The UN, US and Iraq IV

It could also be a setup. Despite all the lip service, the Palestinians seem to be being setup for failure sometimes. Every now and then I wonder if the plan is to talk peace but make demands that make it difficult, and then if it all falls through blame the Palestinians and delay it all even more.

But that's just an odd worry, I have no substantiation for it whatsoever.

but Steve, you are so right!! <giggles>

What is ludicrous, and pathetically sad, is that Christian extremists support Israel due to a belief that the Jewish state must be established before an apocalypse, at which point the Jews can either "recognize the truth" and convert to Christianity, or be blasted straight to Hell. There is a belief current among many charismatics that ancient sacrifices must be performed on the temple mount to trigger the event, and so, some of them in Alabama have been attempting to breed a red heifer, "pure and without blemish." They believe that this is predicted in scripture. They have poured large amounts of money into this, as well as time and energy, and last year, thought they had succeeded. They had a red heifer, and were convinced they had succeeded, but didn't wish to queer the pitch, so they painstakingly examined literally every hair. They found a white hair--one white hair. They have been despondent about their lack of success, but faith will move mountains, in their eyes, so they are back at the breeding efforts, so that they can bring Jesus back to earth.

These are the kind of folks we need running this country--lunatic fringe monomaniacs who want to convert or kill all the Jews, so they support Israel.

Steve....

I thought about giving you full marks for



But the whole thing was getting a bit steamy so I let it go... :wink:

Set -- Do have a look at the Joan Didion article in the lastest NYReview of books which Blatham also takes note of in his new discussion. The whole horrific scenario is depicted -- nothing we don't already know (or suspect), but well written and documented:

Mr. Bush & the Divine
By Joan Didion
[a review, in the NYReview of Books of:]
Armageddon: The Cosmic Battle of the Ages
by Tim F. LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/16749

Well now I feel a pat on the head so all is well ( )

Sounds like the Senate is joining the House in trying to pin the channeling of only politically useful intelligence on George Tenet. I hope Tenet will stick with his previous attitude ("I'll only take just so much ****") and not cave in. Will see if I can find a link.

What if he DOES cave? That would be lamentable, IMO. I don't want the CIA to be part of the current admin band.

Here's a decent link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3211959.stm

Jay Rockefeller is trying like crazy to stop this (he's the minority leader on the Intelligence Committee).

Set--
I'm a Christian
I strongly support Israel.
I don't wax poetic at the thought of Armageddon.


I mean, there may be some freaks in a cave in Montana that fit your scenario, but I didn't want you to think it was widely held. Most Christians are ultra sympathetic to Jews, because of Christ's lineage and a sort of brotherhood felt by many Christians toward Jews. (The preaching at churches I've attended throughout my life revealed this sentiment.) I have heard this Armageddon thingie alluded to before, but it sounds nutty.

re Israel/Palestine...I'm afraid I'm rather more cynical than some here. I don't know that this administration has really made ANY moves of substance to resolve this situation. The 'Roadmap' was coincident with Blair's reported demand for some such before the war began, and I suspect this was the main motivation for its release. Supporting that thesis is the lack of substantive moves by the US to curtail either the wall or the incursions. The recent UN vote is typical (by the way, Canada joined the voters condemning Israel, for which the government here is now under attack by the predictable voices). And it is a matter of frequent commentary that the Republicans do wish to consolidate and increase the Jewish vote.

By the way, the Didion piece is worth the read for many reasons, not least of which is the most ironic and hilarious little bit on how ABSOLUTELY anti-abortion the 'Left Behind' books can be.

Blatham, I thought, too, that it was Blair's urging that brought about the roadmap. He sought a quid pro quo.

That's interesting. I hadn't picked up on the Blair connection with the "road map" (a metaphor which for some reason always reminds me of 1950's maps showing Route 66).

Tart

Yes, the sequence was 1)Blair under pressure himself, pressuring the US to address the issue 2) the US administration's talk about how it was in the works 3) the trumpet heralded release of the roadmap and 4) quiet

Now that you remind me...

The "road map" (in part because of its name) seemed like BS to me from the start, not worth fastening on.

I'm not sure who this administration was trying to kid when they first started the idea on this "road map." Many of us knew it was a failure before they even treid to 'negotiate' it with the Israelis and Palestinians. They gotta be pretty stupid to think any "road map" is gonna work when the Israelis keep expanding their settlements, and continue to kill innocent Pals with their Hamas targets. Who's kidding who? Stupid is, stupid does. It's gonna go on foreever, because neither side wants peace. It's only a matter of keeping count of how many they continue to kill.

A search for 'Turnipseed' on 'webferret' turned up this interesting site.

http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/usatresp.htm

Sofia--note my use of extremist in describing said Christians. Those folks are of concern, because they can so easily be manipulated because of the ease with which a demagogue can pander to the main points of the fantasy view of the world. If you've not heard that in your experience of christianity, that suggests you're not in their crowd.