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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lurqer who wrote (43509)	4/22/2004 4:00:00 PM
From: Rascal	Respond to of 89467

Sharon urges backing for Gaza plan Thu April 22, 2004 03:14 PM ET By Matt Spetalnick JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Scrambling to halt erosion of support for his Gaza pullout plan, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has urged lawmakers to back him or risk losing unprecedented U.S. assurances to the Jewish state. Sharon said a new package of U.S. commitments that could widen Israel's borders and prevent the return of Palestinian refugees was an "inseparable part" of his proposal to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements.* "Whoever is opposed to the plan gives up all these achievements we'd made...(and) will carry the responsibility of cancelling all the U.S. commitments," said Sharon. "This is a comprehensive agreement". Even as Sharon spoke, violence flared in Palestinian areas, where tensions have risen since Israel killed Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi in a Gaza airstrike on Saturday. Palestinian medics said a four-year-old girl died of tear gas inhalation and another girl, aged nine, and a teenager were killed by Israeli gunfire in northern Gaza, on the third day of clashes since troops moved in to stop Hamas firing makeshift rockets. The Israeli force later pulled back. The army said Palestinian gunmen, operating near youngsters, had hurled grenades and fired automatic weapons and an anti-tank missile at the soldiers, who shot back at them and also used tear gas and rubber-coated bullets to disperse stone-throwers. "We did not fire at (residential) buildings or children," a spokesman said. Dr Mahmoud al-Assali, director of Jabalya hospital in Gaza, said four-year-old Asma Jlaiq was admitted with respiratory problems. "Her skin had turned blue as a result of her inability to breathe and she soon died," he told Reuters. "We have enough proof to declare that gas inhalation caused her death." Medics said the nine-year-old girl who died was hit by a bullet that penetrated her home. Earlier, in the West Bank town of Tulkarm, Israeli troops shot dead three wanted militants, the army said. POLL SURPRISES SHARON SUPPORTERS Sharon came out fighting during a parliamentary session after a poll found support for his "disengagement" proposal in his right-wing Likud party had slipped to 44 percent ahead of a crucial May 2 party referendum. Forty percent opposed the plan. The poll in the Haaretz daily came as an embarrassing surprise to Sharon's camp, which had thought victory in the Likud vote was a foregone conclusion after he won support from U.S. President George W. Bush and party heavyweights. Reflecting his uneasiness over still-sceptical Likud members, Sharon -- who had pledged to abide by results of the party referendum -- said he would not feel legally bound by the vote and that parliament would have the final say. Bush enraged Palestinians and the Arab world last week when he broke with decades of U.S. policy, endorsing Sharon's bid to hold onto some large Jewish settlement blocs on West Bank land captured in the 1967 Middle East war. He also backed Sharon's denial of a right of return claimed by Palestinians dispossessed in the 1948 war of Israel's creation, and millions of their descendants. The Jewish state says a refugee influx would mean demographic suicide. Despite what Sharon hailed as a historic victory in Washington, many of Likud's 200,000 members remain staunchly opposed to ceding any occupied land in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, territories the Palestinians want for a state. Most polls show Sharon winning the Likud vote but his advantage has narrowed considerably as Gaza's 7,800 settlers and their supporters mount a fierce fight against the pullout plan. * What the heck could he be talking about? I guess there were negotiations! And Bush smeared Sharon like he hit the Big-Game-Lotto! But I must give credit pResident Bush's great commitment to DEMOCRACY. At least Israel is a democracy and even though Sharon did a great deal, as far as he is concerned, it's good to know the will of the people still counts for something. Just like here. Rascal @BeCarefulWhatYouAskFor.com reuters.co.uk

To: lurqer who wrote (43509)	4/22/2004 4:02:46 PM
From: American Spirit	Respond to of 89467

Any college kids who support Bush are nuts. He's cheating them, ignoring them and leaving them with collosal debts to pay off.

To: lurqer who wrote (43509)	4/22/2004 4:15:11 PM
From: redfish	Respond to of 89467

This is going to be a very strange election. I think Kerry is betting that he has the left wing locked in, and that the election will be decided by a couple million votes, and that is who he will play to. Unless he has some kind of understanding with Nader, that is a losing strategy. Hopefully the two campaigns have worked something out, because otherwise Kerry is looking very very weak.

To: lurqer who wrote (43509)	4/22/2004 5:30:18 PM
From: lurqer	Respond to of 89467

A few comments from Zbigniew Brzezinski in a Der Spiegel interview. "War on terrorism" - that's a phrase that doesn't mean much to me. It's as if one were to say that World War II was not waged against the Nazis, but against the "Blitzkrieg." Terrorism is a method. If we truly want to deal with the danger of terrorism effectively, we should ask ourselves: Who are these terrorists? Where do they come from? Instead, we use commonplace theological statements to talk about terrorism and we act unilaterally the way we are doing in Iraq, which will probably just increase the number of terrorists who wish to do us harm. There are terrorists in Northern Ireland, in Kashmir, in Israel, in Latin America and elsewhere. However, the terrorists in Kashmir do not attack Finland. They attack India. Those in Northern Ireland do not attack Americans. They attack the British. And those terrorists who do attack use and come from the Middle East hate us, so the question is: What motivates them? Sweeping statements simply blur the problem that terrorism raises for us. We must anticipate further attacks on the United States, because we have expanded the conflict in the Middle East. From the Arab perspective, the issue is not just Iraq, but also the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. As a result, we are increasingly facing an attitude that this is a holy war. re. June 30th. I believe we must adhere to it, although we should admit to ourselves that this is nothing but a fictional date on which a fictional event will take place. What does granting sovereignty really mean? 135,000 American soldiers will remain in the country, Americans will continue to control security, and just about all of Iraq's overseas assets will remain under control. This can be nothing but a symbolic step, as long as the true attributes of sovereignty are missing. spiegel.de lurqer

To: lurqer who wrote (43509)	4/22/2004 7:30:31 PM
From: Crimson Ghost	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Note how the politics of the "lesser evil" has allowed the political spectrum to swing steadily rightward. Clinton was the most reactionary Democrat of the 20th century and Kerry looks to be even worse. But hey, he is not as bad as George Bush and that is all that counts for the ABCs (the anyone but Bush crowd) If these trends continue the Republicans might nominate an out and out fascist 4 or 8 years hence and his Democratic opponent will stand to the right of where George Bush is now. But he will still be the "lesser evil".