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The Bush Administration Acts Like Israel's Puppet
"The Bush Administration ought to replace the American eagle with a parrot
clutching an Israeli flag"
2/12/02 10:21:45 AM
Charley Reese
Commentary -- The Bush Administration Acts Like Israel's Puppet
By Charley Reese
February 7, 2002
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. It need not worry about the Bush Administration or most of the Israel
First
journalists, but I hope the American people have not all lost their
ability to
think and to reason.
In the meantime, the Bush Administration ought to replace the American
eagle
with a parrot clutching an Israeli flag in one claw and a tin cup in the
other.
Libertarian Socialist News
Post Office Box 12244
Silver Spring, MD 20908
http://www.overthrow.com
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(Formerly http://www.libertariansocialist.com)
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