So...there's this war in the middle east now.

[Plaid Adder]

I mention only because there's nothing about it on the DU front page. I mean, I understand; I don't feel like talking about it either. But damn. That didn't take long, did it?

Life gets more bizarre every day it goes on. La la la, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, I'm having a pretty good summer, really everything is fine...except that Israel is in the process of blowing up Lebanon, and Bush of course isn't going to do anything about it, unless of course we somehow wind up getting drawing into the fight on Israel's side, which would REALLY ensure that we will be hated by the entire rest of the Middle East for centuries to come, and all the Rapture gang must be very happy because it sure looks like any day now it could be Red Heifer Time.

When historians look back at September 11, 2001, are they going to say that was the start of World War III? And was Einstein right when he predicted what the fourth world war would be fought with?

:scared:

The Plaid Adder

[Ringo84]

1. Sorry to be stupid

WHY is Israel blowing Lebanon up? And not to be dense, but why is this such a bad thing? I'm not trying to be smart. I just want to make sure I know all the facts.
Ringo

[readmoreoften]

5. Well, it's bad because Israel is blowing up Lebanon.

This means that people are stranded, people are dying, property is being destroyed, people are being cut off from lifeline supplies, and that people are getting even more pissed and ready to retaliate for all this pain and suffering.

It also means that the non-Muslim nation that we massively fund, is blowing up a Muslim nation. The MSM is saying that Syria (nation about Lebanon) is *really* to blame and that so is Iran. George Bush is also saying that it's Syria is to blame. This conveniently follows the PNAC neo-con plan of attacking Iraq to get Syria and Iran. Iran has said that if Israel or the US attacks Syria, then the entire middle east will see the aggression as an attack on every Muslim country.

Pakistan is a Muslim country. They are a Muslim country with nukes. Right now they are our allies. But if we are seen to be aiding a nation that attacks a Muslim country, the Pakistanis will no longer support us. If the the Pakistani Govt. does seem to support us, there may be an overthrow of the Pakistani government (I've heard pundits say) and then they will throw their weight behind Iran.

Russia and China are also allies with Iran. China is heavily invested, financially, in Iran.

This is my understanding of the situation. It is hard to know with the fog of war and the diversity of opinion. Take it for what it's worth.

[Ringo84]

7. Oh. Of course

Thanks for the info, Read. I'm in the know now.
Ringo

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

12. One other point

if Pakistan sides with the Muslim world as you predict, I wouldn't be surprised if India decided to join in the fray on the side of the non-Muslim countries. I believe a fundamentalist Hindu government is still in control there.

Sadly, in the countries named there are many many moderates who have been trying to keep the extremists from taking over. Every time there is violence, these voices of peace become weaker, and peaceful sects are persecuted.

[readmoreoften]

13. Mind you, I just heard one liberal policy wonk explain about Pakistan.

She could be wrong. It did make sense to me, though, I guess that's why I remembered it. But I am far far far far from an expert on the ME. I'm always just trying to keep my head above water to understand.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

39. don't forget the added crap of:

India and Pakistan. The latest explosions in India may have been caused by muslim fundies across the border.

Iran-Russia-India-China. The common denominator is money, access to oil, oil burses currency, and their willingness to stand up to pro-zionist US foreign polcy.

Add to this, the absolute incompetent abilities of Condi Rice, the hell-raising being practiced by Dick CHeney and the shear ineptness of the Bushman himself.

It is a complex region, and can only be made worse with the green light our assholes in government are giving Israel.

[Virginia Dare]

43. Too true...

all of the events of unrest going on around the world are connected, in my opinion.

[Virginia Dare]

42. The instability...

in this region will ultimately be devastating to our economy as well.

[New Government]

23. Israel: Love 'em or hate 'em - They don't mess around.......nt

.

[Terran1212]

2. 9/11 didn't have to start all this

Goddamn al qaeda and washington are practically working together to make this as destructive as it is.

[RawMaterials]

45. Unless you belive the conspeacy

theory that israel could have been behind 911
:tinfoilhat:

[ikojo]

3. Bush will not reign in Israel because of the fanatic

Christian taliban base of the Republican party. They want to usher in Armageddon and thus the return of Jesus. They could care less how much bloodshed there is as long as it fits their pre millenialist agenda.

[Cleita]

4. This is a continuation of WWII and you thought we won.

Israel was founded as a way to get rid of the Jewish people Hitler missed by European nations who didn't want to send them to death camps but didn't want them in their countries either. No one was concerned that there were already people living there. Oh, they were just a bunch of nomadic sheepherders. There was no reason to be concerned about them.

I really don't believe that Muslims and Jews can't get along. They did fine getting along all during the Middle Ages and the crusades. Muslim and Jewish scholars preserved the knowledge of the ancient world and preserved civilization while we Christians were descending into barbarism in the Dark Ages up until the Rennaissance.

So, this was a mess created that can't be washed and disinfected that easily. It seems time for the saner world community to come together with the citizens of the whole Middle East, including Israel, to hammer out a workable plan to end the warring and killing and move on to prosperity. Oh, it would be a good idea if they make the Americans leave first.

[AlienGirl]

10. It also, I think, involves Baathist/Republican stuff

The US (or to be more precise, the far-right in the US, as represented in the Republican party) didn't care about Saddam Hussein until he started straying from original Baathist philosophy and practice. Then, immediately after toppling Hussein, the US tried to install more old-school Baathists to govern Iraq. I am curious whether Lebanon's rulers have similarly "strayed" from Baathism, and whether that might be a factor in this as well.

How does that relate to WWII? And what mysterious political party could connect the Baathists to the Republicans? I leave that to the reader to research, because the conclusions I've come to are too shocking and horrible to post, and I am hoping against hope that someone else will research it and tell me I'm wrong because of something I missed.

Tucker

[Cleita]

24. It related to WWII because the so-called "Jewish problem"

came to the forefront before WWII. People were very anti-semitic back then. During those times and during the war Jews tried to run from the Nazis to different countries who didn't want them, including ours. It had something to do with the right papers etc., which was ludicrous as most of them didn't have any by the time the Nazis got done with them. Many of them started going to Palestine. Leon Uris wrote a novel about it, Exodus.

So all the Western powers got their pointed heads together and created Israel and well another adjoining state Jordan. So the fighting never really stopped in the Middle East since WWII. It seems to me to be a continuation of it even though no historian seems to want to make the connection.

I don't know what your research has brought up as I really haven't done much. Right now I'm trying to get myself up to speed on the Saudis. However, in general I think birds of a feather flock together and RW extremists do recognize each other in spite of cultural, religious and ethnic differences.

[long_green]

38. The president of Iran mentioned that in one of his screeds

He pointed out that most Israelis are European in origin, why not give them land there? But you're right, brown skinned people just don't count. The U.S. made a lot of noise about ending colonialism after WW2 (other nation's colonies). Two places where we forgot our rhetoric have and will bite us in the ass: Vietnam and Palestine.

[madmark]

6. i just hope we do not feel the need to become participants in this one

[meganmonkey]

33. We already are

Who supplies Israel with it's weapons?

Who do we give billions of dollars to each year?

Our tax dollars are helping blow up civilians and infrastructure in Lebanon.

:cry:

[Recursion]

48. Don't forget...

Who has a few hundred thousand troops right among Syria and Iran and Israel?

Invading Iraq was never about oil, and was always about geography.

[bloom]

8. There should be a thread on the DU front page about the ME.

It's hard to say which one - and events change pretty fast - but still - if someone is out of the news loop and go to the home page - they should have some idea about what is going on.

Oh - and Bush said that 9/11 was the start of WWIII. Of course - he wants people to think that someone other than HIS administrations started it. I hope the historians get MIHOP or LIHOP or HIHOP - but I wouldn't hold my breath about it.

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. It's probably the most highly charged issue on DU

It's very difficult to pick something - even a news report - that won't get denounced by several DUers as biased to one side or the other. But it seems to me that if people wanted a summary of the news, they'd go to LBN anyway, not use the front page - which has traditionally been mainly comment anyway. And as you say, events are happening fairly fast. Any kind of commentary would be even more likely to divide DUers. I don't blame admin - you'd be asking them to stick their hand in a hornets' nest.

[readmoreoften]

14. What is HIHOP? First time I heard that one. /nt

[Generator]

16. Help it happen on purpose

The 9/11 "dungeon" isn't really armed and dangerous. You too can visit and come out alive. (I just happened to see the term the other day) When I get bored of people arguing about Hillary or Lieberman or what the meaning of rape is or discussing the vile media, it's worth a visit.

[readmoreoften]

18. I don't visit the dungeon because I've seen enough to know where I stand.

I'm MIHOP. And I know why I'm MIHOP and I don't need any more evidence. I think sometimes infiltrators come up with cockamamie notions to discredit the 911Truth movement. Right now, I'm sticking with what the 9-11 scholars have uncovered.

[jbane]

21. Is that King Crimson?

Todays headlines involving Israel and anyone in the Middle East could be from 2006, 1996, 1986, 1976 ....
This won't end until someone is conquered since no peace treatys ever last, so sad.

[muriel_volestrangler]

22. Yep - it's the "21st Century Schizoid Man"

(apparently the smiling picture inside the album is the "Crimson King"). The lyrics seem appropriate:

Cat's foot iron claw
Neuro-surgeons scream for more
At paranoia's poison door.
Twenty first century schizoid man.

Blood rack barbed wire
Politicians' funeral pyre
Innocents raped with napalm fire
Twenty first century schizoid man.

Death seed blind man's greed
Poets' starving children bleed
Nothing he's got he really needs
Twenty first century schizoid man.

And talking of prog rock lyrics, to back up your point, I'll give you a bit of "Blood on the Rooftops" by Genesis, from 1976:

Let's skip the news boy (I'll go and make some tea)
Arabs and Jews boy (too much for me)
They get me confused boy (puts me off to sleep)
And the thing I hate--Oh Lord!
Is staying up late, to watch some debate, on some nation's fate.

[leftchick]

9. photos not seen on our tv...

Fire rises from fuel tanks at Beirut international airport after being attacked by Israeli aircrafts July 13, 2006. Israel struck Beirut airport and Hizbollah's television station on Thursday and killed 22 civilians in raids on south Lebanon, intensifying its reprisals after Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight. (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)





A Lebanese army soldier points to the flames rising from the fuel tanks of the Beirut International airport after an Israeli air strike in Beirut. At least 46 civilians were killed as Israeli jets pounded Lebanon in retaliation for the capture and killing of soldiers by Hezbollah, amid warnings the escalation could spark a regional war.(AFP/Ramzi Haidar)

[question everything]

15. Actually, these photos have been on all regular stations

Funny, Israel chooses to bomb "things" - runways, fuel tanks, TV stations - not residential neighborhoods, the way Lebanon has done to Israel - and people are whining.

Some 30 years ago, or so, Israel sent troops to Beirut airport and blew several jets. Again - things, not people - and bleeding hearts Europeans condemned it.

And to remind everyone: Hezbollah started it! According to its leader, this kidnapping was planned for four months now.

Whether Israel's reaction is excessive is not for anyone here to decide. How easy to live thousands of miles away, secure in one's room and to click and nod about events while Israelis are being bombarded - yes, their homes, too - and are spending the night at bomb shelters.

Should Israel have just gone to... who, exactly, and whine that Hezbollah entered its border and kidnapped two soldiers? Not that anyone's opinion matter, but what should have Israel done?

[leftchick]

17. apparently you missed the 50 civilian deaths in Israeli airstrikes

in southern Lebanon. Ten kilied in one family alone including a 9 month old baby.

:(

[laura888]

19. Exactly. And how many Israeli civilians...

...have actually been killed in this latest violence? Comparied to Lebanese civilians?

Am I a bleeding heart because I'm heart-broken over deaths that my tax dollars have a hand in?

[in_cog_ni_to]

36. Israel is expected to do nothing because she has a military.

They are expected to take the thousands of bombs over the blue line, the 8 killed CITIZENS and the 2 kidnapped soldiers (this happened BEFORE Israel responded) and do nothing. She is suppose to let Hezbollah and Hamas destroy her without responding. No matter how Israel responds, be it diplomatically or militarily, it's wrong. Never mind Hezbollah bares the blame for this escalation, Israel is wrong. Because Israel has killed MORE Lebanese than Hezbollah has killed Israelis, thus far, Israel is wrong. The dead Israelis are insignificant because they deserve it for having a military. Israel must lie down and be destroyed. The people here (from threads I've participated in) and in the ME think Israel took the Palestinian land and want Israel to give it back and go find a new country.

Lebanon Government signed a UN agreement back in 2000 (? I think) to disarm Hezbollah and have neglected to do so. Lebanon Government signed a UN agreement to REMOVE Hezbollah and take their country back and have neglected to do so. That's Israel's fault too.

I have decided that, IF Israel could, she should buy an island somewhere FAR AWAY FROM THE ME, leave the country as it was given to her, WITH NOTHING, and leave. Build a new country somewhere. This shit has been going on for as long as I can remember and I'm 51 years old. This will NEVER stop until the poor Palestinians get what they want.....I wish Israel could just leave the terrorists to their own demise. How long would it take before Lebanon, the Palestinians, Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Iran started fighting among themselves for the land that use to be Israel? It would be within DAYS. These people aren't happy unless they're killing, fighting, destroying and hating SOMEONE or SOME THING. Let them destroy each other. I truly wish this was an option for Israel, but, sadly, it's not. There will never be PEACE in Israel as long as she is a state in that region. That's just the way it is. Hamas, the Palestinians, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran detest the state of Israel and will never let the people live in PEACE. Never. Hamas' statement of operation says so. There are plenty of U.S. citizens who also hate the state of Israel...er, uh.... her policies. PEACE is not an option for Israel. It's impossible.

[sellitman]

51. Bravo! n/t

[question everything]

56. Excellent. As I have been saying again and again (for deaf ears)

if Israel ceased to exist tomorrow, there will still be terrorist activities by jihadists who dream of restoring the glory of Islam from the first millennium. Attacking Israel has been a convenient excuse for Saudi Arabia and for Saddam Iraq and Syria to deflect any revolt against their own absolute rules.

[everythingsxen]

20. Yes, this is WWIII

Yes, this is actually happening.

Syria and Iran will become "involved" in the conflict.

The US will also become "involved". (though I suspect our involvement will be in keeping Iranian troops from reaching Syria by fighting in the blood soaked sands of Iraq)

Russia and China are going to sit this out. They will continue to support Iran passively by selling them weaponry and buying their oil/natural gas.

Europe will also sit this out.

Pakistan is going to stay out as well. They are a Muslim nation yes, however they have their own problems and have no way of supporting the conflict. Also they are a military dictatorship first and foremost; Muscharef(sp?) doesn't have a death-wish, he is going to want to remain in power as best he can and I assume he knows that is by staying out of this one.

Britain may aid the US, after all they have no choice. Plus this is all their fault to begin with so they damn well better be involved. (I blame them for the map re-drawings of the mideast as well as the way the entire Israel solution was handled)

Australia may also assist the US. Same for Canada.

The UN is going to pass around a lot of resolutions and the US will veto most of them.

Egypt will do nothing for the same reasons I outlined for Pakistan. They have little to gain by entering the conflict. There will be no doubt a lot of "terrorists" and "foreign fighters" pouring out of North Africa though who will be unconnected to any Government (officially).

Saudi Arabia will publicly call for peace and calm, but privately will be sending "terrorists" and "foreign fighters" and most important bankrolling. Same for the UAE and other small Islamic states.

This is going to happen, because it pretty much has to. The fanatics will see this as the best chance they will ever have and they are right. The US is too bogged down to really help Israel and Israel is under a tremendous amount of pressure.

Obviously there are a lot of wild-card nations as well as various entangling alliances that could alter who the players of this game are.

Nukes are definitely on the table, though I suspect it will not be a worldwide full-scale nuclear war. It will be limited to essentially tactical nukes; I believe a lot of chemical weapons will be used though.

[bdamomma]

25. very good post

seems very plausible. I don't know what to say, it is chilling.

[everythingsxen]

28. Thank you alyce

That was the best assessment I could make of the situation, given what knowledge I have of the situation. Obviously covert operations and other secret programs/weapons/groups can change everything I said in the space of a few hours.

[vickitulsa]

47. Thanks for at least backing off of that ring of certainty in your earlier

predictions. I'm glad to hear at least one person who insists on making a slew of predictions about the most unpredictable situation imagineable show some humility about the notion that one's predictions just might be off by a mile.

And yours weren't delivered in a rant, either, I appreciate that!

In fact, I guess I'm going to have to stop reading any Israel threads just one day after I began if my fellow DUers don't settle down as a group and as individuals and stop flaming the crap out of each other, arguing intangibles, taking sides irrationally, and predicting catastrophic doomsday scenarios long before it's even gone that far or close to it yet.

Every single HOUR decisions are made and actions, covert or overt, military and non-military, are taken that can change the entire situation in Israel/Lebanon dramatically. Making predictions -- especially long-range, far-reaching predictions -- about what's going to happen in the Middle East right now is folly beyond words.

It might be sorta fun, if you like grisly fun or if you are really up on the issues and the details and just like to see if you can guess right about some major events. But otherwise it's unproductive and usually just leads to more discord here at DU.

I wonder why it is people write things like, in talking about how the current events in the ME are a continuation of WWII (a premise which I don't disagree with), "People were very anti-Semitic back then." Excuse me? "Back then?" And they're not now?

And with all the anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, pro-Arab, pro-terrorist, pro-Hezbollah and -Hamas rhetoric here, I wonder if some have forgotten just who it is whose people turn out in the streets in the thousands to jump up and down and cheer and get drunk on their joy when great tragedies of any kind strike the United States?

Hint: It's not Israelis.

Okay, now I'm falling into it, too. The anger, the desire to lash back out at those who've lashed first. (First, will someone please tell me how you decide just who was "first"? -- in rants or flames or in residence in the so-called "Holy Land"...)

I've really gotta get outta these threads, this is maddening. Too much emotion and too little reason and genuine desire for solutions and peace. Just a lot of TALK about how we liberals want to have peace -- but while we're cheering for Muslims don't bother us with the facts, like the ones that involve Hezbollah starting this whole new flare-up in the ME, and Hezbollah continuing to rain rockets down on Israeli HOMES today, killing women and babies and terrorizing many thousands, and how none of the Arab/Muslim states are EVER going to allow Israel to live in peace...).

I'm with in.cog.ni.to about the Israelis being better off if they could just up and move lock stock and barrel to an island far from the Middle East ... and let the dogs that remain tear each other to shreds and destroy the prosperous garden in the desert the Israelis created while they were there, because that is precisely what I figure they are likely to do. Where have any of those tribes of Muslims improved their lands like Israel has done, hmm? And it's not because they don't have the $$$ to do it, their governments are filthy rich with oil money.

But that's not a prediction -- Israel cannot move. It's all just a sad commentary on the state of affairs in the f'ing precious Middle East.... human priorities so skewed I wonder if we're worth saving....

[sellitman]

50. Amen n/t

[blonndee]

55. How very racist of you, Vicki.

Besides the rest of the post, "dogs"? Really?

[The Anti-Neo Con]

26. Meanwhile, oil will go to $250 a barrel if that happens. n/t

[everythingsxen]

27. So?

For the fundies on all side this is the Armageddon they have been waiting for. For the war-hawks this is the battle that has to be fought now. Sure the average person is screwed, but there is such a disconnect between the powers who run things and the people that they could care less.

[BrotherBuzz]

32. Sounds like you are describing the mother of all regional wars, not...

WWIII. World wars are not fought by proxy, nor is it a spectator sport. :shrug:

[alarimer]

29. I think WWIII is about to begin

This is all the excuse Bush needs to invade Iran (or to have Israel do it by proxy). In which case all hell breaks lose. There is no winning this one. A pox on all their houses (including the Bush administration).

[Cleita]

30. Be careful what you wish for.

Remember Bush's house is our house. We need to get rid of him and his sychophants sooner, not later.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

31. I wonder which side God is on?

Seeing as how all 3 sides have claimed they are doing "God's work" by murdering the other side(s).

"Man is the only animal to have discovered the One, True, God....several of them." - Mark Twain

[Joe Fields]

34. Alright, adder, if you insist....

What good does it do to talk about it? We have been relegated to spectator status, along with our democratic leadership, thanks to the Bush regime. Besides, what the regime has put us through, so far amounts to an incomprehensible case of sensory overload. I imagine we are all feeling numb, right about now. Every day it is something new and awful. Just once, just for one day I wish I could say that it is summer, the sky is blue, the birds are singing, and isn't it a wonderful world. Nothing short of millions of peasants with pitchforks marching on Washington will change things.

My take on the situation? Bush has really painted himself into a corner this time. He claims that the U.S. is involved in a "War on Terror,", but I guess it only counts toward those oil-rich countries, and not rogue states, such as North Korea, or Syria, Lebanon Jordon and Palestine, where there is no oil. Now, Bush's insincerety should be on display for the whole world to see. For, if he truly was sincere about ridding the world of terrorists, instead of just using that as a cover to fulfill his real agenda, then this administration would have gone after Hamas, Hezbollah, Abu Nidal and other terror organizations a long time ago. Then, if this conflict between Hezbollah and Irael had come up, the rest of the Arab world might just stay out of the fray. But that is not the case. If we get involved in Lebanon militarily now, we run the almost certain risk of igniting a war where most, if not all Arab countries stand against us, and take action. Sounds like WWIII to me, if we are not already there.

Diplomatic and strategic genius, that Bush is.

[dogday]

35. I am paying so much attention to what is

happening over there... My Son sits in the middle of this mess in Iraq.... I thought I was worried before...

[Theres-a]

37. I'm so sorry

I'd be out of my mind if I was you.Good thoughts to you.

[bdamomma]

46. I am sorry too for your son

our troops need not to be there. I am so upset with this stuff going on right now.

[Maraya1969]

40. Can't Jimmy Carter do something? Him and Clinton and other

peace mediators? Maybe I am being to simplistic but I would like to see them try to help.

I would also like to see them apologize to several other countries for the behavior of this current US pResident. Someone has to show some humility on a national level.

I am scared too.

[stop the bleeding]

41. sticks and stones n/t

[Cleita]

44. Did Israel invade Lebanon with

the intent of going to Syria and Iran because Syria is planning to go to Euros? I wish I knew more about this but so far this is what I have been able to put together to make an assumption.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20602098&sid=aw_ZTcmPsWKs&refer=world_currencies#

Syria Will End Dollar Peg, Moves Reserves to Euros (Update3)

July 11 (Bloomberg) -- Syria, accused by the U.S. of supporting terrorism, plans to end its currency peg to the dollar by December to reflect closer trade ties with Europe, central bank Governor Adib Mayaleh said.
The bank has already converted half of its currency reserves to euros, Mayaleh said by telephone from Damascus. The reserves, including gold, totaled $4.1 billion in December, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

"We want to have a currency peg that will reflect our external trade," Mayaleh said yesterday. The European Union is Syria's largest trading partner, taking half of its exports, he said. Italy and France are the biggest destinations for Syrian goods abroad, according to data published by the CIA fact book.

The country may instead link the Syrian pound to a weighted group of currencies including the euro or loans from the International Monetary Fund that are known as Special Drawing Rights, Mayaleh said. SDRs comprise the euro, dollar, yen and British pound. more..

Look at this for the connection

http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2006/07/updated_report.php

. The EU says it is concerned Israel's offensive in Lebanon may spread, drawing Syria into the fighting.

. Israel bombs Beirut airport for 3rd time in 24 hours.

. Israeli ships impose a sea blockade on the port of the northern city of Tripoli.

. Israeli Foreign Minister threatened to attack Syria, reports said.

. Power cut off throughout Beirut after a main power line stopped functioning.

. An Israeli cabinet minister threatened to eliminate Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

. Israeli warplanes struck the base of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) in Qussaya, less than two kilometers from the border with Syria.

So this is where I'm going with this. The real reason we invaded Iraq is because Saddam's intent was to go to Euros. It was always the intent from the PNAC documents, our shadow government, to invade Iraq, Syria and Iran all three oil rich nations, and to make Israel the dominant power in the Middle East along with the United States to bring a Pax Americana to the region and control of all the oil into our hands and the hands of Israel. However, these countries going to Euros is neither in the interest of Israel nor the United States.

Also, other articles at the above website point to the fact that a lot of the bombing seems to be concentrated on the road that links Beirut, Lebanon to Damascus, Syria going very close to the Syrian border.

[bdamomma]

49. you know I only wish

someone would say any official will do, that this attack of Lebanon was a crime, just like the invasion of Iraq, and they must obey international law if not, actions will be taken, then they can get International backing to prosecute Bush. Or maybe if they bring out, that this is ideological war, and President Bush has made it no secret he has very strong ideological tendencies. Grasping for straws, but I hope diplomacy wins out, I just wish Bush would keep his mouth shut, because it has already been said he gave the green light to Israel to attack.

[Pachamama]

52. Well, hey, I posted on Thursday how Faux News said there's WAR in ME!

:hi:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1619656&mesg_id=1619656

[file83]

53. I went into Costco today...

...and a company from Utah was promoting "Emergency Food Supply" dry food buckets for $109.95.
With the depressed mood I was in with all that's going on, I caved in, and bought one.
Am I a SUCKER or what? LOL

[tomreedtoon]

54. Well, Adder, what can we do? Beat up a nearby Jew?

That's facetious and wrong, of course, but I didn't vote for the conservative Knesset in Israel. Nor did I vote for our current White House occupant, but I have a right to protest his decisions (and have). I do not have the right to overturn the elected government of Israel, and it's clear that the Monkey couldn't influence things either, given his current standing in world opinion.

Inasmuch as I'm not an Israeli or a Jew for that matter, all I can do is tsk-tsk. And duck.

Unless, that is, you'd like to get some air fare together to ship Oprah Winfrey or Judge Hatchett out there to start negotiatons...