempt of appeasement by the West (especially the United States) as weakness (it is) and they'll move to humiliate us even further.
This scheme of yours shows what little understanding you have about the Arabic/Islamic world besides being grotesquely immoral. As the many anti-Semites in this forum show no understanding of the Arabs -- in fact, all they do is whine about us Jews -- it is no wonder they cannot deal with them properly and it will be no suprise that the terroristic murders will continue unabated.
Killing someone actively waging war against you, is not assassination. Lantos shows no sense in calling it such. We need to not let our anger provoke us into suggesting that we do not understand very essential distinctions.
William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site
It's easy to denigrate Israel's struggle for security when you don't have to worry about suicide bombers showing up at your kid's H.S. dance, or showing up at the pizzeria your wife's having lunch at. Israel lives with this every day...we got a taste on 9.11.01 and shouldn't be so hypocritical. The State Dept isn't trying to enforse Oslo or anything else...all they are doing is offering Israel up on the altar of Arab goodwill. Anything to keep the murdering bastards happy in our little coalition. It's disgraceful and dishonorable.
"Colin Powell is leaning toward a decision to cancel his plans to deliver a speech on United States policy in the Middle East containing suggestions for an Israeli-Palestinian agreement, according to a report received yesterday by senior diplomatic officials in Jerusalem.
With the cancellation of Powell's speech, most of the steps planned by the administration for increased involvement in the Middle East will have been removed from the agenda."
The Distinction between pro-Arab Dems, and pro-Israel Dems? The distinction between the President/Commander-in-Chief in his own State Dept? The distinction between terrorist states and terrorist non-states? The distinction between Non-terrorist states and Terrorist states???
I understand what the administration is trying to do - which is to keep Pakistan in particular on our side so that we can get to the Taliban. Unfortunately it is shear ignorance on the part of any Americans who think that religion can be kept out of it when the terrorists, and the conservatives who back them, see the reestablishment of the Islamic state with Islamic law, free of Western pollution as the goal of their actions. They have declared this a war of Islam on the west.
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