Bush's legacy: Sucking up to the Saudis and a stupid state department

Submitted by DrRJP (United States), Jan 17, 2008 at 08:55

Bush turned around a famous statement. Instead of "Keeping your friends close and your enemies even closer," Bush made enemies of his friends while trying to make friends with his enemies. Bush's polocies in the Middle East were driven so much by the Saudi lobby, that on this point alone, the mere mention of an "Israeli lobby affecting foreign policy," is ludicrous.

If Bush was "dumb" in sucking up to the Saudis -- the country that uses its unbelievable wealth to spread radical Islam throught the world, and from where 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers came -- then his State Department was even "dumber" by selling advanced assault weapons to Fatah (a Palestinian terror group) and suggesting that the Palestinians are "struggling for civil rights just like the blacks did in 1960's America." Also, Bush is taking his marching orders from the Saudis with respect to the "Road Map," and if selling out Israel for the Saudis was not enough, he also wants to give them $20 billion in the most advance weaponry in America's arsenal for the Saudi's "defense." Defense against what?

Let it also be remembered that putting Israel on the chopping block was part of the price Bush was willing to pay in exchange for the Saudi's "help" in Gulf War II, or better known as "Operation Payback-is-a-bitch." When Bush started talking about taking out Saddam BEFORE he ever became President, people should have listened. By the way, there was nothing new about his "two-state" solution -- that's what Oslo started and Camp David finished: All efforts to create two states were a total failure.

What made Bush think this time would be any different, especially when Arafat responded to an offer of peace with the intifada. It was sheer madness to think that Arafat's protoge, Abbas would be any different. If anything, he is more of a pretend leader than Arafat. Yet, Arafat was effective in using both terrorism and politics to destroy Israel, and Abbas is still following his game plan. By a wide margin, Bush has done more damage to Israel and to the stability of the Middle East than any of his predecessors.

Hopefully, his replacement can undo some of it.

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