Palestinian Issue Riddles Bush's 2005 Budget

[Violet_Crumble]

By Sam Bahour

www.countercurrents.org
20 February, 2004

"The President shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." - Article II, Sec. 3, U.S. Constitution

In his January 20, 2004 State of the Union speech President Bush was criticized for not even mentioning the plight of the Palestinians. President Bush completely ignored the blatant Israeli policy of human rights violations that the Israel military occupation has sustained against the Palestinians for decades now. Furthermore, he surprisingly dropped from his speech any mention of how he envisions to constructively involve the US toward a just solution to this conflict. One can only assume that President Bush views that addressing the violence-riddled, Palestinian-Israeli conflict is neither "necessary" nor "expedient."

The same cannot be said for his proposed $2.4 trillion Budget of the United States Government for Fiscal Year 2005, which was transmitted to Congress on February 2, 2004 and covers the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2004. The budget is planned to be brought to the floor of both the House and Senate between July 1 and September 30 and is riddled with references to the Palestinian issue.

The references to Palestinians in the budget are many and repetitive. Not only has the Bush Administration failed in realistically engaging the issue toward a peaceful resolution, but, viewed through the proposed budget, President Bush has totally adopted the state line of Israel on almost every account. Bottom line, the Israeli military campaign against Palestinians will continue and the US taxpayer is knowingly, or otherwise, footing the bill.

With so many recently failed US-sponsored efforts to jumpstart the peace process -- Mitchell Report, Tenant Plan, Roadmap -- not to mention the dozen other past initiatives that have been consigned to the trash bins of history, one can understand why the Palestinian issue is on President Bush's mind. President Bush may prefer to remain silent on Palestine in public statements, such as the State of the Union speech, but he has definitely taken sides -- or should I say more accurately, continues to follow the historically failed path of US policy on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This failed US policy is what has brought us to where we are today.

http://www.countercurrents.org/pa-bahour200204.htm