Zbigniew Brzezinski points to two Bush administration “blunders” which have “precipitate[d] the increasingly intense hatred for the US, not only in the Middle East but in the Islamic world at large.” In both instances, it “adopted a stance that was not only unilateral and lacking international support but was perceived by the Muslims of the region as violently repressive, lacking in fairness and justified mainly by stretching or distorting the truth.”
The first of these “Bush” blunders was the invasion of Iraq in March, 2003; the second was the “unqualified support” for Israel’s “violent dismantling of the Palestinian Authority” a year earlier.
Yes, Bush referred to “Sharon as ‘a man of peace,'” but it was an almost unanimous Congress that took the lead in endorsing “Operation Defensive Shield.” As Mary McGrory put it, Republican Whip Tom Delay “cleaned up the floor with his unaccustomed allies, the liberals.” In the senate, “Democratic leader Tom Daschle announced the restiveness among his horses, who were hot to trot for Israel.”
Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions considers that congressional vote one of the “good reasons” the Sharon government has for “believ[ing] it has defeated the Palestinians once and for all.”
Russ Feingold and the late Paul Wellstone, liberal darlings here in the Midwest, were among the “hot to trot.” So were John Edwards and of course John Kerry, who recently expressed his pride in having “co-sponsored a resolution expressing solidarity with Israel” when it had just “dismantle[d] the Palestinian infrastructure.”
While Brzezinski’s piece is welcome, he undercuts his credibility by glossing over the fact that the whole political establishment is a blunderer and in particular that Anyone But Bush is proud to be a blunderer.
In related matters, I’m proud I haven’t seen “Fahrenheit 9/11.” Here’s a chance to “Urge Michael Moore to make his next film about the US and Israel.” And here’s one to support the Presbyterian divestment initiative.”