Middle East Muddle: Gaza, Obama & “All-Out War”

Israel has no greater friend, no greater ally, in the war on terror as they have in just about anyone else apart from President Elect Barack Obama. Hillary – please help him.

==Hillary – please help him. ==
Saudi Arabia, for example, has given her bubby hubby millions. What will she have to give them as pay-back?

Hopefully BO can look at this situation more objectively than previous US presidents. Time will tell. As for the he won’t be pres for three more weeks comment…don’t worry, they will still be fighting in one capacity or another…he will have more than his shot at the problem.

Barack what did the children and the elderly of Gaza do to deserve to die??? I guess it doesn’t matter to you as long as you and Joe get to cash the checks from the Israelis, huh? Utter disgrace, you and your friend George W. are a traitor to humanity.

As usual, the neo-cons are busy trying to blame events on Obama even though he isn’t president. If you want to throw mud, try throwing at Bush and Rice, Israel slaughtering the Palestinians is their work not Obama’s.

Let’s give Obama his chance. Bush has been a failure, McCain would have been disastrous, and Obama probably will not be that great, but he deserves a chance to prove himself. US foreign policy needs to change drastically. I foresee the coming economic collapse as a blessing in disguise, at least with regards to foreign policy.

Noz – Thanks for the perspective. Of course you are not completely correct. Let’s remember the US (the only country to use nukes on population centers and the country that invades a new country about every other year) is telling Iran (a country that has not attacked anyone preemptively in 250 years) that they Iran can not have nukes in order to protect the country Israel ( a country that keeps millions of Palestinians locked up via checkpoints, and continues to land grab for illegal settlements). Given this perspective the problem lies in DC and Tel Aviv. I am no fan of Iran’s leadership, but I sympathize with the Palestinian plight. The Israelis are guilty of grave humanitarian crimes, and this latest bombing campaign is another. I encourage you to take a look at the map of the West Bank and note the 1000 or so settlements carving up the place. If you still feel that Israel is in the right then we won’t make any headway.

==Obama will certainly do better than Bush; Bush having done nothing in 8 years.==
Really??? “Nothing”???
==Let’s give Obama his chance.==
Yeah, the kinda chance Libs gave Bush in 2000.
== Bush has been a failure…==
That’s the Lib Pr, anyway.
==US foreign policy needs to change drastically.==
Translation: “More in line with the Lib philosophy of tea and cookies for terrorists.”
== I foresee the coming economic collapse as a blessing in disguise, at least with regards to foreign policy.==
Translation: “I’ve been hoping and waiting for the other shoe to drop on America, and I’m glad it is doing just that.”

==The heart of the problem is the occupation of Israelis within the territories.==
and
==Israel slaughtering the Palestinians…==
not to mention
==The Israelis are guilty of grave humanitarian crimes, and this latest bombing campaign is another. ==
and still
==It is no wonder why the Palestinians have lost hope and resorted to violence.==
Nothing in any of that to indicate that Hamas announced, recently, the end of the truce with Israel.
Nothing to indicate that it is Hamas that started up the violence again by lobbing rockets into Israel, threatening and jeopardizing the lives of women and children.
According to those posters, it’s the victim’s fault. Blame the victim for the crime.

==You always have to ask what a terrorist’s motivations are.==
I’d buy a ticket to see the look on your family’s faces when you tell them that, if they die at the hand of a terrorist, they must consider the terrorist’s motivations.
== If you have policies in place that result in their loved ones being killed, you should expect reprisals.==
And that’s why Israel attacks them anew, after Hamas attacked Israel with rockets. Get the chronology correct, at least.
== The Golden Rule really does hold water.==
So, why doesn’t Hamas comply with it?
== The economic collapse is of our own doing.==
Not my doing and not Republicans’ doing. Republicans wanted regulation of the housing finance industry; Dems like Frank wanted everybody to have a house, and, so, they opposed regulation.
== We consume and borrow too much.==
Garbage.
== We do not save or produce enough.==
Plenty of people do just that.
== Our children worship Lohan and Spears rather than James Clerk Maxwell and the like.==
Whose fault is THAT? Not mine.
== The food we eat is nutrient-free, gmo, processed to the hilt garbage.==
And, yet, you people buy it.
== And you wonder why the healthcare system is collapsing.==
And, yet, it’s not. It doesn’t work well in Canada.
== Yes an economic collapse will be a much needed lesson on all fronts, especially foreign policy.==
Uh, not really. Our foreign policy won’t change cuz it doesn’t have to change.
Economic policy of individuals is changing the oil landscape, though. OPEC finds that it is not stopping the price drop by cutting production cuz drivers continue to consume less.
== You are just another neocon that is contributing to our downward spiral.==
That’s the Lib PR, anyway.
== Thanks for supporting this trillion dollar war and the next one that comes along. ==
You’re welcomed. Glad I can help a neighbor get back on his feet.

Mr. Incredible – Let’s look at numbers:
US sponsored sanctions on Iraq during the 90 killed 500,000. Albright on national news said these deaths were worth it. Our latest intervention has created an environment where another 200,000-500,000 have been killed. 2 million Iraqis are now refugees, and the Christians have been purged from Iraq. Surely motivations exists?
During this truce Israel hasn’t been all peaches and cream…see my previous post.
We don’t consume too much? Ok you are delusional.
We produce plenty….maybe gas after eating an obese enabling meal.
I do not buy this food. I grow my own and go organic.
PR Lib eh?

Mr. Incredible – You just keep convincing yourself that Israel is so high and mighty. Again go and look and the map of the settlements. If you still think Israel is in the right than you are an impediment to so called world peace.

Mr. Incredible – Now you are getting desperate. I do not like violence per say, so I do not condone the acts of Hezbollah and Hamas. This includes their propaganda and using civilians as shields, but I also do not condone Israel or the US militaristic adventures either. If you look at numbers dead, Israel and the US kill orders of magnitudes more civilians. Someone like you might say that this occurs because the US and Israel are so awesome and powerful. To the powerful go the spoils I suppose. However, as a Christian US taxpayer, I must voice my dissaproval at US weapons being used on civilians expecially in light of the minimal damage done to Israel and the setllement and land demaracation issue in the occupied territories.

Mr. Incredible – Maybe you are right. The Palestinians should accept there situation in which Israel controls the power, water, and food transport into Gaza. Maybe the Palestinians should accept being fenced into small areas in the West Bank. The Palestinains should go Gandi and MLK with peaceful protests. Surely Israel will dissolve all of these settlements. Surely.

What actions by the President would you liberals like him or Obama to take. Short of invading another country to stop this conflict, talking will not get the job done. Lets go for change and let them solve their own problems. We could do more in Africa to save millions but when less than 500 people die we get all up in arms. Many of your are just good old American bigots when it comes to the Jewish population of the world.

Mike_C – I don’t want to live there. Israel has pretty much made living there too painful.

==Mr. Incredible – Now you are getting desperate.==
“Desperate,” huh. Hardly.
== I do not like violence per say, so I do not condone the acts of Hezbollah and Hamas.==
And, yet, you give them latitude.
==This includes their propaganda and using civilians as shields, but I also do not condone Israel or the US militaristic adventures either.==
Sooooo, you don’t see the difference between terrorists and America/Israel policies. Wow! Your self-imposed inablility to see the difference is the problem.
== If you look at numbers dead, Israel and the US kill orders of magnitudes more civilians.==
And, when a street gang performs, a much bigger police force reacts. So what???
When an intruder faces off with you, you wanna have a bigger weapon than he has. So what???
== Someone like you might say that this occurs because the US and Israel are so awesome and powerful.==
It’s nice to know we have capability.
== To the powerful go the spoils I suppose.==
We’re not talking about winning over somebody just cuz we want their riches and resources. We’re talking about stopping people whose stated aim is to kill us and our friends and neighbors.
== However, as a Christian US taxpayer, I must voice my dissaproval at US weapons being used on civilians expecially in light of the minimal damage done to Israel and the setllement and land demaracation issue in the occupied territories.==
But you had no problem with Dresden, we guess.
In war, civilians get in the way. The enemy depends on it.
The solution is for the civilians to tell their government to stop its shennanigans.

==Stop all foreign aid. We are broke.==
Let China, North Korea, Cuba, Iran and Syria and the growing Russia into a new Soviet Union court with foreign aid. Yeah, THAT’s the answer.

Bush promised to solve the problem before he leaves the office. Has he left already or he is just playing with Barney!

Mike_C – Iran will eventually get the nuke. If Israel keeps the Palestinians quartered between checkpoints in squalor, it wouldn’t suprise me if a nuclear weapon was passed from Tehran to Hamas. Policies need to change on the ground that reduce tensions and make this an extremely remote possibility. Right now Hamas has every reason to resist. I know I would kick in the 2nd amendment here if I was under similar distress.

Mr. Incredible – Gotta go take care of the kiddos. It has been fun disagreeing with you. I will look for you again later in another blog. Later.

The events of recent days are just a continuation of a religious-political war that has raged for 2000 years. More precisely, I was born the year Israel became a nation and they have been at war all my life. None of the parties are without fault. “Moral equivalency” means nothing to a grieving family. Please excuse me, but I’m just very sick and tired of this. It’s too bad we just can build an impenetrable fence around this region to contain the spread of violence, and then LEAVE.