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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (112158)	8/20/2003 3:28:15 PM
From: michael97123	Respond to of 281500

Summed up well Hawk. I smell reconciliation coming rather than cut and run by the UN and europeans. After all the interests of the West are aligned even if we were more agressive on iraq in the spring. History begins today. Hell scott and I might even vote for the same guy and he is supporting a guy who might not have bought into neocon views but certainly is not a Dr. Dean lefty. We need some of that reconciliation stuff domestically. I am tired of being so angry. Plus our lives are on the line. Mike

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (112158)	8/20/2003 4:07:59 PM
From: michael97123	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Palestinians vow to take action against terror groups Israel: Palestinians must act 'immediately' Wednesday, August 20, 2003 Posted: 3:43 PM EDT (1943 GMT) JERUSALEM (CNN) -- With a top Israeli official saying Tuesday's bus bombing, which killed 20 people including several children, may signal the end of the peace process, Palestinian leadership Wednesday promised new actions to combat Palestinian terrorist groups. Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman Elias Zananiri told CNN, "After what happened last night, the rules of the game have changed." Hamas and Islamic Jihad, both of which claimed responsibility for the attack, "have decided to change the rules of the game," he said. "The Palestinian National Authority will act accordingly." But Israeli Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned his country has heard enough promises from the Palestinians. "They have to act and they have to act from now, immediately," he told CNN. "This will stop. Either the Palestinians will stop it or we will stop it. And once we will engage in stopping it, we will not stop before it's all over with." Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his top security advisers met for three hours Wednesday, but there was no word on what occurred. "Until now, we had a lot of patience, but patience is running out," said Gideon Meir, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman. "We have to protect our people. "It might be the end of the peace process, we don't know, but the responsibility falls all on the shoulder of the Palestinian Authority." A senior Israeli spokesman said officials would discuss the possibility of a complete closure of the West Bank. CNN's Jerrold Kessel said Israel may choose to step up political pressure against the Palestinian leadership to go after militant groups. The explosion occurred shortly after 9 p.m. (2 p.m. EDT) aboard a double-length city bus carrying children back from a trip to Jerusalem's Western Wall, Israeli authorities said. It happened near the crowded, largely ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Mea Shearim, near the border between East and West Jerusalem. (On the Scene: Jerrold Kessel) Ambulance services said 136 people were injured in the blast. Fifty remained hospitalized Wednesday, and 13 were in serious to very serious condition. The bombing is the most deadly attack since three major Palestinian groups -- Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades -- declared a temporary halt to attacks against Israelis on June 29. Palestinian sources said that Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas began meeting with his ministers and heads of security after the bombing and decided to break off talks with representatives of the Islamic Jihad and Hamas. "I announce my strong condemnation of this horrible act, which does not serve the interest of the Palestinian people at all," Abbas said. "I have given my instructions to the security minister to launch an investigation." A U.S. congressional delegation in Israel Wednesday canceled a planned meeting with Abbas, saying he was "impotent to stop terror or unwilling to act." (Full story) In an interview on CNN's "Newsnight With Aaron Brown," Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erakat condemned the bombing and said "such attacks harm the interests of the Palestinian people." But he cautioned the Israelis not to "shoot themselves in the foot" by suspending the peace talks and launching a military response, saying "the military solution" has not worked during the nearly three years of the intifada, or Palestinian uprising. Ra'anan Gissin, a spokesman for Sharon, said Israel would take the necessary steps to defend its citizens if the Palestinian Authority would not bring militant groups under control. Following the bombing, Israel froze all contact with the Palestinian Authority, including discussions that had been taking place this week to hand back security control of four West Bank towns -- first Jericho and Qalqilya, then Tulkarem and Ramallah. Islamic Jihad said the suicide bombing came in retaliation for the killing of one of its leaders in a gunfight last week with Israeli troops. The attack was also in revenge for the killing of two Hamas members as well, according to that militant group. (Full story) cnn.com

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (112158)	8/20/2003 4:33:27 PM
From: Bilow	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Hi Hawkmoon; Re: "That means France, Germany, and other members will be pressed to participate, and on terms favorable to the current US leadership role." Now let me guess. This was right when your alarm clock rang and you woke up? Neither Germany nor France is going to send troops to help out in Iraq, especially under US leadership. The only reason they sent troops to Afghanistan was cause they were welcomed by the Afghans, and if the Taliban keeps resurging they'll pull out of that too. This whole argument that our allies are going to come give us a hand in an important war (required to save civilization) applies to the Vietnam war, where our allies, despite the evident falling of the first domino, left us to keep the dominoes vertical on our own. -- Carl P.S. Ever notice that it is a lot easier to knock dominoes over than it is to keep them standing? That's part of the advantage that the terrorists / sabotagers in Iraq have over us.