Literal Truthers

Billmon's latest alerted me to the BIG story today--as I noted earlier, work kind of put a kink in my daytime posts for a spell. News reports are pretty unanimous in noting that the actions of the Shrub are unprecedented, and indeed they are: the United States has swallowed, to paraphrase Alexander Cockburn, hook, line, sinker, rod & reel, the Sharon land grab:

Ariel Sharon was smiling during much of his joint White House conference with President George Bush...

He secured most of what he came to Washington DC for, perhaps more than even he had dared to expect.

He had wanted public endorsement of the principle that the pre-1967 borders on which so many - and not only Palestinians - have long assumed would form the basis of any future settlement of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, were not after all inviolate. And he wanted a clear public statement from the US President that there would be no right of return to Israel for the families of those who have been refugees for more than half a century.

That he got both, not implicitly but explicitly, was made all the more surprising given that President Bush, mired in the intractable chaos and bloodshed of Iraq, might have been expected to be especially sensitive about anything which would exacerbate tensions between himself and Arab leaders.

Reaction from the other point of view is, as you might expect, decidedly less positive:

Palestinians reacted with fury last night to President George Bush's endorsement of Israel retaining occupied Arab land as they predicted the final collapse of the Middle East peace process.

Ahmad Qureia, the Palestinian Prime Minister, said in Ramallah: "He is the first president who has legitimised the [Israeli] settlements in Palestinian territories. We as Palestinians reject that. We cannot accept that. We reject it and we refuse it."...

Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian cabinet minister, described Mr Bush's statement as "like someone giving a part of Texas's land to China".

Hamas has it's own reaction to Bush and Sharon's idea:

Palestinian militant group Hamas said today President George W Bush's statement that Israel could keep parts of the West Bank proves armed resistance was the only way for Palestinians.

The group's political leader, Khaled Meshaal, said Bush's policy marked the end of "illusions that there can be a US-sponsored political settlement" between the Jewish state and the Palestinians.

"This stance proves that resistance is the only way," Meshaal told Reuters in a telephone interview from Beirut.

In the best of times, the Israeli/Palestinian question must be handled delicately. Bush's reckless statement can only be seen as the rantings of an individual who is rapidly losing his sense of reality, OR the rantings of an individual who is pushing like mad to lay the groundwork for a regional conflict in perhaps the most dangerous area on the planet--or both.

Religious freaks, like a case of shingles, are an unfortunate fact of life. But the actions of the few in pushing such an insane agenda--a bizarre interpretation of Judeo-Christianity that rivals fundamentalist Islam in its willingness to maim and kill--are tantamount to making everyone either a Christian soldier or an Islamic jihadist. If there is one word that would sum up this salting of the wound in the Middle East known as Israel/Palestine, it is insane. Particularly at a time when our occupying forces in Iraq DON'T need any additional sparks to light the dry-as-a-bone tinder.

I'm more than aware of the apathy towards almost any political issues among the general population of the United States (gasoline prices excepted). But the statement today by the illegitimate Dauphin will spell trouble--for the region, and for the United States. The next time our country is targeted by a terrorist act, the reaction in the rest of the world will be telling, and probably won't be nearly as sympathetic as the reaction to 9/11. Without having to do so, Bush has condemned more to death.

Pie in the sky...