"Bush, Mideast Peace, and Iraq WMD"
by JohnHuang2
SHARM EL SHEIK, Egypt, June 4 -- Hailing what he sees as "The potential for broader peace among the peoples" of the Middle East, President Bush, in his first thrust into grueling Mideast peace-making, pledged Tuesday that "America is committed and I am committed to helping all the parties to reach the hard and heroic decisions that will lead to peace."
"Today I am pleased to stand with leaders of the Arab world who are committed to these principles," said Bush.
A grim-faced Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's president and summit host, stood alongside the President as he delivered his remarks on the shore of the Red Sea, dimly visible amid dense layers of blinding and choking smoke billowing pitilessly from hundreds of raging Iraqi oil fires, an unprecedented ecological catastrophe sparked by the failed U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
The President's trip to the riot-wracked region, billed as an effort to shore up support for his crumbling Mideast peace initiative, seemed doomed from the start. Anarchy and chaos and lawlessness grips the Arab Street, the growing civil unrest increasingly threatening stability among more moderate Arab/Muslim states, precisely as critics of the failed U.S.-led campaign to topple Saddam, still firmly ensconced in power in Baghdad, had warned repeatedly. As Arab riots spread from Pakistan to Jordan, and Iraqi refugees flood across the border into Amman, the U.S.-led war in Iraq enters week 12, with no end in sight. Prospects of a growing quagmire has war-planners in Washington and London scrambling for cover, hastily cobbling new battle plans together as Coalition forces, in full retreat after stiff Iraqi resistance, run dangerously low on ammunition, food, water and fuel.
After waves of Iraqi Scud missile attacks, Israel, despite calls for restraint, appears poised to retaliate, raising fears of a widening war, potentially engulfing the region as a whole. In northern Iraq, growing clashes between Turkish and Kurdish forces threaten to spiral out of control.
As the war drags on, with hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians reportedly killed by Coalition bombing, inflaming Arab sentiment, the mood on Capitol Hill has swung decisively against the war, as Bush draws fire from both sides of the aisle and pressure mounts for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
Meanwhile, military stalemate in Iraq and diplomatic fallout across the globe are taking a growing toll on the President politically here at home, a new Gallup Poll shows.
The President's job approval rating, 2 weeks ago a skyhigh 66%, has since plummeted to 64%, his crumbling fortunes prompted after withering criticism over Iraq from experts of world-wide renown like actor Sean Penn and Congressman Dick Gephardt, regularly briefed on foreign affairs by Barbra Streisand
While 70% say things are going well for the U.S. in Iraq, a powerful 29% say things are not going well for the U.S. in Iraq.
Moreover, while 56% say the "Bush administration does...have a clear plan" for Iraq, a powerful -- powerful! -- minority says the Bush administration does not have such a plan.
The poll suggests a war-weary public, with barely 77% saying "Efforts against terrorism will...require the U.S. to put military troops in combat situations in other countries as it did in Iraq and Afghanistan," while a sweeping 17% disagree.
While a majority agrees with Bush that the U.S. war with Iraq "Will end up solving more problems than it creates," a massive minority of the public agrees with Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich that war with Iraq "Will end up creating more problems than it solves."
Underscoring Bush's increasingly precarious political position over Weapons of Mass Destruction, while 58% in early April said war with Iraq "Was justified even if the U.S. does not find conclusive evidence that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction," that number has since tumbled 2 percentage points, down to 56% -- again, Bush's sliding fortunes likely prompted after scorching criticism from towering statesmen like Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware. Though mulling a run for the White House, he assures this reporter he has no ax to grind and is doing it for the children.
While 67% say the Bush administration did not mislead "The American public about whether Iraq [had] weapons of mass destruction," a colossal 31% says he lied!
Democrats dismiss this poll as bogus. "It proves the American people are stupid morons!" one Democrat staffer said angrily.
-- Reported by Jayson Blair and Rick Bragg, with Baghdad Bob as stringer
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Okay, okay, kidding aside (the poll numbers were accurate, though), what do you call a Mideast peace summit without Arafat, one that cuts Euroweenies out, kicks off smack-dab in the middle of French-hosted G8 summitteering, overshadowed by Bush's globe-trotting, leaving Chirac snubbed and holding the bag but unable to utter a word of complaint; Arab-Israeli talks, only weeks after the fall of Saddam, with Bush's *Road Map* the starting point of negotiations and Arab leaders singing and dancing from the Bush song sheet?
Can you say, Slam-Dunk Home Run?
Meanwhile, Democrats demand full Congressional hearings on charges that Bush possibly framed an innocent dictator on charges of possessing Weapons of Mass Destruction when, as any sensible person knows, Saddam fully complied with all U.N. resolutions.
This "administration led this nation into war based on lies," declared an angry Rep. Dennis Kucinich, out to oust Bush in '04. We need hearings!
No word yet on whether Democrats plan to call Saddam to testify.
Sen. Bob Graham, also out to oust Bush in '04, declared that "If we don't find these weapons of mass destruction, it will represent a serious intelligence failure or the manipulation of that intelligence to keep the American people in the dark."
Wow! That Bush fella can be mighty manipulative -- more than you think! So manipulative, in fact, that even while governor of Texas, back in '98, Bush, from Austin, manipulated C.I.A. documents, slipping in forged and "manipulated" material into C.I.A. headquarters in Langley, Virginia, while Director Tenet wasn't looking, all to make poor Saddam look guilty when he wasn't. So well forged were these documents, Bush even managed to fool Clinton into believing Saddam was dirty!
Bill Clinton, in an Oval Office address after ordering military strikes in December, '98, said the "Mission is to attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs..." (!!!)
Yes, I agree with Sen. Graham and Rep. Kucinich -- let's investigate how Bush cooked the books on Clinton's watch!
Look, it had to be on Clinton's watch -- Bush was too busy these past two years to be cooking the books.
During the summer of '01, evil Bush was too busy meeting with al-Qaeda, putting the finishing touches on 9/11. Yes, BUSH KNEW! Forgot that one, eh?
During the Winter of '01, evil Bush was too busy shredding documents at Arthur Andersen; during the Spring and Summer of '02, evil Bush was too busy planting bogus mass graves in Iraq to make Saddam look bad -- complete with thousands of plastic bones and all! During the Fall of '02, evil Bush was too busy planting bogus torture chambers in Iraq to make Saddam look bad. During the Winter of '02, evil Bush was too busy planting bogus documents at spy headquarters in Baghdad, linking Saddam with al-Qaeda.
All these manipulations, plots, counter-plots, conspiracies -- yet Bush forgot the most important thing: Plant WMD in Iraq!
Sheesh! What a dummy! ;)
Anyway, that's...
My two cents
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