Posted on 02/08/2003 3:43:55 PM PST by SJackson
Lebanese Druze Leader: Bush 'Mad Emperor,' Rice 'Oil-Colored,' Blair 'Peacock' With A 'Sexual Complex'; 'My Joy Was Great' at Columbia Disaster
"Great Joy" for Destruction of Columbia Shuttle
"Walid Jumblatt lashed out Sunday against Western politicians and 'the Jews,' calling on Arab leaders to hold popular referendums before allowing in foreign troops for a war against Iraq."
"The Progressive Socialist Party leader also said he felt 'great joy' at Saturday's destruction of the United States space shuttle Columbia, because it carried an Israeli astronaut who had taken part in aggression against 'Lebanon and Iraq.'"
"'The true axis of evil that rules the world today is an axis of oil and Jews,' Jumblatt said at his family home of Mukhtara, Chouf."
Axis of Jews and Oil Leading "Oil-Colored" Rice
"The oil axis is present in most of the U.S. administration, beginning with its president, vice-president and top advisers, including (Condoleezza) Rice, who is oil-colored, while the axis of Jews is present with Paul Wolfowitz, the leading hawk who is inciting (America) to occupy and destroy Iraq,' he continued."
"The Druze leader described U.S. President George W. Bush, while delivering his State of the Union address last week, as someone who 'considers himself God's deputy on Earth, threatening and classifying the world (into different camps), and relying on his imperial power.'"
President Bush: A Mad Emperor
"'How dangerous emperors are when they go mad… in the same axis we have the trustworthy servant, the imperial servant… pleased with himself and his idiotic laugh, his peacock appearance, none other than Tony Blair,' Jumblatt said."
"'Also joining this axis is the comprador Mussolini of the 21st century, the prime minister of Italy today, Silvio Berlusconi, who seems to want to renew the empire of the Caesars.'"
"'To complete the picture, we have Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, the Spanish neo-rightist, whom I could term a progressive Franco,' said Jumblatt."
"He quipped that the Spanish leader had military ambitions in the Arab world, based on last year's Spanish-Moroccan dispute over an uninhabited island."
"'And by the way, Aznar and Blair spend a lot of time in front of the mirror every morning, it seems, so that their hair is parted perfectly,' said Jumblatt."
"'People who pay that much attention to their appearance are fascists by nature. Or they have psychological or sexual complexes. I think the best way to understand (them) would be to… read Freud," he said."
"As for Russia's position on a war in Iraq, Jumblatt said the country had either 'drowned in the submarine Kursk or gotten lost in the alleyways of Grozny.'"
"Jumblatt urged Arab rulers to be 'frank' with their populations and drop 'verbal maneuverings that fool no one.'"
"'Their skies are American airplanes, their seas are American fleets, their bases are American bases, their regimes are U.S.-British regimes, their rivers are American boats, their mountains are American commandos, their plains are American tanks and their security is at the service of American interests.'"
"Jumblatt advised Arab countries to follow the Turkish example and allow their legislatures a say in allowing foreign troops basing rights as part of a war against Iraq."
"My Joy Was Great because One of Those Killed Was an Israeli Astronaut"
"'In answer to the post-Sept. 11 question in America of 'why do they hate us?' … I would have liked to have felt sorry for the space shuttle that was destroyed (Saturday) but my joy was great because one of those killed was an Israeli astronaut [or a Jewish astronaut, there is no difference] 2 who had previously been part of the Jewish criminal army, particularly against Lebanon and Iraq,' Jumblatt said, referring to Israeli Colonel Ilan Ramon, who participated in the mission that bombed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981."
Endnotes:
(1) The Daily Star (Lebanon), February 4, 2003, http://www.dailystar.com.lb/03_02_03/art4.asp
(2) Text in brackets omitted from The Daily Star version,
Al-Safir, Lebanon, February 3, 2003.
It was a slow week in the republic, with grandees stockpiled in various hospitals. However, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt provided an interesting news item last Sunday with a tirade suggesting a different type of establishment.
Jumblatt declared that the Columbia shuttle disaster provoked “great joy” in him because one of the victims was Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon. He also noted: “The true axis of evil that rules the world today is an axis of oil and Jews,” describing US National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice as “oil-colored,” before adding that “the axis of Jews is led by Paul Wolfowitz, the leading hawk who is inciting (America) to occupy Iraq.”
Jumblatt then turned on European leaders who last week signed a letter supporting the United States. British Prime Minister Tony Blair was described as “pleased with himself … his idiotic laugh (and) his peacock appearance,” while his Italian counterpart, Silvio Berlusconi, was a “comprador Mussolini of the 21st century.” Spanish Prime Minister Jose-Maria Aznar was “a progressive Franco,” who, like Blair, had “a fascist temperament,” because he “spends much time in front of the mirror each morning,” a habit that reflected “psychological or sexual complexes,” which one needed to “read Freud” to understand.
One detected more reserve in Jumblatt’s description of US President George W. Bush, who got off relatively lightly as a “mad emperor” who “considers himself God’s deputy on Earth.” Given that countless Muslim caliphs and Christian absolutist monarchs shared the latter aspiration throughout history, the description was a trifle pedestrian for Jumblatt’s exacting standards.
One might attribute the rant to a bad breakfast, and it seems pointless rebutting Jumblatt point by point. His shuttle comment was just silly and Jumblatt might be less joyful if he used his perverted logic to calculate that it took six non-Israelis to kill one Israeli. We would have also expected better grace from a self-styled progressive socialist when referring to Rice’s “oil color,” which is a similar tint to that of Nelson Mandela, whom Jumblatt must consider a hero.
As for Jews, recall that they make up a recognized community in this country. If that means some of us rule the world, then what an improvement on expectations. However, did Jumblatt also have in mind pro-Palestinian Jews, such as Selim Nassib or Abraham Serfaty? If he did, he’s in good company: Both men were to visit Beirut a few years ago but cancelled when a locally active intelligence service, irked by their religion, issued threats through an obedient newspaper.
Jumblatt’s portraits notwithstanding, Blair, Berlusconi and Aznar have been called worse things. I’ve always suspected narcissism in Aznar, but Blair’s wardrobe places him several rungs below the Spaniard. With respect to Berlusconi, wasn’t the Mussolini comparison a bit obvious? Aznar is Franco, Berlusconi is Mussolini; had German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder been in on the Iraq war fever, we would surely have yawned through a Hitler comparison. A thought comes to mind when reading Jumblatt’s statements. The man is bored, and it’s easy to see why. Here he was not long ago at the center of it all. He was the sole mediator between the opposition and the government, a position he enhanced by being a key prop of Qornet Shehwan. Jumblatt had also engineered Christian-Druze reconciliation in the Mountain, an effort that placed him at the nexus point between contending interests, increasing his influence. Then came Sept. 11. Jumblatt discerned the regional tension lying ahead and acted in consequence. With a sigh he came down off the fence and re-embraced Syria and its local aficionados, especially President Emile Lahoud. He displayed superb elasticity when turning on his former Qornet Shehwan allies, both establishing his bona fides and strengthening his bargaining hand with his rediscovered allies.
The problem is that being an authorized cheerleader is dull, especially for someone like Jumblatt who delights in volatility. Having spent a motionless year celebrating Syria and Lahoud, Jumblatt became edgy. His tirade let off steam induced by the wear-and-tear of enforced cooperation and flattery.
It’s anybody’s guess who Jumblatt really meant to target in his vitriolic attacks. One might have to read Freud to understand.
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