Funny how the closer we come to the end of the reign of Our Dear Leader and his Merry Gang of Torturers, War Criminals and Assorted Neocon Boobs, the more the Israelis suddenly seem open to the possibility of a cease fire.
Israel said today its Gaza offensive could be “in the final act” as the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said a ceasefire was “very close”.
The Israeli envoy Amos Gilad arrived in Cairo this morning for the second day in a row to seek clarifications and express Israeli views about the latest Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire. […]
Today’s diplomatic manoeuvres follow reports that Hamas told Egypt, which is brokering the negotiations, that it would agree a year-long renewable ceasefire in Gaza if Israel pulled out its forces within seven days and reopened border crossings immediately.
“Hopefully we’re in the final act,” said Mark Regev, spokesman for the prime minister, Ehud Olmert, this morning. Briefings by the envoys working in Washington and Cairo could be followed by swift decisions by the security cabinet, he added.
One suspects this was the plan all along. Decapitate and kill as many of Hamas’ leaders and followers (and any other Gazans who just happened to get in the way) as possible before President-elect Obama gets rid of the “-elect” after his title this coming Tuesday. I also suspect that no cease fire will be announced until Bush’s butt is firmly implanted in the seat of the last helicopter ride he will ever take at tax payer expense. Sadly, I doubt this little war has done anything to improve the long term prospects of peace in the Middle East or improve Israel’s security concerns. It has only strengthened the hand of radical Islamic extremists throughout the region, increased anger at Israel among the Arab world at all levels, and weakened the security of our own country and its military forces in the Iraq, Afghanistan and anywhere else they are exposed to possible terrorist attacks.
Israel’s recent “security operation” in Gaza (i.e., the IDF’s unmitigated mass slaughter of so many Palestinians who live there under Israel’s cruel version of Apartheid) has also made it more difficult for Obama and his soon to be Secretary of State Clinton to make headway in the diplomatic efforts they hope to make regarding the Palestinians, Lebanon, Syria and Iran. These atrocities by our “friend and ally” which Bush enabled and encouraged have also soured our relations with important countries in the region such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Consider it Bush’s last little “F*** You” to the American people and the World. By permitting Israel to use the vast array of American weaponry in its arsenal to murder so many innocent civilians, Bush has set back any chance of a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian issue for at least the next several years, if not much, much longer.
Then again Chaos Theory was always BushCo’s primary strategery, anyway. This is the true meaning of the term “catastrophic success” which Bush inadvertantly, but accurately used, to describe his policies during his 2004 re-election campaign. He and the Neocons who served in his administration never wanted peace. Chaos and endless wars were always their main goal, for that was the path they believed would best serve American interests. To say their efforts have been an unmitigated disaster is to say too little.
But then this is what Bush has been best at his entire life: blowing shit up. He started with frogs when he was a boy. Then he moved on to taking down entire companies for which he was responsible. Now his career of spreading destruction and misery has reached its apex with his failed wars and policies in the Middle East (with all the attendant death and displacement of millions that they caused), his mismanagement of the world’s economy into its greatest collapse since the Great Depression, and the downfall of his own political party which he led from complete dominance to an Epic Fail of unprecedented proportions over these last four years. Few leaders of any nation have ever been so spectacularly wrongheaded, venal, immoral, wicked and incompetent. Failure is simply too limited a word to describe his legacy.
Hopefully, America will never see his like again.