Bush Middle East Speech Discussion Thread

[RCW2001]

Bush Middle East Speech Discussion Thread

[Grampa Dave]

Yes, the messages is that if you don't clean up your act. Sharon and the IDF have every right to clean it up for you.

Now chose Life or Death!

GW now has a documented period of time of "letting Arafatty and his band of murderers clean up their act." He has warned and advised them and sent SOS Powell to inform them.

Now if they violate this latest request, they have decided not to chose life and have chosen to be against us!

[dennisw]

He used that word for a reason. The US still sees it as an occupation (as does the rest of the world). That's the word they heard loudest in Jerusalem.

Israel's semi-occupation is far better than an armed Palestinian state. What sense does that make? Under Oslo agreements the Pallies have been administering the West Bank and Gaza for the last number of years and have done no good for their people. PallieLand has devolved into an even worse s**thole. Arafat started his disastrous Jihad/Intifada after he walked out on Oslo negotiations.

Israel should withdraw unilaterally so Pallies can make a better war and Jihad against the Jews of Israel? Not likely.

[OldFriend]

As Bob Novak stated........the Israeli's couldn't have been happier with the speech if they had written it themselves. He judged the speech a total vindication for Israel and a strong message to the Palestinians.......choose LIFE!

[toenail]

"Anyone beside me get the significance of our President quoting the Bible to Mulims?!"

The point is a bit more subtle, yet direct, than that:

Devarim - Deuteronomy

Chapter 30

---

1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt bethink thyself among all the nations, whither HaShem thy G-d hath driven thee,

2 and shalt return unto HaShem thy G-d, and hearken to His voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul;

3 that then HaShem thy G-d will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the peoples, whither HaShem thy G-d hath scattered thee.

4 If any of thine that are dispersed be in the uttermost parts of heaven, from thence will HaShem thy G-d gather thee, and from thence will He fetch thee.

5 And HaShem thy G-d will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and He will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.

6 And HaShem thy G-d will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love HaShem thy G-d with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

7 And HaShem thy G-d will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, that persecuted thee.

8 And thou shalt return and hearken to the voice of HaShem, and do all His commandments which I command thee this day.

9 And HaShem thy G-d will make thee over-abundant in all the work of thy hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good; for HaShem will again rejoice over thee for good, as He rejoiced over thy fathers;

10 if thou shalt hearken to the voice of HaShem thy G-d, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law; if thou turn unto HaShem thy G-d with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.

11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not too hard for thee, neither is it far off.

12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say: 'Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?'

13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say: 'Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?'

14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil,

16 in that I command thee this day to love HaShem thy G-d, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances; then thou shalt live and multiply, and HaShem thy G-d shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest in to possess it.

17 But if thy heart turn away, and thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;

18 I declare unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish; ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over the Jordan to go in to possess it.

19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed;

20 to love HaShem thy G-d, to hearken to His voice, and to cleave unto Him; for that is thy life, and the length of thy days; that thou mayest dwell in the land which HaShem swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

[Miss Marple]

The comment line is now closed until 9AM Eastern. Rats. I will call bright and early tomorrow!!

[carton253]

He gave the Taliban the same option. And the clock started ticking. Can you hear the tick-tocks?

[bert]

....I suspect they will remain pretty quiet- a silent, supportive quiet....

You are the first besides me that I have seen to state this simple fact. I would add some emphesis....All the moderate Arabs are part of the solution. The initial Cheney trip was declared a failure and the sheeple here and elsewhere bought the press line.

Cheney was the President's agent delivering the plan and they all bought it. Cheney's mission was a total success. The Speech today is the fruit.

President Bush and Crown Prince Abdullah will be histories hero's. Their time is now. The plan is unfolding.

[OldFriend]

If the pali's strike with another terror attack, Israel will then occupy their entire territory. I don't think Arafat wants that at all. I loved that the President referred to the murderers as homicide bombers!

THANK YOU MR. PRESIDENT

[Teacher317]

It's promising, but we've seen a lot of promises evaporate lately, so we will have to wait and see.

Definitely. I did like how he addressed the Palestinian people, and not Arafat (in fact asking them to replace the fat man). Hopefully Yassir can get squeezed out of the picture, since he only plays boths sides against the middle, plays helpless to command his people to stop the terrorism while pretending he is their leader, and has yet to produce any worthwhile actions.

[carton253]

Thank you... I thought the same thing...

[kjam22]

Excellent speach. I think Bush is doing exactly the right thing with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Thank you for posting it.

The right thing? I think the right thing would be to say...the USA couldn't care less what happens there. You guys have been fighting there since Joshua crossed the Joran river. We don't care. Let us know when one of you defeats the other because we'd like to be able to visit Jerusalem and the surrounding areas now and then.

In the mean time, we have real issues that affect American citizens.

[AnnaZ]

Unless I missed it, it seems like no one ever really answered your query...

 

The full, exact quote is from Deuteronomy 30:19:

 

 

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you,

that I have set before you

life and death,

blessing and cursing:

 

therefore choose life,

that both thou and thy seed may live:

 

 

The choice (life and death) is presented in other chapters in Deuteronomy, but this is the one that states, as Bush did, to "choose life".

[Grampa Dave]

As a long time Episcopalian, we start each service off with a reading from the old testament and follow up with one of King David's (I like that phrase) Psalms. Then we go to the new testament and a reading from one of the Gospels. Then our priests or deacons give a sermon from one or maybe all of those readings.

There is no way any Christian can separate our selves from the old testament and our Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel now.

[OldFriend]

Bob Novak and Wolfe Blitzed said exactly the same thing!!! PRO ISRAEL speech!!! And the President ended by saying CHOOSE LIFE...........I thought I died and went to heaven.

[pyx]

I have ONE question for those who claim this is not a capitulation to terrorism;

Since it is a FACT that President Bush has in past, comprimised on policies he has presented; Why do you NOT expect President Bush to water down through comprimise with vested interests, the conditions he uses in this latest Middle-East policy announcement ?

[Thinkin' Gal]

In fact, you implied that George Bush is the Beast of Revelation.

Really? That's what the cult-of-Bush had been doing for months, since the "Who is like Bush who can make war with him" sentiments are coming from them. Perhaps they should realize what kind of picture they are painting.

[cmsgop]

Meanwhile, General Dumbkopf allowed the Iraqi government to fly "unarmed" consular flights. The Iraqi government of course immediately sent up gunships. Dumbkopf's reaction was "I was tricked fair and square." Any astute statesman or general would have used that breach of the ceasefire as reason to resume the war against Saddam.

I don't recall this. Please help me out on this one.

[Moby Grape]

You know, there were people who said just such as you have before WW11....hiding one's head in the sand will not assure that trouble doesn't slap you on the a** while you have your head buried.

[Teacher317]

Okay, okay, I'll stop badgering for now. The Bush-lovers want to celebrate another solid speech by a solid man. I shouldn't piddle on their/your/slugbug's parade. (ESPECIALLY slugbug's!) You're right.

I'll be back on these threads tomorrow, though! ;^)

[carton253]

Wow, that's really big....