In Shift, Rice Won’t Visit Arab Capitals

[Rose Siding]

In a startling twist that shows how tense the atmosphere now is in the Arab world, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will not be traveling next week to any Arab capitals. Instead, she will visit Israel and then loop back to Italy for a meeting with top officials from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and various European countries. Diplomats say that Egypt was too skittish to host a gathering on the Lebanon conflict in Cairo, fearing it would spark a popular backlash.

Rice had originally planned to travel first to Cairo and then to visit other Arab capitals after a stopover in Israel. Now it is thought that she will return to the region after a short visit to Malaysia at the end of the week to attend a regional summit. In that return trip, she may stop in key Arab capitals. Israeli officials say that by then, their bombing campaign may have ceased or seriously abated.

The talks in Rome will concentrate on crafting a ceasefire deal over time that would lead to the possible introduction of an international peacekeeping force and disarm Hezbollah. “The whole cornerstone is to neutralize Hezbollah,” says a senior Israeli diplomat.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2006/07/21/rice-changes-plans-for-mideast-trip/

[whistle]

1. That ought to help ease tensions....

....among neocon hawks

[ShockediSay]

18. Same line of crap.

[cantstandbush]

30. I think it is more in fear for her life than anything else. nt

[bemildred]

32. We're sorry Secratary Rice, but we don't think we can protect you. nt

[Delphinus]

33. But it won't do a thing to ease

tensions between the Arab nations and the US.

[daleo]

2. Egypt is too skittish

Or Condi Rice is too skittish?

On edit - at least we know something about her underwear preferences.

"In shift, Rice blah, blah..."

[Canuckistanian]

20. It's all that leather she wears

Very threatening... and yet arousing to men used to seeing burqas.

[saigon68]

25. Rushing planeloads of cluster bombs and laser guided munitions to Tel Aviv

Isn't going to convince the average person on the street in Damascus, Cairo, Amman et al that the US Neocons want to stop the shooting and killing.

The appearance of the princess of death and destruction likely will provoke riots.

Especially if she shows up in her usual dominatrix leather costume.

[wordpix2]

3. now that BushCo policy has made the ME too dangerous for the SOS to visit

she will "neutralize Hezbollah" at a distance.

That ought to be very effective, I'm sure. :sarcasm:

[aquart]

4. I'm guessing Hezbollah is considering power grabs in Egypt, Jordan & SA?

They are hardly just a threat to Israel. Look at all the good they've done for Lebanon.

[daleo]

11. You think they are planning to go franchise?

I think Hezbollah was a result of the Israeli occupation of Lebanon, and isn't transferable without those conditions. But the current Egyptian government has its own potential troubles - I recall an organization called the Islamic Brotherhood being in the news some time back. So long as the Arab world feels that they are dominated by Israel and the U.S. there is potential for conflict.

[wakeme2008]

5. Good Shoes in Italy... Bad shoes in Cairo....

Simple with this Admin. :grr:

[goforit]

6. Bush won't have his little darling visit a hostile area.

[Mandate My Ass]

7. she can hardly go to the arab leaders and say what Bush's true

intentions are. They aren't going to buy the blank check for Israel to get to the "root cause" of Hezbollah's aggression.

They know bullshit when they smell it.

[neverforget]

8. Ah, yes! Neocon diplomacy at it's finest. Talk to one side and expect

results from both.

[WCGreen]

9. Kissenger would have gone in.....

Head first...

I'm just sayin'...

I know he is despicable...

But he never wavered...

[ixion]

10. apparently, Arab shoe fashion is not up to Rice's standards

:sarcasm:

[Dover]

12. Not about neutralizing Hezbollah. It's about preparation for invasion

of Syria by first neutralizing key Lebanonese defenses and infrastructure. Same as they did to Iraq before its invasion. It's a joint plan by Israel/U.S./Britain. The ultimate goal is Iran.

[BeHereNow]

14. Dover can I tell you that I love you?

Thanks for staying ON POINT!
Iran
Iran
Iran

THAT is the POINT.
BHN :loveya:

[Dover]

23. ....awwww shucks.

:blush:

Ditto! Nice to find another voice in the wilderness :hug:

As for staying on Point >>>>>>>>>>

Actually, most of the time I feel like Oblio in the Land of "Talking Points".

[Demeter]

13. Now the Fat Is In The FIre

The great diplomat (NOT) is disinvited to the BushCo favorite resorts, stomping grounds and money depositories. Somebody is ticked at the US; LOTS of somebodies!

[tabasco]

15. Why are we paying her?

She's not doing her job.

[Supersedeas]

16. Corporate Media cheerleading on the Condi horn, ignoring the Condi details

[goclark]

17. She needs to put on one of those VEST that our soldiers

should have received and get her butt on over to the heat of the battle.

[Bush_MUST_Go]

19. Can we send bush instead? Or Cheney with his gun? Or without?

[IndianaGreen]

21. Why don't they call this a war mission, and be done pretending!

Condi is the most disgusting and vile Secretary of State in our nation's history. I pray that she becomes the first American Secretary of State to face justice at The Hague. Too bad the International Crimes Court does not have a death penalty, for Condi richly deserves to swing at the end of a rope just like the Nazi war criminals we hung at the end of World War II.

[Erika]

26. Probably what will save her is that she is black

Total irony 100%. W uses her color and the world will forgive her because of her color. And she and the W administration says they are colorblind. Total irony.

[IndianaGreen]

27. Idi Amin was Black, as is Robert Mugabe

Condi won't be forgiven for her war crimes and her lack of empathy for the people of Lebanon, no matter her race or planetary origin.

[HuffleClaw]

22. bwhahahhaha

and they have the gall to call her a 'diplomat'

what a sad sorry joke. she's going over to coordinate the next stage of the war, NOT to broker any sort of peace.

[Erika]

24. Condi is a liability

Finally it is being seen. She wasn't brought in to W's administration for her skills or abilities.

[Supersedeas]

40. but the Corporate Media just adores her

[onager]

28. This probably didn't make the U.S. news...

But I was in Egypt the last time Condi blundered thru the Middle East. (And I'm still in Egypt. Alexandria.)

On that last trip, Condi appeared in public with Egyptian President Mubarak. As I remember, in her usual arrogant, condescending manner, she rattled off a laundry list of things the U.S would "like to see" from Egypt.

And was forced to stand on stage, wearing a frozen rictus of a fake smile, while Mubarak very diplomatically told her to FOAD.

:rofl:

Truly a Great Moment In American Diplomacy.

This is how it was reported in the local press, anyhow, but I'm sure Fox News covered it a little differently. They probably mentioned ecstatic crowds throwing flowers at her or something.

[saigon68]

29. The locals won't be able to throw horse dung at her this time.

I'll bet the princess of death has hundreds of body guards shepherding her around.

[NYC]

39. Onager, please keep us informed.

You know how difficult it is for us to find out what is going on in foreign countries. (It's difficult for us to find out what's going on at home.)

People "in the field" such as yourself can really help us understand what is going on, and let us know how the local people see it.

I also read your post about Karen Hughes. Overall, I don't think they have reported much about her world tour to make the world like us the way we are. It wasn't her goal to improve our behavior; it was her goal to make people approve of our bad behavior. I guess once she left the airport, there really wasn't much to say.

Thanks for reporting, and please continue. :hi:

[hatrack]

31. So that leaves, what, Jerusalem and Ankara?

:eyes:

[stepnw1f]

34. She Wants the Violence to Esculate

or to give the Israelis and Hezbolla time to blow the shit out of each other a bit more. Afterall, global population is exceeding these days. Nothing like culling the herd. Fucking sick bastards. Or maybe the violence will spill over into say... Syria?

[Zorra]

35. Maybe Condi could send in Karen Hughes to smooth things over first.

Bwaaahaaaahaaaa.
:rofl:

[onager]

36. Karen was a BIG hit here in Egypt.

No pun intended....cough...

I LMAO when Hughes came to Egypt. I've posted about her visit before, but I'll try to recap quickly what REALLY happened. I've been over here for several months now, so I'm not sure how the U.S. media polished that particular turd. (One benefit to being in Egypt: no Fox News!)

Some idiot in the State Dept. must have "briefed" her that Middle Eastern women are quiet and submissive and just hankering for advice from Big Mama Karen.

So I guess it was quite a shock when the women in the audience started yelling back at her about Iraq and various other subjects, as Hughes was trying to catapult the propaganda.

Unfortunately for Bigfoot, several sharp Egyptian female journalists were in that audience. They wrote some scathing articles about it for the local press.

Hughes really got her ass handed to her--no small project when it comes to Karen Hughes.

As one example of her cluelessness, she went off on a tangent about how everybody these days needs to develop a close relationship with their intelligence services. They're heroes, they're the only thing standing between us and Al-Queda, blah-blah-blah...

In this part of the world, "intelligence services" is a euphemism for "secret police." Those are the folks who come and disappear your relatives in the middle of the night. With all the Middle Eastern experts we have in DC nowadays, I'm surprised nobody knew that.

:sarcasm:

[Imagevision]

37. Condi will be as effective as Jessica Simpson, and I doubt that!

[BenDavid]

38. I do not understand just what

makes this person so popular with the media. What the hell has she done that is positive? She is a liar just like Bush and the rest of them, but for some reason the media is afraid to touch her or call her on matters where she is known to have lied.....