ZGram - 2/12/2002 - "Bush Administration acts like Israeli's puppet"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

Copyright (c) 2002 - Ingrid A. Rimland

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

February 12, 2002

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Below are some sentiments I hear expressed by many of my correspondents,
many of whom had great expectations in the new American President -
especially after they saw the make-up of his Cabinet.  Sharon the Bully was
being isolated and marginalized.  To his immense displeasure, no doubt, he
no longer enjoyed the easy access to President Bush that previous Israeli
Prime Ministers had to President Clinton.  Additionally, Colin Powell
seemed to nudge American foreign policy ever so gingerly away from a
pro-Israeli stance toward a more traditional, even-handed pro-American
interests balance.  Colin Powell steered a deft course towards implementing
UN Resolutions regarding the occupied territories.

Then came 9/11 - that monstrous event!  It shattered the evolving
post-Durbin policies.  The rest is tragically described by Charley Reese in
his (slightly shortened) essay below:

[START]

 Bush Administration acts like Israeli's puppet

 by Charley Reese

 My biggest disappointment in President George W. Bush has been in how he
has allowed himself to be manipulated by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon.

 He has followed the same failed policy that his predecessor did.

 That policy can be summed up as "the Israelis are always right, and the
Palestinians are always wrong." That's a very convenient policy for
politicians who don't want the powerful Israeli lobby on their case. But if
the goal is peace, the policy is a failure. If the goal is to protect
America's interests, the policy is a failure. If the goal is to bring
stability to the Middle East, the policy is a failure. If the goal is to
eliminate terrorism, the policy is a failure.

 Now, when people pursue a policy that has not achieved the goals it was
supposed to, there are three possible reasons. One, the people are stupid.
I think we can eliminate that. Nobody in the White House is stupid. A
second reason is that they are afraid to change the policy because of
domestic political pressure. A third reason could be that their goals are
not the ones they publicly espouse.

 I never thought I would feel sympathy for Yasser Arafat, but he's been put
into an untenable position. Imagine a football game. Imagine that you take
the coach away and lock him up in a room. Imagine that you shoot half his
team. And then imagine how silly it sounds for you to demand of the coach
that he win the game.

 Arafat is under house arrest. He can't walk outside without chipping his
teeth on the muzzles of Israeli tanks. For weeks, no matter who did what,
the Israelis have bombed and shelled the Palestinian Authority police
stations - along with their equipment and files. The Israelis have killed
and injured numerous PA policemen. Yet Sharon continues to demand that
Arafat stop terrorism, and no matter what Arafat says or what he does,
Sharon scoffs at it.

 Now, to our international shame, the Bush Administration has adopted the
same pathetic line. Like a flock of parrots, Bush and his people repeat
whatever Sharon says. It's not just people in the Arab countries who see
this sorry spectacle. People all over the world are wondering how it is
that a little country like Israel can jerk the chain of a powerful nation
like the United States.

 A few facts: The Palestinians are right. The Israeli occupation of East
Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza is illegal. When the occupation ends,
peace follows. As long as the occupation continues, so will the resistance.

 Sharon has no intention of ending the occupation or of negotiating in good
faith. Israel's treatment of the Palestinians is a brutal record of
human-rights violations, violations of the Geneva Accords and violations of
United Nations Security Council resolutions.

 It ought to make every American angry that our politicians tell us U.N.
Security Council resolutions are worth the lives of Americans to enforce
against Iraq but are to be vetoed and spit upon when directed at Israel.
Our policy is an insult to anyone who supports the United Nations, and,
frankly, people in Europe are getting sick of it.

 Israel has hired two public-relations firms, in addition to its American
lobby, because it is scared to death that Americans are going to wake up
and see the connection between the Israel First policy and the attacks that
occurred Sept. 11.

[END]

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(Source:
http://archive.showmenews.com/2002/feb/20020207comm003.asp

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Thought for the Day:

"The hook was baited with a dragon's tail,
and then on rock he stood to bob for whale."

(Sir William Davenant)