The vibe has changed
A handshake that doesn’t help Israel
President Bush is on a roll in the Middle East . . . backward. His embrace of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s positions on settlements and Palestinian refugees has needlessly squandered U.S. leverage in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
And where does this attack on Bush come from? From, until recently, one of his most timid critics, the Washington Post.
Evacuation is ordered for most U.S. diplomats in Saudi Arabia
The United States yesterday ordered the evacuation of most U.S. diplomats and all U.S. family dependents from Saudi Arabia, and “strongly urged” all American citizens to leave because of “credible and specific” intelligence about terrorist attacks planned against U.S. and other Western targets.
The warning noted that Saudi security forces and heavily armed extremists recently engaged in serious clashes.
This is quite extraordinary. Gun battles in Saudi Arabia? Evacuation of the embassy? If Saudia Arabia becomes embroiled in internal strife, then instead of fearing gas might go to $3 a gallon as we do now, we will faintly hope it might return to that.
From Bahgdad Burning, a blog by an Iraqi woman in Baghdad. This is by far her most vociferous post about the US. Her mood has changed, as, I suspect, has that of many of her fellow citizens.
I hate American foreign policy and its constant meddling in the region… I hate American tanks in Baghdad and American soldiers on our streets and in our homes on occasion… why does that mean that I hate America and Americans? Are tanks, troops and violence the only face of America? If the Pentagon, Department of Defense and Condi are “America”, then yes- I hate America
Lately I’m getting the feeling something seriously bad and/or weird is about to happen. What think all of you?