Rice Open To Working With Syria For Mideast Peace

[deminks]

AP) SHANNON, Ireland Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday the United States' poor relationship with Syria is overstated and indicated an openness to working with Damascus to resolve the crisis in the Middle East.

En route to the region, Rice noted that the United States still has a diplomatic mission and State Department officials working in the Syrian capital. That presence, she said, is a "channel for dealing with Syria."

"The problem isn't that people haven't talked to the Syrians. It's that the Syrians haven't acted," she said. "I think this is simply just a kind of false hobby horse that somehow it's because we don't talk to the Syrians.

The State Department considers Syria one of the world's state sponsors of terror. In recent weeks, the Bush administration has blamed it, along with Iran, for stoking the recent violence in the Middle East by encouraging the Lebanese Hezbollah militia to attack northern Israel.

The U.S. ambassador to Damascus was recalled last year after the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. Syrian officials have been blamed for the murder, which Damascus denies.

http://cbs4.com/national/topstories_story_204232013.html

[bahrbearian]

1. Yawnnn.. waking up after a week long nap.

[daleo]

2. Rice talking somewhat non-belligerently?

I can't believe it. What real Hell does she have planned?

[saltpoint]

3. Maybe it Grandpa's Confusion setting in, but could somebody tell me

the difference between a real hobby horse and a false hobby horse?

Condi's sentence:

"I think this is simply just a kind of false hobby horse that somehow it's because we don't talk to the Syrians.


Also, if anyone can parse this sentence and align the independent and subordinate clauses into a clear context, I'll cut your grass for a year.

Jesus.

This woman is the Secretary of STATE?

[Erika]

5. The protester at the NAACP convention called Condi

"the house negro" as reported by a DU'er who was there. I think she's fitting that bill very easily.

[saltpoint]

7. Hi, Erika. Nice to see you again on DU. Well, I wish Condi would

stop playing Bush's little handmaiden.

The woman has more brains in her kneecap than most of the rest of that administration. But she's got them on hold.

And it's more than brains. She is a concert pianist. Not a parlor dabbler like Harry Truman, but the real deal -- a high-level, fully accomplished keyboard artist. A Brahms expert. Top of the piano repertoire.

And so I'm asking myself what she's doing hanging out with these dumb-asses?

Dick Cheney wouldn't know a Brahms Intermezzo if it bit him in the ass. Although if one DID bite him in the ass, my guess is his ass would win that match-up.

Anyway, I want someone with brains and talent to showcase those brains and talents so that all Americans can be lifted by their public example.

And Condi's just at the shoe store, and blathering the Bush propaganda.

[Erika]

4. Run out of $ and troops, Condi?

Now you want to talk. Where's W preventive strike doctrine and his "bring em on" talk? The little chickenhawk has been cut down to size.

Too bad he wasn't before our stupid and greed based invasion of Iraq.

[IndianaGreen]

6. Condi is a pathological liar and a war criminal

Condi is an American version of Joachim von Ribbentrop, Hitler's Foreign Minister.

[oasis]

8. When will someone in the corporate media nail Condi for outright lying?

They've given her a pass since way before she uttered the words "traditional hijackings".

[madrchsod]

9. bush`s handler told him to settle the problem

and we are seeing the results..there`s going to be a lot of back tracking this week...

[IndianaGreen]

10. Stop the bombing!

Stop the bombing!

Author: Mark Almberg

People's Weekly World Newspaper, 07/20/06 12:52

The Vatican, while acknowledging Israel’s right to self-defense, said that “does not exempt it from respecting the norms of international law, especially as regards the protection of civilian populations. In particular, the Holy See deplores the attack on Lebanon, a free and sovereign nation.”

The Lebanese Communist Party called for an immediate cease-fire and a negotiated solution for the release of prisoners on all sides.

Protests took place worldwide, including in Israel, where thousands marched in Tel Aviv, July 16, under the slogan, “Silence the cannons! Start negotiating!” The march was organized by Israeli peace groups Gush Shalom, Yesh Gvul and others.

The Communist Party of Israel called for a cease-fire and withdrawal of Israeli troops, and warned of dire consequences should the conflict involve Syria.

Many countries and organizations have charged that Israel is using “disproportionate force,” prohibited by the Geneva Conventions. Some observers suggested Israel had seized upon the capture of one of its soldiers, Gilad Shalit, by Palestinian militants as a pretext for pursuing a wider, pre-planned and vastly more destructive agenda in Gaza.

http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/9507/1/331/



Stop the Israeli Assault on Lebanon and Gaza: Statement by CPUSA

The Communist Party USA strongly condemns the Israeli assault on Lebanon which has killed almost 300 mostly civilian Lebanese in its first eight days. Infrastructure has been smashed, thousands of people have been driven from their homes, tens of thousands more have fled the country, and a cloud of fear hangs over the region.

With no regard for the possibility of igniting an even greater conflict in the region, the Israeli government threatens Syria and Iran over their alleged role in the crisis.

The escalating attack on Lebanon comes on the heels of Israel’s invasion and re-occupation of large parts of the Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of many Palestinians, again mostly civilians. The invasion, detentions including members of the Palestinian government, and destruction of government facilities has further devastated a Palestinian society and economy already strangled by a blockade that denies food, medicines and fuel.

Israel’s massive violent response to the reckless actions of Palestinian and Lebanese armed groups is pouring gasoline on a Middle East already in flames from the U.S. war in Iraq and threats against Iran. It is now clear that the vicious bombardment of Lebanon was premeditated with the aim of destabilizing that country. Israeli media reports indicate that the Sharon and Olmert governments had already hatched comprehensive plans to bomb Lebanon on the slightest provocation, unfortunately provided by the Hezbollah raid.

The Israeli government is accountable for actions imperiling the security of its own people as well as the people of Palestine and Lebanon. Israeli ruling circles and the Bush administration have not, but must accept the right of the Palestinian people to determine their own leadership and establish their own state. They must abandon the aim of establishing a puppet regime or inciting civil war.

But ultimate responsibility for the violence and instability lies with Washington, Israel’s main patron and purveyor of military aid for nearly 60 years. When President Bush responded to the attacks by blaming Syria and Iran, he further encouraged brutality and threw oil on the fires.

The American people should insist that the Bush administration support an immediate ceasefire on both sides. And, that Israel withdraw from all occupied lands in Syria and Lebanon, withdraw to its 1967 borders, dismantle all settlements and the illegal Security Wall, accept a viable, sovereign Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem and resolve the refugee issue consistent with the International Declaration of Human Rights and UN resolutions passed over decades.

We condemn the Israeli government’s continued flagrant violation of international laws and UN Resolutions. We condemn all terrorist acts and attacks on civilians by groups, individuals or states.

We demand Congress and the Bush administration press Israel to end the assault on Lebanon and Gaza.

We support regional, international and United Nations diplomatic efforts to negotiate an immediate ceasefire on all sides, a release of all political prisoners and an overall negotiated solution to the on-going conflict.

We support a two state solution: a free and independent Palestine and an Israeli state, both necessary requisites for peace and security.

We call for an end to the cruel war and occupation of Iraq.

We call for the recognition of the right of all peoples of the region to live free from occupation and violence.

http://www.cpusa.org/article/articleview/772/1/42/

[ShockediSay]

11. Too little, too late, except maybe they got nice shoes there.