Beating the Bush around the bush

President George W. Bush has strongly defended his Iraq war policy against Democratic demands to bring US troops home and warned that if America leaves Iraq could become a country controlled by terrorists willing to use oil as a weapon.

"Controlled by terrorists willing to use oil as a weapon..."

Ha ha ha ha ha ho ho!!!

LOOK who's talking?

Seriously though, Bush could have said anything else but that. Everyone knows his intentions. I have said it before and I'll say it again. The US should finish what they started, work towards the best solution and leave.

Train the Iraqi government and military to look after themselves and leave some oil for them to work with, then go. Stop meddling. Their involvement is actually encouraging more people to go up against them when in fact they're trying to achieve the exact opposite.

No wonder popularity ratings are near the lowest of his presidency due largely to dissatisfaction over Iraq. No amount of damage control is enough but he could lessen the damage on himself and his country by being more wise.

John Prescott, the UK's Deputy Prime Minister, has given vent to his private feelings about the Bush presidency, summing up George Bush's administration in a single word: crap.

That was very eloquent. It sums just about everything up.

Death of Moderates in The Muslim World

Thanks to Israel and company, all volcanoes of suppressed, calmed and negotiated hard feelings are now erupting in the Muslim world.

All old and new wounds are now open and sore — from the creation of Israel on Arab land, to 1967 war that grabbed more lands including Islam’s third holiest shrine, Al-Aqsa Mosque, to the 1982 invasion of Lebanon and the over twenty years of occupation of its southern part, to Qana I that killed scores of civilians to Gaza and Jenin massacres up to the recent history from Afghanistan to Iraq.

The list of wounds is long and hurtful, and whenever it seems to cool a bit, an adventure like this hits again. No lull is long enough for moderates to preach peace, forgiveness and logic.

Mideast crisis

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, has told European leaders to stop preaching to him about civilian war casualties.

He added, "If Hezbollah knew what the consequences of their attack would be, would they nevertheless have done it? I don't think so."

Meanwhile Lebanon rejects a draft U.N. Security Council resolution to end 26 days of fighting because it would allow Israeli forces to remain on Lebanese soil, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Sunday.

And in the US, respondents to a CNN poll released Friday were nearly evenly split on President Bush's handling of the current conflict in the Middle East.

Forty-six percent of 1,047 Americans participating in the telephone poll, conducted by Opinion Research Corporation for CNN, said they disapproved of Bush's handling of the crisis, while 43 percent said they approved. Ten percent had no opinion.

Nearly. Evenly. Split.

It's a no-brainer. What have they got to be split about? Why would anyone support this or have no opinion about it even?

Break

I'm on a self-imposed hiatus from writing on this blog. Everyday's the same old bad news and it's getting to me.

Till then.