Bush and his crony Administration are over their heads.

[pinto]

It was clear today. I watched Ms. Rice on TV today dancing around the cancellation of her stop-over in Beirut and Mr. Bush literally hemming and hawing his way on to Air Force One for a trip to Florida.

They got a pass from the UN, and much of the world on Iraq - but just barely. (Seems the general assumption is that the US fucked up, Iraq will end up as a partitioned state, once the blood and guts are cleaned up, and the world will move on.) Sad but true, as things go.

I don't think they're going to be so lucky this time, if that's an appropriate wording. The United States has traditionally been a part of some kind of leadership role in the Middle East. Looks like we're going to renege on this one.

Obviously, the Bush Administration is locked in the unilateral mindset that brought us Iraq. Stonewalling and photo ops seem the order of the day. They are either unwilling or unable to be a part of a broad response to the melt down in the Levant. But silence is not a foreign policy.

Today's brief glimpses of our primary representatives tells me they're not up to the task. I think we are rudderless.

[MadMaddie]

1. I think you are right...and I think what will most interesting

is that the US (Bolten, Rice, *, Cheney) will be excluded from participating in the talks....because of their actions in Iraq...and their inability to do anything right....

I am curious to what the cabals reaction will be?

[ixion]

2. the cabals reaction:

:nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke:

[madokie]

6. they'll throw a walleyed fit like we ain't seen yet.

might even hang out some dirty laundry

[pinto]

11. I know. It's going to be interesting from a cold eyed point of view.

I mean, how many times can Bush pull out the leader of Belarus - or whoever the hell it was - for a "summit" to look Presidential, without addressing the Middle East in some substantiative way? Condi's disinvitation today was a wake up call, I think. Or it should have been.

[EFerrari]

3. Depends who you think "we" is. BushCo looks after their own.

Our government looks after their image in the salient markets.

We, pinto, are on our own unless we can make common cause with other abandoned populaces. Namely, those involved in these latest atrocities.

[kentuck]

4. The country and the world will be better off once Bush & Repubs are gone

...including the Middle East. They sure took us down in a hurry.

[madokie]

8. it couldn't have happened to a better bunch of crooks

most here could have told them where their policies were headed, straight to the gutter

[malaise]

5. You are correct

and they will be up a further creek depending on how this question is answered later tonight.
<snip>
The question now is whether the US will give Israel the "10 to 14 more days" that the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice he needed.

The US could, if it wanted to, accept, or at least not veto, a mandatory resolution from the Security Council calling for an immediate ceasefire written under the so-called Chapter Seven section of the Charter.

This requires compliance by member states. Many other countries want such an order now, leaving the underlying problems until later.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5229834.stm

[Rex]

7. They're sitting in positions of power and are unqualified to be there.

Shouldn't have fucked with the election process Scalia. Dec 12, 2000...will be a day remembered and not in a good way.

[madmusic]

9. Bush likes to play dumb.

We have to consider the possibility that this all just part of The Plan.

[acmejack]

10. He is not playing...