If anyone needs any more proof that the lips of the US are glued to Israel's ass...
Olmert said he made Rice change vote The rundown: Condoleezza Rice supported a UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. And then, suddenly, she did an about-face and abstained. Now Olmert, who is Prime Minister of Israel, has said that she abstained beacuse of his influence. He even goes so far as to say that he telephoned Bush, was told Bush couldn't speak with him because he was making a speech in Philidelphia -- but when he insisted, Bush got off the podium and went to speak with him. The fucking President of the United States. Dropped what he was doing for some asshole in a tiny country that has jack-all it can offer ours, aside from an increasingly bad reputation.
Another story, this one in the LA times:
Olmert says he talked Bush out of cease-fire vote.
Of course,
The US is denying it, and it may be -- probably is -- an exaggeration, at the very least, intended by Olmert to bolster support among the Israelis in anticipation of the coming election. But the very fact that he had the audacity to make such claims says an awful lot about what he thinks he can get away with. I mean, if some guy goes around saying he fucked your wife, even if it's not true, exactly how much respect does he have for you, and would you really consider him a friend and/or valuable ally?
In the meantime,
Nine Israeli human rights groups have called for investigation into whether Israel has committed war crimes, while
Palestinian dead have now broken the 1,000 mark over 600 of which are civilians. And it's only going to get worse.
All I can say is that the Israelis should be fucking careful. Actions have consequences, and the bigger the actions, the bigger the consequences. Without the protection of the international community, they are nothing, they are dead -- and the US alone won't be able to protect them anymore, even if we are so inclined after this fiasco. We are becoming less important on the world stage, and we have an awful lot of problems of our own right now. They are at once stirring up hatred and extremism in the Middle East and alienating the only allies who keep those extremists at bay. If they don't stop the slaughter in Gaza, there is going to be a slaughter in Israel. It may already be too late.