Flash! US announces its demands at Gaza!

20080305rice_in_rome Condoleeza Rice came out of the West Wing this morning to announce that no cease fire at Gaza would be "acceptable" to the US unless it results in a basic change in the situation with regard to Hamas’ firing into Israel.

Say what?  "Acceptable" to whom?  The US?  Does that mean that we are a party to the war?  Yes.  That is what it means.  pl

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28 Responses to Flash! US announces its demands at Gaza!

  1. Yamashita says:

    True. I love pithy commentary. I’ve never heard a Sec State utter so many dopey comments. Then again, I’m a fairly young man.

  2. Tosk says:

    Well, remember this is a person who has the following extremely insightful (NOT!) view of the area:
    a) She recently summed up the past 8 years of the ME peace process as years of violence followed by “Finally… it was clear to all that there was no alternative to President Bush’s vision of a state of Palestine and a state of Israel living side by side in peace and security (see http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2008/12/113242.htm)
    b) Recently said “… “We helped to see Israeli forces leave Gaza, the first time that Israel had really, with the Palestinians, given back occupied territory. We worked hard. Unfortunately, the Palestinians weren’t really ready to take responsibility in Gaza…” & “We’re leaving this in a lot better shape than we found it …” She also seemed very taken with Sharon’s sheep (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3646204,00.html)

  3. charlottemom says:

    Heard her breathlessly scolding Hamas to “stop attacking Israel.” To Israel: unleash the slaughter.
    Last count, 400 dead Palestinians; 4 Israelis.

  4. Jackie Shaw says:

    I quess this means the Gazans will have to rein in their Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy that have the poor Israelis under assault. Do they even have an airfield? Any boats other than fishing boats?
    I screamed at the radio this afternoon when they quoted what Rice said. What an upside down world!

  5. Duncan Kinder says:

    Say what? “Acceptable” to whom? The US? Does that mean that we are a party to the war? Yes. That is what it means. pl

    So long as various Muslim governments continue to purchase US Treasury securities, we must also conclude that that it is “Acceptable” to those various governments.

  6. Matthew says:

    Thanks, Col. I was wondering what her final act of secretarial malpractice would be….and now I know.
    We really are all Israelis now! And yet….I still feel so American.

  7. Jose says:

    We need a common enemy to unite us.” – Condoleezza Rice
    Easy to unite the U.S. and Israel and avoid discussing the real issues in the Middle East, but what has non-resistance gotten Mr. Abbas?

  8. jonst says:

    Here are some questions Glen Greenwald asks:
    >>>>Is there any other significant issue in American political life, besides Israel, where (a) citizens split almost evenly in their views, yet (b) the leaders of both parties adopt identical lockstep positions which leave half of the citizenry with no real voice? More notably still, is there any other position, besides Israel, where (a) a party’s voters overwhelmingly embrace one position (Israel should not have attacked Gaza) but (b) that party’s leadership unanimously embraces the exact opposite position (Israel was absolutely right to attack Gaza and the U.S. must support Israel unequivocally)? Does that happen with any other issue?<<<< I think most of us here at SST know the answer/s. The issue become why is this so? And what, if anything, can be done about it? http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/02/israel/

  9. She started out not knowing which sect of Islam the majority of Iranians were. Now this. At least there is symmetry.
    Let’s hope her piano playing skills got better in the last 8 years. She should definitely quit her day job.
    Michael Chevalier

  10. Clifford Kiracofe says:

    “Does that mean that we are a party to the war? Yes. That is what it means.”
    Yes indeed. Was it not predictable that Israel would launch against Gaza in the last days of the Bush Admin? Wasn’t the Israeli campaign against Hizbollah in 2006 coordinated with the White House?
    Condi’s comments seem to be intended to provide cover for the Israelis and, IMO, indicate a degree of coordination. Green lights, winks, nods, and whatever else.
    So what will the Israelis present to the Obama Administration? And more to the point, which “faction” within the Obama foreign policy team will prevail: the ardent Zionists or the non-Zionists?
    The rubber hits the pavement on 20 January and the entire world will be watching for signals on the direction of US foreign policy. Change? What change, where, when? If Obama is not careful, it might be a very short honeymoon.

  11. curious says:

    Why can’t the Bush regime leave with some kind of shred of dignity left? For the sake of the nation if they don’t need it themselves.
    It’s pathetic how low Bush has made the nation too. Total neocon tool.

  12. Marcus says:

    We live in a country that has accepted the faulty concept of “the war on terror.”
    Who determines what constitutes terror? Well that would be The Decider.
    The logic is fairly straight forward from here: shooting rockets at Israel is terrorism, members of Hamas are shooting the rockets, Hamas are terrorists, Hamas is part of the global war on terror, we are at war with Hamas.

  13. cletracsteve says:

    Col, excuse me. I thought that a vote by congress should be required to be a party to war. What am I missing?

  14. JohnK says:

    Of course we are a party to the conflict. We can no more divorce ourselves from it than we can divorce ourselves from the US made planes, helicopters, bombs, rockets, munitions, communications, etc., that gives the beligerants the means to wage the conflict. Cut them all off, let them fight with bows and arrows (see photo 23: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/the_year_2008_in_photographs_p.html and photo 21: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/2008_the_year_in_photographs_p.html ), and let them eat sand.

  15. Marcus says:

    We live in a country that has accepted the faulty thinking wrapped in the concept of “the war on terror.”
    Who determines what constitutes terror? Well that would be The Decider.
    The logic is fairly straight forward from here: shooting rockets at Israel is terrorism, members of Hamas are shooting the rockets, Hamas are terrorists, Hamas is part of the global war on terror, we are at war with Hamas.

  16. jamzo says:

    and now on saturday afternoon, we can interpret condi’s message as the ok for israel to do as it is doing as of this momennt – send ground forces into gaza
    i am not surprised that biden’s predicted early test for obama comes at the hands of the israel

  17. Mark Logan says:

    I also heard her say that
    Hamas came to power by way of “military coup”.
    In for a dime…

  18. curious says:

    Well, the middle east agenda is certainly set for next 4-8 yrs.
    endless conflict in Gaza.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7805808.stm
    SATURDAY 2 JANUARY
    Gaza Strip: Israeli troops enter northern Gaza, initiating a much-anticipated ground offensive. Hours earlier, Israel fired artillery shells across the border for first time since the offensive began.
    Gaza City: One of the leaders of Hamas’s military wing, Abu Zakaria al-Jamal, was killed in an overnight raid.
    South Israel: At least 20 Palestinian rockets landed, including in Ashkelon, Ashdod and Sderot. No casualties were reported but a house in Ashkelon was hit.
    Beit Lahiya: At least 10 Palestinians were killed by an Israeli strike on a mosque, local medical sources said. Earlier, a caretaker was killed in a raid which destroyed large parts of the town’s American school.

  19. Will says:

    “the birth pangs of a new middle east,” was her prior statement w/ respect to a 2006 ceasefire. Someone ran a cartoon of a pregnant Rice w/ a monkey fetus in her womb.
    Of course as a member of the UN security council which can vote on calls for cease fires she can mouth her opinion.
    An airstrike or cannon fire in a densely populated Gaza is a violationof the 4th Geneva Convention per se. It is our money paying for the ordinance and jet fuel. The American tax payers are accomplices.

  20. WP says:

    Now, Israel has started its advance. It seems to be a totally futile act. What possible benefit does Israel expect to gain by invading? Will someone please clue me in on the answer to my question.

  21. I am going to have to check out of the internet for the next few years I guess.
    My only thought: the Palestinians know how to endure. They are not going to be exterminated and they are not going to go away. No matter how much Israel throws at them, no matter how many Israel kills, Israel can win no victory in this war. Perhaps that’s why the apologizers for Israel sound so desperate.

  22. Sgt.York says:

    Colonial powers have only succeeded in eliminating resistance to occupation by exterminating or relocating virtually all of the native population. Brutalizing the natives into docility has never worked. For Israel to survive as a Jewish State they need to kill or relocate the vast majority of the native Palestinian population. The Israelis are never going to convince the Palestinians that a book of Jewish fairy-tales gives a bunch of Germans and Russians de-facto ownership to the land and the right to subjugate anyone of “the wrong” religion. Sixty years of occupation; I simply don’t see how this won’t be a 100-years war. South Africa ended apartheid… but I just don’t see Israel becoming a secular democracy (ala India).

  23. JohnK says:

    Yep, Condi’s photo and comments will make the next Al Quaeda recruiting poster as we foster creating yet another generation of radical crazies.

  24. Tosk says:

    Someone mentioned Rice’s “birth pangs” curious turn of phrase from July 2006. Given (GWB &) Rice’s expressed strong belief in the bible, etc. I was surprised at the time that no one asked Rice re her statement, and if her mention of “birth pangs” was in a reference to the end of the age? For context, see Matthew 24:8 and Mark 13:8
    Would have been interesting to know the answer, especially given that the semi-official position is that Ahmedinajad is not to be taken seriously since he is an end-of-times nut!
    http://tinyurl.com/7kxx8d
    http://tinyurl.com/7whw3l

  25. fanto says:

    on the theme started by Leila and Sgt.York –
    I would chime in on this theme of fairy tales by saying that “after killing or relocating all of the Palestinians they lived happily thereafter” – I just cannot imagine how they will live with themselves

  26. Sgt. York – every Levantine town has a Crusader’s castle. They are part of our landscape – Sidon’s castle was visible from my grandparents’ house when I was a child, before all the skyscrapers downtown blocked the view.
    These buildings remind us that the Franks ruled the Levant for two hundred years or so. Then they melted away, leaving lots of redheads in the general Arab population. You ought to see all the green-eyed, red-haired teenagers in my family, it’s amazing, and they’re 100% Lebanese.
    The lesson is really instructive. We of course don’t want the siege to go on 200 years, but then again, if it does, well, it’s 30% over by now. If it only lasts 100 years, why we’re almost there.

  27. Marcello says:

    “Is there any other significant issue in American political life, besides Israel, where (a) citizens split almost evenly in their views, yet (b) the leaders of both parties adopt identical lockstep positions which leave half of the citizenry with no real voice?”
    It seems evident to me that for most american conservatives palestinians are subhuman scum that should be exterminated. On the other side there are sufficient israeli supporters to make any rating conscious democratic politician balk.
    IOW the overwhelming majority of politically active people are firmly on the israeli side. The rest don’t care or,like the sort of people who are here, don’t count.

  28. Gene Maglio says:

    I have a very real sense of discomfort around Livni’s and Barak’s excursion into Gaza .There appears to be an uncanny resemblance to the Nazi’s treatment of the 450,000 mostly Jewish inhabitants, confined in a ghetto in Warsaw during the early 40’s. Similarities between the two situations include the induced shortages of medicine,food,fuel for power and heat,and employment; along with enforced confinement and isolation.
    I was reminded of thispast Nazi atrocity as I read your article describing the graduated reduction in food to the residents of Gaza as a means to break them down pyschologically,

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