Bush raises fist on 'peace' trip

      Before leaving on what the White House billed as a week-long peace trip to the Middle East, President Bush threatened Iran with military action if Tehran authorizes any further swift boat "provocation" on American naval ships patrolling the Persian Gulf.

     Bush didn't use the term military, but warned Iran of serious consequences if these small Iranian naval craft interfere with our Navy. He based his remarks on early reports that Iranian forces made a radio threat against the U.S. ships. But two days later, the Pentagon said the threat may not have come from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats and may not even have been directed at our ships.

  Further, the Pentagon maintained the report that the Iranians threatened the U.S. Navy did not come from our Defense Department.

      Bush's visit to Israel and Palestinian territory left many confused because on one hand he spoke of some of the land settled by Israelis after the 1967 war as "occupied" territory, then hinted that the administration favors some form of land-for-peace deal with the Palestinians.

      "There should be an end to the occupation that began in 1967," Bush told reporters. But then he said Palestinians should not expect Israel to give up all the territory it won 41 years ago. Further mixing the tone of the journey, the Bush administration is expected to announce it plans to sell $20 billion worth of high-precision missiles and other military equipment to the Saudi Arabian kingdom.

      The Associated Press said Friday the announcement is timed to coincide with Bush's arrival in the kingdom on Monday. Nothing was said about his trying to talk the Saudis into increasing crude oil shipments to bring down the price of gasoline.

     Some observers wonder why Bush chose this time to make such a trip, wondering why he would not instead devote himself to preparing his last State of the Union message, his final budget message, and meeting with Treasury officials and the financial community to try to ease some of the anxiety over possible recession, and roiling anxieties over credit on Wall Street.

      The confusion over the "attack" of the Iranian swiftboats--reminiscent of President Johnson's exploitation of a 1964 false report of a North Vietnamese attack on a U.S. fighting ship leading to the escalation of the Vietnam War, is compounded by the recent National Intelligence Estimate of the likelihood that Iran is creating a nuclear bomb.

     The intelligence community said Iran halted its N-weapons program in 2003, underscoring differences the U.S. and the United Kingdom have over policies on Iran. Other stops on this tour include Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Dubai. He returns to Washington late Monday.

       Was this trip necessary?

          --Douglas Turner          

Comments

[Jeeves]

Yawn. If he didn't take such a trip, Mr. Turner would criticize him for that.

Let's sum it up this way and be done with it: every trip President Bush takes is a wrong decision, and any trip he doesn't take is a wrong decision also.

List all the countries he hasn't gone to this year. He should've gone to those. Then list the ones he did go to. He shouldn't have gone to any of those.

Next topic?

[BlueStatePrison]

"The confusion over the "attack" of the Iranian swiftboats--reminiscent of President Johnson's exploitation of a 1964 false report of a North Vietnamese attack on a U.S. fighting ship leading to the escalation of the Vietnam War,..."

Mr Turner, are you insinuating that the recent attack from the Iranian boats is a exploitation of a false report? Are you saying that the US Navy made it up? Sounds like you are.

[James Ziolkowski]

Btter than Jimmy Carter winning a Noble Peace prize for doing jack squat.

It looks like Mr. Turner has been drinking the MSNBC Kool-aid. I know that when I was in the Persian Gulf, the same thing happened to my ship Feb 28th 1984 and I won't forget about it. The Iranians like to play these nasty games and some fool liberal loser in comparing in to the Tonkin Gulf incident to try and prove their intelligence.
-----------------------------
Of course there is an imbalance. The liberal media has fallen head over heels for B. Hussein Obama. A guy that has no military or foregn service experience and NO experience in anything at all.

Being good looking and speaking well, shouldn't be the only qualifications to be a president. This isn't a reality show. It's chosing the most powerful man and position in the entire world.

I'm not buying what Obama is selling. Combine that with MSNBC falling for Obama's charm, MSNBC always attacks the Republicans and their network is totally far left win and a complete turn off.

Yes, the Republicans have strayed away from their big government, less spending platform. I want less goverment. less pork spending in my life and low taxes, a strong military and national defense. These are things that liberal Democrats aren't for.

Liberal Democrats are weak on our militray and national defense. Democrats are all for high taxes and large governmnet interferring in our lives.

Liberal Democrats want the distribution of wealth (socialism), having our hard working blue collar families pay for people that have no desire to work or contribute to our society in any way. Liberals are against putting violent cop killers an rapists who kill on death row, but yet they want to murder babies that have no say in the matter.

When I was young and stupid, like many kids are today. I was a Democrat, but once I went to work and have my money taken away to pay for crack addict drug users and low life losers, I quickly change my mind.

I seen Jimmy Carter destroy our military and had radical Muslim terrorists embarrass and humiliate our country time and time again. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan because they knew Carter was a weak liberal President. I seen many of our US embassies (52 Americans taken prisoner for 444 days)in the Muslim world in flames and having military members murdered in cold blood with no action by liberal Democrat Jimmy Carter. I seen no change by Bill Clinton and once again, the radical Muslims attacked this country and our US embassies overseas in Saudi Arabia and Africa.

I seen Bill Clinton do NOTHING to capture or kill Osama bin Laden even though there were six chances to do so. I seen Bill Clinton lie over and over top the American people and Congress. I seen Bill Clinton did nothing after the USS Cole was attacked in Aden Yemen killing 17 US sailors. Clinton promised to avenge this attack by the Muslim terrorists, but once again, this weak, liberal Democrat did NOTHING.

The liberal media has totally brainwashed Americans by portraying our country as bad and evil. The liberal media and liberals in general blame America for all the worlds problems and I'm sick of it and sick of them.

The blatant lies that the liberals running for Congress got them elected by lying and making promises that they could not and did not keep.

So why haven't these liberals lies by the people that these liberals voted into office come back to haunt them? Because the liberal media avoids this story just like they're avoding all the progress in Iraq brought forth with 'the surge' stradegy.

As a ten year military veteran, I cannot in good conscience ever vote for a liberal Democrat as president of our country. These are trying times and we need a strong president and we need to maintain the offensive against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The planning and flight training was done under Bill Clinton as well as the first WTC attack in 1993. I will not let these liberal put our country and my family in danger because they are weak on fighting radical, Musim, jihadist terrorists. NO to B.HUSSEIN Obama and NO to Hillary Clinton who has done nothing to help my state-NY and broke her promise of 200,000 new jobs. Lies all lies! That's want they give you after promising you miracles. Just say no to liberal Democrats and their false promises.

[MS]

Why do we always get involved with other countries. Why not let them solve their own issues. I do understand that we have to protect oil because our economy depends on it. I am just sick of my tax dollars going to policing the world yet we have a few border patrol people trying to stop millions from coming over from mexico. Look at what we did in Iran. We helped overthrow an elected president and helped install the shaw, then we didnt like the shaw anymore and helped the ayatollah gain power and that led to an islamic revolution in Iran. Then we arm Saddam to fight his war with Iran and then end up killing him 25 years later. This is crazy.. our foreign policy is flawed when we attach Iraq for 9/11 that was cause by 19 Saudi Arabia people. Yet we have a military base in Saudi Arabia.. We should have focused on afghanistan and caugh bin laden.....you have to be dumb not to see this... No more Bush or Clinton families in this government.. they are not patriots.

[James Z Kaisertown]

Tell dumbo there that the SHAH of Iran was our ally since te 50s and we had no problems with Iran until that little pathetic wimp from Plains Georgia, liberal Democrat Jimmy Carter took office. That wimp assured that America would be hit by terrorism over and over again, by his weak and cowardly inaction after the Ayatollah took over in Iran after Carter threw the Shah to the dogs. Several US emabssies came under attack in 1979 and were burned and had US sevicemen die because of that inept loser liberal president.

Your ignorance on currect and past events are troubling. You want isolationism the didn't work before WW I and WW II. See the pattern moron. When the US doesn't take charge, world wars break out because Europe is run by liberal cowards like Jimmy Carter.

These radical Muslim terrorists understand one one thing. STRENGHT. If you stand up to them, kill them and capture them, they then back off. Carter's liberal weak, pathetic way just bought us a futute full of pain and sufferering.

[James Z Kaisertown]

Tell dumbo there that the SHAH of Iran was our ally since te 50s and we had no problems with Iran until that little pathetic wimp from Plains Georgia, liberal Democrat Jimmy Carter took office. That wimp assured that America would be hit by terrorism over and over again, by his weak and cowardly inaction after the Ayatollah took over in Iran after Carter threw the Shah to the dogs. Several US emabssies came under attack in 1979 and were burned and had US sevicemen die because of that inept loser liberal president.

Your ignorance on currect and past events are troubling. You want isolationism the didn't work before WW I and WW II. See the pattern moron. When the US doesn't take charge, world wars break out because Europe is run by liberal cowards like Jimmy Carter.

These radical Muslim terrorists understand one one thing. STRENGHT. If you stand up to them, kill them and capture them, they then back off. Carter's liberal weak, pathetic way just bought us a futute full of pain and sufferering.

[ms]

James you missed the point that we cause all these problems based on who we support one year and hate the next. You calling me dumbo shows that you must think i have a valid point. You would rather police the world which will cause us to go broke. I agree with fighting islamic terrorism but lets understand that Saudi Arabia is our ally even though the majority people there want us dead.. yet we dont do anything to them...your views will change once China starts to take us over. they already own most of our debt....

[ms]

besides you proved my point with what you said about Carter which I agree with 100%.... I disagree with the concept of isolationism that would make us weaker.. I want wars fought the smart way..

[James Z Kaisertown]

If we don't police the world, who will?

Isolation only brought us WW I and WW II.

Do that today and you just might have the war come to our homeland in the form of a smuggled nuclear biological or chemical weapon.

The vast two oceans that seperate us from the rest of the world are no longer a barrier.

Smarten up people.

FC1(SW) Jimmy Z.

Ten year navy vet 1982-1992

It's NOT a pretty world.

[James Z Kaisertown]

Can shucking and jiving win the presidency?

You can tell when a politican lies. Their lips move.

Politics- poly = many tics = blood sucking leaches

There you go.

[RastaCyborg]

Your ignorance on currect and past events are troubling.

Uhh, James, is it difficult to type while wearing a strait jacket?
YOUR ignorance about past events is predictable. Jimmy Carter was criticized for allowing the Shah to come to the US for medical treatment. He hardly "threw him to the dogs".
Your vast knowledge of past events seems to be missing a lot of information. I guess you must have just forgotten that we helped depose the democratically elected government in Iran in 1953. Why? Because Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh nationalized the oil industry.
I guess you also must have forgotten that a US warship shot down a civilian Iranian airliner carrying almost 300 people in 1988.
Silly you!! You also forgot to mention the Iran Contra scandal where some big bad conservatives sold weapons to Iran!!
Or how about when we supplied poison gas to Saddam Hussein which he used on Iranians during the Iran Iraq War.
Now you can close your eyes, cover your ears and yell "America Hater!!!" over and over again.

[JAS]

Thank you, RastaCyborg - facts are facts no matter how much James might not like them.

James - as for your formula for politicians - I'd like to share another one: Politicians are like diapers - they should be changed often and for the same reason. (Can you say - term limits?)

Oh, and by the way, James, when people start using insults and calling others names rather than making intelligent statements - it only shows their own ignorance and hate.

[Max in Tampa]

Can someone please inform the poster from Kaisertown that the CIA overthrew Iran's democratically elected government in 1953 to reinstall the Shah into power. This coup was known as Operation Ajax and is well documented. The Shah was our "ally" for the same reason that the Saudi's are out ally, we prop them up and keep them in power.

As well, the only people selling "isolationism" are those extremists who seek to use the military of the US to ensure their continued profitibility at the expense of the rest of the nation. Nobody is suggesting "isolationism", but there are people suggesting that the US mind it's own business when it comes to other nations internal affairs which is no different than what we expect.

Finally, Osama bin Laden was a CIA asset and to date, no CIA asset have ever been charged with a crime let alone put on trial.

[Bob]

You said the media is biased, and I completely agree. I mean look who America is forced to listen to day in and day out: Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Papa Bear O'Reilly, Neil Cavuto, Brit Hume, The WSJ Editorial Board, Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, Gordon Liddy, Joe Scarborough, Tucker Carlson, and the list goes on.

[James Ziolkowski]

So for 26 years we had NO problem with Iran until that weak, wimpy liberal Jimmy Carter threw the Shah of Iramn to the dogs. Look at 1979 and the rise of radical Islam against the United States. The take of 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Several more asttacks on US embassies in the Muslim world that killed many Americans and American servicemen and what did that weak loser Carter do? Nothing.

Nothing like when Bill Clinton was in office and the Muslims once again knew it was time to attack America with a weak liberal Democrat as president. An attack on the WTC in 1993.

Two attacks at US embassies in Saudi Arabia in 1996. Two more attack on US embassies in Africa in 1998. An attack on a US warship in Aden Yemen, the USS Cole in Oct. 2000.

"America's war on terrorism did not begin in September 2001. It began in November 1979.

That was shortly after Ayatollah Khomeini had seized power in Iran, riding the slogan "Death to America" - and sure enough, the attacks on Americans soon began. In November 1979, a militant Islamic mob took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran, the Iranian capital, and held 52 Americans hostage for the next 444 days.

The rescue team sent to free those hostages in April 1980 suffered eight fatalities, making them the first of militant Islam's many American casualties. Others included:

April 1983: 17 dead at the U.S. embassy in Beirut.

October 1983: 241 dead at the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut.

December 1983: five dead at the U.S. embassy in Kuwait.

January 1984: the president of the American University of Beirut killed.

April 1984: 18 dead near a U.S. airbase in Spain.

September 1984: 16 dead at the U.S. embassy in Beirut (again).

December 1984: Two dead on a plane hijacked to Tehran.

June 1985: One dead on a plane hijacked to Beirut.

After a let-up, the attacks then restarted: Five and 19 dead in Saudi Arabia in 1995 and 1996, 224 dead at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998 and 17 dead on the USS Cole in Yemen in October 2000.

Simultaneously, the murderous assault of militant Islam also took place on U.S. soil:

July 1980: an Iranian dissident killed in the Washington, D.C. area.

August 1983: a leader of the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam killed in Canton, Mich.

August 1984: three Indians killed in a suburb of Tacoma, Wash.

September 1986: a doctor killed in Augusta, Ga.

January 1990: an Egyptian freethinker killed in Tucson, Ariz.

November 1990: a Jewish leader killed in New York.

February 1991: an Egyptian Islamist killed in New York.

January 1993: two CIA staff killed outside agency headquarters in Langley, Va.

February 1993: Six people killed at the World Trade Center.

March 1994: an Orthodox Jewish boy killed on the Brooklyn Bridge.

February 1997: a Danish tourist killed on the Empire State building.

October 1999: 217 passengers killed on an EgyptAir flight near New York City.

In all, 800 persons lost their lives in the course of attacks by militant Islam on Americans before September 2001 - more than killed by any other enemy since the Vietnam War. (Further, this listing does not include the dozens more Americans in Israel killed by militant Islamic terrorists.)

And yet, these murders hardly registered. Only with the events of a year ago did Americans finally realize that "Death to America" truly is the battle cry of this era's most dangerous foe, militant Islam.

In retrospect, the mistake began when Iranians assaulted the U.S. embassy in Tehran and met with no resistance.

Interestingly, a Marine sergeant present at the embassy that fateful day in November 1979 agrees with this assessment. As the militant Islamic mob invaded the embassy, Rodney V. Sickmann followed orders and protected neither himself nor the embassy. As a result, he was taken hostage and lived to tell the tale. (He now works for Anheuser-Busch.)

In retrospect, he believes that passivity was a mistake. The Marines should have done their assigned duty, even if it cost their lives. "Had we opened fire on them, maybe we would only have lasted an hour." But had they done that, they "could have changed history."

Standing their ground would have sent a powerful signal that the United States of America cannot be attacked with impunity. In contrast, the embassy's surrender sent the opposite signal - that it's open season on Americans. "If you look back, it started in 1979; it's just escalated," Sickmann correctly concludes.

To which one of the century's great geostrategist thinkers, Robert Strausz-Hup, adds his assent. Just before passing away earlier this year at the age of 98, Strausz-Hup wrote his final words, and they were about the war on terrorism: "I have lived long enough to see good repeatedly win over evil, although at a much higher cost than need have been paid. This time we have already paid the price of victory. It remains for us to win it."

[James Ziolkowski]

Hey, I thought that uber liberal Democrat Jimmy Carter brought long lasting peace to the Middle East. He won a Noble Prize for it. lol

Just like Bill Clinton stopped North Korea from making nuclear weapons. lol

Liberals are weak, pathetic, tax and spend socialists.

I'm NOT buying Obama's BS. He has NO experience and he never talks 'specifics' when he mentions change. Change what? Change how?

Experience is what you need running a country of 300 million and not someone promising you pie in the sky change.

Look at how Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid lied to get elected in Congress under the platform of change. What change did they do? NOTHING!

The liberal Democrats lied to get into office and make fools out of the liberal Democrats that voted for them.

STUPID!

President Bush served in the National Guard. Are you MOCKING the brave servicemen that serve on our National Guard, you sick, immoral liberal coward? Nation Guardmen are in Iraq and Afganistan right now while your fat behind is here, whining and cry about Halliburton. You don't even know what Halliburton does and what other company ,if any, could do they same job.

You liberal scum just bad mouth and trash talk You're no good evil radical Muslim terrorist supporters and punk kids that know NOTHING.

So where did Bill Clinton SERVE liberal? He ran away out of our country to Oxford England. He lies about going into the ROTC.

Clinton was a no good, lying, pot smoking draft dodging liberal coward.

You sick immoral liberals have nerve attacking about Vietnam after you had riots and protests, while spitting on our troops and calling them baby killers upon return from Vietnam.

My point is proven that liberals are pathetic losers who are weak on our nations national defense.

[Barton Keyes]

When one reads some of the posts in various political blogs one begins to understand that the political gridlock and partisanship we sometimes complain about continues and is so durable in no small part because important parts of the voting public have bought into the reasons for that gridlock: hyper partisanship.
One side points the accusing finger at liberals. i.e. short hand for fools, pathetic liars and apologists for America's enemies.
The other points at neo-con zealots out to remake the world in their own image while exchanging money for influence on K-street.
Each appears to have bought into the message about their political opponents contained in political attack ads: that the other side can't be trusted and that sharing power with them will bring disaster, and that compromise with those opponents is tantamount to selling out.
The result is political gridlock. No movement on issues, after all, is better than letting your political enemies acheive any success, gain any advantage.

[RastaCyborg]

Holy cow, James!!
You listed 25 attacks against United States citizens by Muslims yet you forgot to mention that at least 15 of them took place during the Reagan and Bush administrations?
Gosh, you sure are forgetful!
You also never mention how many of these attacks had anything to do with Iran.
I wonder why?
Silly little man, you also forgot to respond to any of the numerous messages that were posted in response to your original rant.
Do you believe it was OK to sell weapons to Iran?
Do you support President Bush's decision to sell billions of dollars worth of weapons to the Saudi dictatorship?
Do you believe that it was just fine and dandy to depose the democratically elected government of Iran in 1953?
I don't expect answers to any of these questions because that would require you to question your Limbaugh inspired dogma.

[RastaCyborg]

By the way James, nobody spit on the troops when they came back from Vietnam. The fact that you believe this propaganda is proof that you're unwilling to do even the most basic research before you spout off your nonsense.

[James Z iolkowski]

A rabid, foaming at the mouth liberal that hates
Hillary Clinton? Go figure.

You can only get that kind of insanity when you support a inexperienced guy with a Muslim name.

Both Matthews and Olbermann made complete asses out of themselves by bad mouth Hillary Clinton.

Now Matthews has to apologize. Forget Olbermann,
he's a nobody on a nobody TV network (MSNBC)that has to mock out Fox TV and Bill O'Reilly, because of his insecurity. Olbermann is a 3rd rate sportscaster at best.

These two uppity, white, elitist, liberal loons
would throw out the entire football team if they
didn't win the Super Bowl and replace them with
inexperienced rookies.

That's what liberal Democrats are doing
with B. HUSSEIN Obama, who has no experience and
is just the flavor of the day. A everyday fad
that Americans that have no brains fall for.

They both drank the Obama Kool-Aid and are now
captured hook, line and sinker by Obama's "Change" nonsense. The only change you would see with Obama as president would be the Whitehouse menu with black eyed peas and grits on the table. Change is what you'll get in yoru paycheck after the tax and spend liberals increase your taxes.
-------------------------
Jimmy Carter was letting the Soviets take over Central America without a fight. The enemy of my enemy is my friend and that's why Reagan sold arms to Iran to get money to stop Communism from taken hold in Central America. Sometimes you have to make a deal with the devil to get what you want. We wanted Iran and Iraq to fight to a stalemate and helped both of them do so.

The money from the weapons went to the Contras to help them defeat Communism there. No thanks to weak wimpy, pathetic Jimmy Carter who let things go unchecked.

I was in the military (1982-1992) during their 8 year stalemate 1980-1988 and I knew what was going on.

Jimmy Carter let radical Islam grow and threaten America. Carter let 52 Americans be taken hostage in 1979 for 444 days. Carter let other US embassies burn and military men get killed without any response. Carter let the Soviet Union invade Afghanistan and what did Carter do? Saddam Hussein took power in Iraq in 1979.

Killing the dreams of young men and women by cancelling the 1980 Olympics in Russia. Boy, that sure told them.

Central America, countries in Africa and islands in the Caribbean (Grenada) would be in the hands of Communists if Reagan didn't take proper action.

Liberal Democrats are weak and powerless against the enemies of our country. Liberals do nothing and theink the problems would solve themselves. Liberals tell us not to get involved in eternal problems overseas. This allowed disaster to happen in WW I and WW II. We had to wait until America was attacked and Americans killed to take any action. This is WRONG!

[James Ziolkowski]

Lying, delusional liberal. Yes liberals. Losesr like you did spit on our brave American soldiers returning home from Vietnam. Yes liberal, they did call them baby killers and murderers.

What, are you some punk kid who didn't live during that time period. Well I sure did and I remember, you rabid frothing at the mouth insane liberal American haters.

During this war, liberal protestors took an American flag and defecated on it and then burned our flag. They also set on fire an effigy of an America soldier and then set that on fire. The support, aid and comfort I see you liberal giving the radical Muslim terrorists on weblogs, such as the NY Times, Washington Post and USA Today is disgusting and immoral.

This country is in moral decay by you liberal Democrat immoral, Godless, welfare collecting, dope smoking liberal losers.

[RastaCyborg]

Excellent.
James finally shows us his true colors.
No substance. Just more BS.
He openly supports law breaking as long as it's done by his conservative heroes. He proudly stands in support of dictators as long as it furthers a short sighted agenda.
And he's a racist moron.
I think James might be happier living in Saudi Arabia with his ultra conservative brethren.

[RastaCyborg]

By the way, James saves the REALLY insane nonsense for his myspace blog. Just click on his name if you enjoy reading foul mouthed garbage.

[James Z Kaisertown]

Making promises that you can't keep and raising the taxes on the America worker to pay for crack smoking welfare collectors isn't the right answer, you ganja smoking twit.

Liberals blaming America for the problems of the entire world is what is making everyone turn against us. If our own stupid people fault us, they think it must be true.

Reading "Conscience of a Liberal" by socialist NY Times reporter Paul Krugman almost made me barf.

High taxes and wealth distribution will be the end of capitalism and the working man in America. Who would want to work when people could just do nothing and collect government handouts?

Laziness and stupidty is the hallmark of the liberal Democrats.

[RastaCyborg]

Try to focus, James.
I'm pretty tired of listening to you rant endlessly about anything and everything that has nothing to do with the subject at hand. I'm sure your friends and co-workers are quite tired of it also.
Therefore we'll assume from your non-answers and deflections that you:

Support the decision in 1953 for the CIA to overthrow the democratically elected government of Iran and install a dictator who would play ball with the oil companies.
Support the actions of George H. W. Bush and his cronies when they sold weapons to Iran and used the money to illegally fund the attempted overthrow of the democratically elected government of Nicaragua by the drug trafficking contras.
Support the training and funding of the Mujahadeen (including Osama Bin Laden) in Afghanistan in a short sighted attempt to weaken the Soviet Union.
Support the recent multibillion dollar arms deal with the monarchy of Saudi Arabia.