Democrats call for Powell mission to Mideast

http://www.cnn.com/ ^ | March 31, 2002 Posted: | CNN

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- With violence in the Middle East escalating, two leading Senate Democrats said Sunday the Bush administration should ratchet up the level of U.S. diplomacy by getting Secretary of State Colin Powell more directly involved.

"I think there needs to be something dramatic done, and that means the president has to step up his involvement," said U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Delaware, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on CBS' "Face the Nation."

[otterpond]

Dem's have such a strong record on foreign policy over the years. I think the President should listen to them....

[meyer]

I disagree with these democrats. I beleive that Gen. Rumsfield should have a bigger role in Mideast affairs. :^)

[Scott from the Left Coast]

Geeez...don't they think he's dropped trou enough in the last few months?

[KQQL]

Breaking news:- RATS want to reward Terrorism of Yasseer by sending Pr0-Arab Powell to MId-East to save Yasser's butt

[dinok]

And to think I stood in the cold last year in support of this administration. grrrrr...powel is the current Naville Chaimberlain..."Peace in our times..."

[Paleo Conservative]

Give war a chance.

[ambrose]

Let "General" Arafat rot... don't kill him... just corner him into one last room, cut his power, phones, plumbing, and toss in a K-ration once a day.

[Hugin]

I can't remember who it was, but someone once dubbed the middle-east "the graveyard of American Secretaries of State".

[Fifth Business]

There's a Colin cancer on the presidency. (pun intended)

[MinuteGal]

Notice how all the libs, including Specter, want to send over the Republicans' weakest link, Colin Powderpuff.

Leni

[putupon]

I thought the Dimz were going to send Jesse Jackson over there to make peace.

[over3Owithabrain]

Ahh, leave it to the usual Democrat and RINO suspects to respond to terrorism with pleas for talk and sympathetic calls for appeasement of the suicide bombers. I hope Bush breaks his recent pattern of siding with these morons.

[Russell Scott]

Leave it to the Dems to try to snatch defeat from victory. Destroying the PLO is the solution. That's why they are whining. The one thing DemocRats hate is actual solutions to problems.

[Batrachian]

I have an alternate suggestion or Sen. Lieberman, and that is that he pushes through a motion in the Senate declaring their unanimous support for Israel in the face of this unprecedented, barbaric threat to their existence.

BTW, I think this fellow garnered way too much stature from his failed vice-presidential bid, and I'm tired of hearing from him. Between him, Daschle, and Gephardt, you'd think these people are running the whole d*mn country.

[ex-snook]

The Israelis have strapped Sharon around their belts as their suicide bomb. Right now both sides are committed to the Kamikaze. If Powell will not talk about setting up a Palestine State, forgetaboutit. But Powell just should make sure the Sharon bomb is not strapped around America's belt too.

[gaspar]

The Dems don't give a rats rear for Sharon or Powell. They view them both as screw-ups. That is why we have the effort to send Powell to Israel. The fact that Powell is feckless and that Sharon has stated that Israel is now at war means absolutely nothing to the Senate blowhards.

[mass55th]

Send Nadler. There's plenty of him to spread all over the middle east.

[jwalsh07]

I always thought that Dodd was a dim bulb but compared to Joe Biden he is point of light. One thing is for sure, when it comes to foreign policy and Joe Biden speaks, people shouldn't listen.

[uncbob]

BTW, I think this fellow garnered way too much stature from his failed vice-presidential bid, and I'm tired of hearing from him. Between him, Daschle, and Gephardt, you'd think these people are running the whole d*mn country.

Well with Bush signing CFR he surely is running scared from them

[Defender2]

NO To U.S. Troops in Israel!!!! Unless they are there to help Israel eliminate the Terrorists Period!!!!

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

MY opinion is :We should back out completely and let them take care of it themselves and force the un to back out as well let the israelies take care of their own buisness and obliterate the palistinians wherever they are period .

[Right_in_Virginia]

"I think there needs to be something dramatic done, and that means the president has to step up his involvement," said U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Delaware,..."

And do what? Legitimize the terror tactics of Hamas and Company by negotiating with them?

Why aren't Biden and Liberman and Specter all over the talk shows DEMANDING that Arafat stop aiding and encouraging terrorists?

[TheHound]

U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Connecticut, said ..."I fear that a fanatical group of extremist terrorists has captured, hijacked the very legitimate cause of Palestinian nationalism".

So I ask: "What is that legitimate cause Joe"

[Defender2]

I truly believe the DemoRATS want us over there to be targets of terrorists!!!!

[white trash redneck]

I beleive that Gen. Rumsfield should have a bigger role in Mideast affairs.

I was thinking more along the lines of General Lemay.

[Defender2]

If the DemoRATS want us over there to stop Israel from eliminating the terrorists, I definitely say NO to that!!!!

[mass55th]

From "Ghostbreakers"...a Bob Hope movie:

Hope asks co-star Richard Carlson what "Zombies" are. Carlson replies:

"A Zombie has no will of his own. You see them sometimes walking around blindly with dead eyes, following orders, not knowing what they do, not caring..."

Hope's response:

"You mean like Democrats?"

[Defender2]

I truly believe General Lemay would say, "I'm Serious!!!! One more terror attack on U.S. or Israel, Baghdad needs to be turned into ashes!!!! any more terrorist attacks by any terrorist entities or states should share the same fate!!!!"

[TheHound]

U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Connecticut, said ..."I fear that a fanatical group of extremist terrorists has captured, hijacked the very legitimate cause of Palestinian nationalism".

So I ask: "What is that legitimate cause Joe?"

[RichInOC]

The scary thing is that that exchange was written several years before Bubba was even born.

I think this is a dumb idea. Why do we need to send Colin Powell all the way over there just to tell Yasser, "Dude, you're screwed"?

[otterpond]

So I ask: "What is that legitimate cause Joe"

Joe made such an Issue of being Jewish during the 2000 election. That must be a memory of convenience.

[LarryLied]

I truly believe the DemoRATS want us over there to be targets of terrorists!!!!

They want to tie the mid east around Bush's neck. Everyone knows it will be a mess no matter what happens. The goal is to pin it all on the GOP.

[TheHound]

oops. I always wondered how someone could do a double post like I just did.I was sneezing, ok.

[mass55th]

The scary thing is that that exchange was written several years before Bubba was even born.

1940 to be exact.

[Colonel_Flagg]

Laurie Dhue asked Henry Kissinger about this today on Fox .. it was a great question and Kissinger had a great answer.

He said Powell shouldn't go over there unless there were concrete results that could be obtained and that it wouldn't do American prestige any good to have the Secretary of State travel to the Middle East and spin his wheels. In short, it made a lot of sense.

And somehow, I think the Administration knows this.

[11B3]

Since the Rats are so afraid for their Pallie buddies, why don't they all just go over there to act as human shields for them? Two birds with one stone........

[TheHound]

Now now, lets not be extreme. Lets just say 1000 palestinians per Israelie. Do you think Joe would go along with that?

[McGavin999]

Powell should go nowhere near the mid-east until the Israelis are done with their terrorist hunt. There is no way he should lend his legitimacy to negotiations until it is perfectly clear to all that the terrorists have been rounded up and imprisoned.

We are in our own war against the terrorists, we can't spare Powell right now, sorry!

[Recovering_Democrat]

"I think there needs to be something dramatic done, and that means the president has to step up his involvement," said U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Delaware, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on CBS' "Face the Nation...

Joe Biden was the man who poo-pooed the idea of an attack on America in a speech to the National Press Club. The date of his speech?
September 10, 2001.

Joe, you've got seniority in the Senate, and your party has a one-member majority. Quit tryin' to make like your some "expert" on the subject, okay? Just get back to plagiarizing British statesmen and bringin' the pork home to Delaware.

[The Vast Right Wing]

This is a Demo setup. They know that at present, there is nothing anyone can do to stop the violence in the mideast. Biden wants Powell to fail and will then blame the Bush admin.

[Drumbo]

"Laurie Dhue asked Henry Kissinger about this today on Fox .. it was a great question and Kissinger had a great answer.

"He said Powell shouldn't go over there unless there were concrete results that could be obtained and that it wouldn't do American prestige any good to have the Secretary of State travel to the Middle East and spin his wheels. In short, it made a lot of sense."

I'm glad I found your post Colonel, before repeating it. I think I'll repeat it anyway! lol!

Kissinger did make a LOT of sense. If Powell goes without having a concrete objective that he knows has been worked out ahead of time, he'll only look weak and ineffective.

It's obvious that the time for talking is passed, imho.

[the_Watchman]

I can't remember who it was, but someone once dubbed the middle-east "the graveyard of American Secretaries of State".

All you guys have found the truth about this! The Democrats know that this is just a quagmire. They want to damage Colin Powell because they see him as an able adversary on the nationaly political scene. [ Even if we are not too fond of him! :) ]

The Democrats would also like to damage Bush.

The U.S. may send diplomats over, but it should be done only at the behest of Israel at this time. Israel has made the call that diplomacy is OVER, at least with this clown, Arafat. It is their call.

It's interesting to watch the talk shows on this. Everyone knew that Arafat was a front man for the terrorists. Everyone knew that Israel accepted him only because (1) he was the only one talking rather than chucking bombs [supposedly], (2) they had no idea who is replacement might be, (3) they had a knife in their back from the liberals in the international community [yes, it was more than just Clinton] who kept telling them to negotiate.

Israel has now said: "Enough of the charade". Arafat has clearly not negotiated in good faith. He has not given reasonable consideration to mammoth concessions regarding ceding land to the Palestinians. He has not made a good faith effort to bring known terrorists to justice.

Everybody knew it was a charade, except possibly our media!

Anyone who believes that Arafat is not part of the problem [by that I mean OUR problem as well as Isreal] should remember that they had just opened a museum to the terrorists in the Palestinian controlled area. It depicted a very recent suicide bombing in a very positive light. It was designed to glorify this activity. After Sept 11, and after Bush came out so strongly against terrorism, the museum was quietly closed.

Folks, it's all a game of charades.

[lowbridge]

[Sandmansleeper]

Excellent! Well stated!

[LarryLied]

Exactly. Watch some of the posters on FR too. They are test marketing the "Blame Bush" attack the Democrats are about to launch. The scripts are all the same and they spam threads with them.

[Jimmy Valentine's brother]

"I think there needs to be something dramatic done, and that means the president has to step up his involvement," said U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Delaware

I Couldn't agree more. Declaring Arafat a terroist and putting reward on his head would be a good start.

[My Favorite Headache]

[the_Watchman]

Bush is walking a tightrope. He knows he needs to clean out certain hot-beads of Islamic fundamentalism, but he isn't really interested in taking on the entire Muslim world. This is not a wonderful time in the life of the U.S. to blatantly side with Israel. It could clearly hamper our ability to get the moderate Arab states to sit on their hands while we deal with Iraq, Iran, and whoever else is openly at the bottom of this "stuff".

Egypt, for instance, clearly does not have a really great civil rights history towards Christians and Jews. However, they have been keeping the pressure on the radical Muslim groups internally in order to preserve order. These same moderates recognize the external threat posed by the likes of Al-queda.

However, if Bin Laden can characterize the struggle as an Isreali issue, then these same moderates will not be able to retain power unless they vigorously side against U.S. actions.

This is why domestically, arguments to the effect that the U.S. brought Sept 11 on itself by its support of Israel, is such a dangerous argument. It attempts to paint those terrorist attacks as merely an extension of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Bush, on the other hand, needs to be able to portray the events of Sept. 11 by Al-Queda, and those like it, as being a direct attack against the West in a bold attempt to destroy the West. This is fairly easy to do, since that is the Muslim rhetoric.

What will make Bush's life so difficult is these people are masters of holding the olive branch in one hand and the bomb in the other behind their backs. This is the model which has worked for years with Arafat as the front man. Unfortunately, we have a media filled to the gills with Quislings and Chamberlains who gobble it up. Sharon was being grilled today on American TV as if he were persecuting the "peace-loving" Arafat. [ and what is to become of "negotiation"??? sob, sob ]

[RJayneJ]

I find your comments interesting. I really think this entire upheaval has been very calculated on Arafat's part. He knows that the USA was in the midst of trying to get a coalition of Arab states together so we could go in and take Saddam out. To do that we need cooperation to keep our casualties down and our efforts effective. Everyone knows that Saddam is Arafat's benefactor, and it's pay-back time. The timing is no accident and Arafat is raising the stakes by making the point that because we are siding with Israel no self-respecting Arab state should become allied with us. And it's working.