The Circular Ineptitude Of Bush's Middle East Policy

Ah, remember Yasser Arafat and his Palestinian group Fatah. Declared a terrorist group by the Bush administration, Bush refused to negotiate with him nor allow the Israelis to do any real negotiation either. Well, the old man died, but the movement continued on with Mahmoud Abbas.

Since Abbas was new blood and the Bush administration figured he could consolidate power, they cheered on the free elections which, much to the Bush administration's surprise, were dominated by the immensely popular Hamas. Even though Hamas attained a clear majority in the Palestinian parliament, Abbas managed to get elected President of the Palestinian territories.

Shocked by the results of the election, the Bushies moved to cut off funding to the Palestinian territories and urged others to follow suit, which they indeed did. This lack of funding led to societal divisions among the Palestinians.

So now, as these divisions deepen and the territories drift toward civil war, what do you think the Bushies are going to do now?

If you guessed sending arms to Fatah through proxies in Jordan and Egypt, ding, ding ding! Give yourself a pat on the back because that is exactly what the Bushies are doing even as you read this.

So, in the eyes of the administration, Fatah has gone from a group we won't talk to because they are a threat to Israel to a group that we are arming to fight a civil war for the right to oppose Israel. I'm sure none of these arms will end up in the wrong hands and be used against Israel, aren't you?

I believe the neocons call this synergy.

Bush Administration: Worst Foreign Policy Team Ever Assembled

Not content with fucking up American diplomacy, the Bush administration is now meddling into possible diplomacy between other sovereign nations. From Haaretz:

The United States demanded that Israel desist from even exploratory contacts with Syria, of the sort that would test whether Damascus is serious in its declared intentions to hold peace talks with Israel.

In meetings with Israeli officials recently, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was forceful in expressing Washington's view on the matter.

The American argument is that even "exploratory talks" would be considered a prize in Damascus, whose policy and actions continue to undermine Lebanon's sovereignty and the functioning of its government, while it also continues to stir unrest in Iraq, to the detriment of the U.S. presence there.

It is also known that Syria, like Iran, continues to provide Hezbollah with arms and equipment.

According to senior Israeli officials, the American position vis-a-vis Syria, as it was expressed by the secretary of state, reflects a hardening of attitudes.

When Israeli officials asked Secretary Rice about the possibility of exploring the seriousness of Syria in its calls for peace talks, her response was unequivocal: Don't even think about it.

Well now, we can't have Israel even raise the possibility of successful diplomacy where the Bush administration is incapable of achieving any. That would be a loss for the Bushies and we can't have that. There may be something a little more sinister at work here, though.

I'm not sure who pushed this story up into the press. It could be more hawkish members of the Israeli government, or ours, or both. The intent is clear, however. That intent is to emasculate Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Consider it mission accomplished.

Olmert has taken heat since last summer's war with Hezbollah in which by most accounts would be considered a loss, although I would consider it a tactical draw. I think most neoconservatives view even the possibility of negations between Syria and Israel as the latter suing for peace, thus forwarding a weak posture. I disagree.

Syria actually put forth the olive branch, whether disingenuous or not. It behooves both to see if some compromise can be made, because these two countries are going to eventually have to learn to live together, or mutually destroy each other. Both actually have WMD, chemical for Syria, nuclear for Israel. They both also have an interloper creating an impasse for peace, that being the Bush administration. If I were the Israelis, I'd tell Condi to go to hell.

Found via TPM

Israel Admits Having Nukes

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admitted on German TV that Israel has nuclear weapons. Was it intentional or a slip of the tongue or a little bit of both? Whatever it was it puts an end to the silliest international ruse ever, Israel's policy of ambiguity over whether or not they possessed such weapons.

This does however put billions of dollars in aid from the US in jeopardy because it puts Israel on the wrong side of some federal laws that prohibit aid to proliferating countries. That is, of course, in theory. As many politicians have found out in the past, you fuck with AIPAC and AIPAC fucks with you. It's a quickest way to ensure your next trip to Capital Hill involves visitor's lines.