· “I can only speak on my government’s behalf. My country knows who is our friend and who is our enemy, and Iran is our friend.”-- Kuwaiti’s Foreign Minister, standing beside Iran’s Foreign Minister (after Bush’s visit), Agence France-Presse, 1/16/08
· “The U.S. is thousands of miles away from Iran - it’s OUR national security that will be affected [if leaders agree to keep Tehran isolated at Washington’s request.]”--Ambassador Ibrahim Mohieldin, director of the Arab League’s Americas department, McClatchy Newspapers, 1/13/08
· “Instead of pushing Gulf countries to pressure Iran, they should rather encourage Iran to cooperate. We cannot always wave the stick — economic sanctions, severing of diplomatic ties. Instead we could wave a prize--increased investment, trade relations.”-- Professor Abdul Karim al Dekhayel, King Fahd University, McClatchy Newspapers, 1/13/08
In Saudi Arabia, Bush used his self-touted “jaw-boning” to convince the Saudis to increase their oil production to bring the price down. The Saudis answered:
· “We will raise production when the market justifies it. This is our policy.”-- Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi, ABC News, 1/15/08 (This is Arab-speak for “Mind your own business, and don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out.”)
It seems that Bush is just as unpopular in Saudi Arabia as he is at home. A poll taken last month by the nonpartisan Terror Free Tomorrow group found Bush had a favorability rating of 12 percent with Saudis, which is lower than both Osama bin Laden and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
By the time Mr. Bush’s magical mystery tour ended, many people did not even know why he came.
· “President Bush wraps up a weeklong tour of the Middle East Wednesday, leaving many Mideast political observers mystified as to the purpose of the visit and doubtful that the president made inroads on his twin campaigns for Arab-Israeli peace and isolation for Iran.”-- McClatchy Newspapers, 1/16/08
· “You have all types of contradictions. Talking about freedom when you’re occupying two countries in the region: Afghanistan and Iraq. Talking about justice while you’re against the (Palestinian) right of return. Talking about democracy while you’re against elected groups you don’t like...Was he listening to himself?”--Mideast analyst Manar Shorbagy, quoted in the Washington Post, 1/14/08
Did anyone seriously believe that George W. Bush was going to do anything to further the cause of peace in the Middle East? He and his accomplices are not interested in peace. War is their business--war, death and destruction; and if their war(s) cause a rise in oil prices, so much the better.
So, as George W. Bush bid a fond farewell to the shifting sands of the Middle East: fighting intensified between Israel and Palestinians, wars continued in Iraq and Afghanistan, the State Department announced plans to sell $20 billion of weapons to Saudi Arabia; then offered Israel $30 billion in new weapons to counteract the weapons they were selling to Saudi Arabia.
That is George W. Bush’s idea of peace.
· I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace.”--George W. Bush, 6/18/02.
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