The King of Fairyland will never Grasp the Realities of the Middle East

[katty]

The king of fairyland will never grasp the realities of the Middle East

A US leader in his second term should have the power to rein in Israel. But George Bush is no ordinary president

George Monbiot
Tuesday August 1, 2006
The Guardian

excerpt: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1834555,00.html

A paper published in March by the US academics John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt documents the extraordinary influence the "Israel lobby" exercises in Washington. They argue that the combined forces of evangelical Christian groups and Jewish American organisations such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee ensure that "Israel is virtually immune from criticism" in Congress and "also has significant leverage over the executive branch". Politicians who support the Israeli government are showered with funds, the paper contends, while those who contest it are cowed by letter-writing campaigns and vilification in the media. If all else fails, the"great silencer" is deployed: the charge of anti-semitism. Those who oppose the policies of the Israeli government are accused of hating Jews.

All this makes an even-handed policy difficult, but not impossible. Standing up to bullies is surely the key test of leadership. A US president in his second term is in a powerful position to demand that Israel pulls back and negotiates.

But if Ashdown meant that it is impossible psychologically and intellectually for the US government to act, he might have a point. At his press conference with Tony Blair last Friday, George Bush laid out his usual fairy tale about the conflict in the Middle East. "There's a lot of suffering in Lebanon," he explained, "because Hizbullah attacked Israel. There's a lot of suffering in the Palestinian territory because militant Hamas is trying to stop the advance of democracy. There is suffering in Iraq because terrorists are trying to spread sectarian violence and stop the spread of democracy." The current conflict in Lebanon "started, out of the blue, with two Israeli soldiers kidnapped and rockets being fired across the border".

I agree that Hizbullah fired the first shots. But out of the blue? Israel's earlier occupation of southern Lebanon; its continued occupation of the Golan Heights; its occupation and partial settlement of the West Bank and gradual clearance of Jerusalem...

[sui generis]

1. you have offended the Daoine Sidhe AND the Unseelie Court

The Wizard of Shock and Awe's says pay no attention to the man behind the screen.

He's a brain damaged idiot (self inflicted damage), and there's no getting around that. And he's surrounded himself with predators and incompetents and sociopaths.

Par for the course, the U.S. does not think beyond immediate gratification; believes that the results of policies must be felt within four year terms or else disregarded. This administration believes that lip service and speaking points obviate the need for long term planning, diplomatic substance and being a leader in example and deed where human rights are concerned, where the stability of geo-economic regions is at risk, where culture habituates grudges into ancient unforgivable feuds.

[Joe Bacon]

2. You mean the King of LASSEIZ FAIRYLAND!

Hands off of everything because The Invisible Hand fixes everything

:sarcasm: mode now off