White House: 'Long road ahead' for Mideast peace

White House: 'Long road ahead' for Mideast peace
by Mark Silva

The one thing this admin has been consistent on is their lack of interest in Peace "Anywhere".These golden warriors from the Vietnam days,Cheney and Boy George,have ruled the world with an iron fist.Death to the enemy,except OBL whom we can't seem or want to find.

Yes,these two warriors who fought side by side with John Kerry and Max Cleland in Nam have shown the world,we don't need no stinkin peace!!!!

This is something I can support. Good luck.

Been there, done that.
This is a Holy War.
No peace until they give up their religions.
Somebody is arming each side in this battle.
It's kind of like seeing two school kids in a fight and giving them each a knife.

The Neonuts in this White House wouldn't know the true meaning of PEACE if it jumped up and smacked them right between the eyes.

Draftdodging chickenhawks like W and Little Dick love wars, it makes them feel tough.

Bush Jr, coward, awol, liar:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26506376@N00/371979125/

There won't be any peace if we keep playing partisan politics and continue to support a racist state, Israel. How can we condone 40 years of occupation of Palestinian land and speak of democracy in the Middle East in the same breath. Isn't that being hypocritical? The Iraqi quagmire was not just for oil, but pursued with blessings from the Israeli government which did not want any Arab nation to remain stable. Instability in the Arab world makes Israel safer and appear genuinely sane. The truth is Israel has been a thorn in the side of world peace for 60 years because of its ethnocentric Zionist attitude which has cost us military secrets and billions of dollars of our tax dollars. Peace for Israel would not be profitable as it wasn't for the money-changers in front of the temple during the time of Christ.

When there is an Israeli crisis, the PR boys go to work and bring out "Holocaust" movies to give the Western world a guilt trip which leads more idiots to support Israel with more money and weapons. Zionism (not Judaism) is milking the events of WWII for whatever political advantage Israel can get.

Really, folks, this is the 21st century and there are people who are still not free of political occupation and suffering in Palestine. Nation-building shouldn't be pre-determined by the amount of oil and natural resources available or the strength of lobbyists in Washington D.C.

The best way to win the "War on Terror" is to deal with the causes of terrorism - that being our misguided foreign policy in the Middle East.

"No peace until they give up their religions."

* * * * *

Posted by: San Miguel | January 3, 2008 12:44 PM

You have to know that's not going to happen. Their entire raison d'etre is their religion. Thus, it is not reasonable to expect the strife to end until: 1) one side destroys the other; 2) they entirely destroy each other; or 3) one side gives up, leaves, and cedes the entire territory to the other.

None of the above are good results from any ethical perspective. However, I think we are all fooling ourselves if we think anything better will result when both sides claim their religion entitles them to the whole land.

The picture of Duh'bya on the blue background says it all:

"What, Me Worry?"

[Don't get after me for saying so if you don't know the reference.]

The best way to win the "War on Terror" is to deal with the causes of terrorism - that being our misguided foreign policy in the Middle East.

Posted by: the truth | January 3, 2008 1:41 PM

Correction. According to our knuckledragger friends, the causes of terrorism are our "freedoms," which the terrorists hate. Our categorical, thoughtless utterly consistent support for Raptureland has nothing to do with it.

==

I'm not anti-semitic. I was born and raised a Jew. I just think we're not helping the situation by pretending that everything Israel does is peachy.

Boy, the dumbest, most hysterical, racist, bigoted, foaming-at-the-mouth full of hate Loons are on the loose with this one!
Raving Loon: Bush and Cheney are NOT for peace? Hmmm, let's see we worked with others to get some semblence of a deal with North Korea. We got Libya on board with some semblence of rationality for a change from Kadafy. The U.S. has pretty much been going it alone in the UN to get something done to quell the genocide in Darfur.
San Miguel, the battles are not just religious-based as much as these folks just don't like each other very much.
John E., well that is basically a complete waste of human life.
And then we have the alleged "the truth," which basically is nothing but a bunch of anti-Semitic hatred and nonsense. Israel doesn't want stable Arab regimes? I guess that's why the Israelis foment so much instability in countries like Egypt, Jordan, etc.? Anyway, I take it you are a member of the Communist/Nazi party of North America?

Maybe some day,on a land only inhibited with wing nuts like little johnny,Bill O'Really and Boy George will truly win the awards they so covet!!!

O'Reilly incorrectly claimed at a February 10, 2001 speech at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, that Inside Edition, a show he had previously anchored, had won a Peabody Award. After watching an airing of the speech a couple weeks later on C-SPAN, Franken performed a search on LexisNexis and found three previous occasions dating back to August 30, 1999 where O'Reilly had repeated the incorrect claim. On at least one occasion, O'Reilly used the first-person pronoun "we" and said the show won (plural) "Peabody Awards".[15][16] Franken called O'Reilly for a statement and O'Reilly admitted he had made an error, correcting himself and stating that the show had won a George Polk Award and not a Peabody.[17][18] Further research that Franken documented in his book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them reveals that the Polk award was given one year after O'Reilly's tenure at Inside Edition and for work O'Reilly had not been involved with.[17][19]

Despite
a rumor that circulated late in 2001, President Bush wasn't amongst the nominees for the 2001 prize (which was awarded to the United Nations and its Secretary-General, Kofi Annan): The deadline for Peace Prize nominations is February 1, and Bush wasn't sworn in as president until January 20. For President Bush (or anyone else) to have produced accomplishments worthy of Nobel Prize recognition after a mere eleven days in office would have been a truly astounding feat indeed.

In February 2002, however, reports began circulating that members of the Norwegian Nobel committee had let it slip that George W. Bush was among the persons (along with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani) being considered for the 2002 Peace Prize. The Reuters news agency noted, however:

Neither Bush nor Blair is likely to win. Bishop Gunnar Staalsett, a member of the secretive five-member Nobel committee which elects the winner, has spoken out against the U.S.-led and British-backed strikes on Afghanistan.
President Bush was reportedly one of 156 candidates considered for the 2002 Peace Prize, which was awarded in October 2002 to former President Jimmy Carter.

And then we have the alleged "the truth," which basically is nothing but a bunch of anti-Semitic hatred and nonsense. Israel doesn't want stable Arab regimes? I guess that's why the Israelis foment so much instability in countries like Egypt, Jordan, etc.? Anyway, I take it you are a member of the Communist/Nazi party of North America?

Posted by: John D | January 3, 2008 2:32 PM

No, I have no political affiliations nor do I need a group to think for me. I am just an individual who has a clearer perception of the world unlike your pathetic, close-minded, unsophisticated pretense to sound intelligent. When in doubt or with lack of knowledge, name-calling is your weapon of choice, right John D? What party do you belong to? - the Wingnuts R. Nuts Club. I heard your club motto is "The Eagle Has Landed".
Oh sorry, I meant to say "The Eagle's Poop Has Landed."

John E., well that is basically a complete waste of human life.
And then we have the alleged "the truth," which basically is nothing but a bunch of anti-Semitic hatred and nonsense. Israel doesn't want stable Arab regimes? I guess that's why the Israelis foment so much instability in countries like Egypt, Jordan, etc.? Anyway, I take it you are a member of the Communist/Nazi party of North America?

Posted by: John D | January 3, 2008 2:32 PM

Lil Johnny Joystick,

Why all the anger? Did Santa leave coal in your stocking or something?

Johnny D, warmongering doesn't work....period!
Everyone, other than the clueless 26% brigade that you reside in, knows this.

382 days, it can't end soon enough:
http://www.bushslastday.com/

For those of you who are unaware of recent holiday events in Israel, read.

Churches in Holy Land Latest Victims of Israeli Authorities' Travel Prohibitions

Israel makes Church of the Holy Sepulcher and Church of Nativity off limits to Christian Clergy

(Bethlehem, Palestine - 24 Dec 2007) As the world celebrates this holiday season, Israel is blocking clergy from reaching their churches and Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem and elsewhere in the Holy Land. These Israeli actions are in blatant violation of international humanitarian law, block the right for religions to practice in the Holy Land, and defy every notion of basic common sense.

The Israeli authorities are arbitrarily denying entry to clergy and volunteers belonging to or working for Christian institutions and service providers. The clergy being harassed and denied entry to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) join tens of thousands of ordinary foreign passport holders of Palestinian and non-Palestinian origin who wish to be with their families, work or study, as well as tourists and pilgrims. This is especially sad at a time of spiritual reflection and reunion of families, friends and communities when major celebrations of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish communities coincide over the same period.

In a continuing demonstration of Israel's arbitrary denial of entry policy, and disregard for the Palestinian population’s right to practice their religion and worship freely, Israel sends a clear message to the international community that it has no intention whatsoever to use the recent political movement at the Annapolis Summit in Washington DC as a pretext to bring its actions in line with international law.

Furthermore, it appears that Israel has recently rescinded the year long multiple entry visas commonly given to Arab clergy for churches in both Palestine and in Israel (see Haaretz, “Israel Rescinds Arab Christian clergy travel rights in W. Bank, by the Associated Press, 27/10/07”). Under the new rule, clergy who are now abroad, despite their holding valid Israeli multiple entry visas, are being denied re-entry into Israel and the oPt, where many of their churches are located. Future travel by these clergy will have to be coordinated with multiple Israeli agencies in a process which can take more than a year to complete. The process is not transparent, efficient, or certain. Israel states that the request comes from “security officials” without citing any problems or infringements to justify the change, nor can anyone in the Christian community recall any such problems.

In addition, there appears to be a new policy by Israel to refuse entry or visa extension for foreign, primarily Western, Christian volunteers working with various Christian organizations here. This is affecting the viability of these organizations and the normal connection with their supporters and fellow Christians in the countries that contribute to the presence of these Christian workers. They represent mainstream Christian and faith-based groups, such as the World Council of Churches and the American Friend's Service Committee that advocate non- violence and brotherhood and are in no way a threat to the security of Israel.

A more realistic explanation of Israel’s new policy is that many Christian clergy and workers here have become extremely effective advocates for the Christian communities with the outside world, speaking to Christian and Jewish groups in the US and Europe and to the US Congress on the harm being done to local Christians by the separation wall and Israeli military occupation policies. It is more likely that the intent of the law is to silence these critics.

This has become an addition to Israel’s unannounced policy which accelerated in early 2006 of arbitrary denial of entry to the oPt for foreign passport holding family members of Palestinian ID-holders, educators, business persons, health professionals, humanitarian works and others active in civil society. To date, despite high level interventions by third state missions, international and human rights organizations, Israeli authorities have failed to provide a transparent policy on which foreign nationals wishing to enter or maintain their presence in the occupied Palestinian territory can rely. Instead, Israel has continued to pursue both policies and practices that fail to comply with International Humanitarian Law.

The Campaign calls on third states, religious leaders and congregations worldwide to protest Israel's actions harming the Church community and to demand a clear, transparent and lawful policy for all foreign nationals wishing to enter the Holy Land.

Campaign for the Right of Entry/Re-Entry to the Occupied Palestinian Territory(oPt)
A Grassroots Campaign for the Protection of Foreign Passport Holders Residing in and/or Visiting the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Website: www.RightToEnter.ps Email: info@righttoenter.ps

John D.,

Over the months I've gotten to the point where I truly wonder if you believe 1/2 the things that you post here. Especially with the constant "facts" that you come up with.

Cheney/Bush for peace.

Please.

I'll grant you that Libya did back off of all of their positions. For the life of me, I can't imagine why.

Cheney is one of the founding members of PNAC. Most of Bush's minions still believe in that neocon tripe. Try going to their website and look at the views they espouse. Using the might of the US to intimidate the Middle East is/was/and will be one of PNAC's primary goals.

North Korea - We brokered a deal with the other countries? I don't think so. Especially when you consider that with North Korea and many, many other countries the administration's modus operandi has been to NOT TALK to the offending country. Not a way to promote peace. Iran is another prime example. Remember the "Axis of Evil"?

Darfur. A great example of doing nothing. The US is leading the way and going it alone in the UN? You want to give us some examples of how the White House is leading by example? All we hear is a little talk now and then and NO action.

Face it people, the US Government is owned lock, stock and barrel, by the pro-Israel lobby. There are 200 countries in the world any the only ones the US cares about are Israel and Israel's enemies.

We supply Israel with $4 Billion a year - for a population of roughly 6 million people - and yet we have absolutely no influence in stopping Israel from building more settlements. The logical answer would be to stop sending Israel money, but politicians on both sides of the aisle know that's a recipe for political suicide. Every politician fears AIPAC's influence - to either help them get elected or help their opponent defeat them.

Thus, AIPAC and the other pro-Israel lobbies and PACs own our politicians and completely control our foreign policy.

Let's just change the name now to The State United for the Survival of Israel.

Face it people, the US Government is owned lock, stock and barrel, by the pro-Israel lobby. There are 200 countries in the world any the only ones the US cares about are Israel and Israel's enemies.

We supply Israel with $4 Billion a year - for a population of roughly 6 million people - and yet we have absolutely no influence in stopping Israel from building more settlements. The logical answer would be to stop sending Israel money, but politicians on both sides of the aisle know that's a recipe for political suicide. Every politician fears AIPAC's influence - to either help them get elected or help their opponent defeat them.

Thus, AIPAC and the other pro-Israel lobbies and PACs own our politicians and completely control our foreign policy.

Let's just change the name now to The State United for the Survival of Israel.