- There is only one nuclear power in the Middle East: Israel.
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- There is only one country in the Middle East that refuses
to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: Israel.
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- There is only one country in the Middle East that refuses
to allow international inspections of its nuclear facilities: Israel.
-
- There is only one country in the Middle East that stands
in defiance of more than 60 United Nations resolutions: Israel.
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- There is only one country in the Middle East that invaded
and continues to occupy land belonging to its neighbors: Israel.
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- I am not setting out to bash Israel, but merely to point
out undeniable facts that most of the America media and American politicians
studiously ignore. Is it too difficult for Americans to grasp that the
United States has a blatant double standard and that the people in Arab
countries justifiably resent that double standard? The Arabs do not expect
or demand that the United States become the enemy of Israel. They recognize
the close ties between the two countries. All they ask for is simple fairness.
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- It's not fair to threaten Iraq with war for allegedly
violating U.N. resolutions while protecting Israel from any consequences
for violating more U.N. resolutions. It's not fair to go to war to undo
the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq while condoning the continued occupation
by Israel of portions of Lebanon, Syria and Palestine. It's not fair to
threaten Iraq and Iran about weapons of mass destruction while remaining
silent about those possessed by Israel. It's not fair to harp on the crimes
committed by Saddam Hussein while rationalizing the crimes committed by
Israel. Do you realize that in just the past week, as of this writing,
the Israelis have killed 33 Palestinians?
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- Do you realize that if the United States announced that
its policy is to rid the entire Middle East of weapons of mass destruction,
including those possessed by Israel, that the United States would receive
the overwhelming support of the Arab world?
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- Fairness was once the characteristic of the American
republic. It consists simply of doing exactly what our great founder, George
Washington, recommended: treat all countries the same, showing neither
favoritism nor enmity to any. Moreover, he pleaded, do not involve yourself
in other people's feuds and quarrels. And finally, he warned against the
evils of foreign influence in our domestic affairs.
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- Every single foreign-policy problem we face, including
the threat of terrorism, is a result of violating those three admonitions:
We don't treat all nations the same; we do involve ourselves in other people's
quarrels; and we have allowed foreign influence to exert tremendous influence
on our policies. Far from being the republic Washington and his contemporaries
gave us, we have become an empire, very much like Rome.
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- There are nearly 40,000 permanent lobbyists in Washington,
swarming over our 535 elected officials like flies on roadkill. We have
the bizarre ritual of practically every candidate for president making
a visit to the Israeli lobby and pledging undying support for a foreign
country. While millions in Africa and Latin America suffer terrible poverty,
not to mention 30 million of our own people, we pour billions of dollars
of aid into Israel, which has a comfortably high standard of living. Again,
foreign influence is the reason.
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- The truth is, we have no natural enemies except the North
Koreans, who are taught from the cradle to hate us. Islam is not our enemy.
The Arab world is not our enemy. Iran is not our enemy. Russia and China
are not our enemies. Except for the North Koreans, the only enemies we
have in this world are those we created with our unjust policies and actions.
-
- President Bush fancies himself a Christian. It's too
bad he isn't, but then most Christians would not be recognizable to Christ
if he returned to Earth. Peace, love and justice are not very fashionable
in many Christian circles these days. Many of them prefer war, provided
they don't have to fight it.
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- © 2003 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
- http://reese.king-online.com/Reese_20030307/index.php
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