Israel enjoys 'bipartisan' support

34 Democrats support extrajudicial killings carried out by Israel and admonished Bush for his earlier criticism of them. Seems more like political grandstanding. Who ever thought this 'road map' would be pursued vigorously let alone fairly by the WH? And on cue the WH has come out in support of Israel's 'targeting of terrorists'. As well Bush has dismissed Kofi Annan's call for Middle East peacekeepers.

Nancy Pelosi is one of them, not surprisingly. As I've noted before her concern for the human rights of people stops short when it comes to the Palestinians. If she hasn't yet she should resign from the Progressive Caucus along with the other pro-Israeli hawks in it. Considering her support of this resolution expressing;

"unequivocal support and appreciation of the Nation to the President as Commander-in-Chief for his firm leadership and decisive action in the conduct of military operations in Iraq as part of the on-going Global War on Terrorism."

and now this championing of Israel's pre-emptive strikes added to her condemnations of China's human rights issues, leads me to believe Ms. Pelosi is much closer in ideology to her neoconservative colleagues than those who support a progressive platform. Although she's now calling for open WMD intelligence hearings, only recently she voiced 'agnostic' feelings towards the importance of their discovery in Iraq.

Recent developments on the Republican side include statements by Richard Lugar calling for U.S. intervention in the putting-down of Hamas. On the subject of unilateral action he had this to say in his FOX interview;

Whether to insert forces into the volatile situation is being considered, including "whether they are to be all by themselves" or in conjunction with a United Nations or NATO force, he said.

"That is always a possibility but having said that, I would just say this is down the trail. We have to be very, very careful about the use of American forces," he said.

"But clearly, if force is required ultimately to root out terrorism, it is possible there would be American participation."

Instead of advocating the reordering of the Middle East perhaps these legislators should be asking the Bush administration why, if their 'war on terror' has been so successful to date, they are negotiating with the Taliban to secure law and order in Afghanistan.

Update: Bush Says World Must 'Deal Harshly' with Hamas

Update#2: Paris to ask EU for Mideast force

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin is to put forward the idea at a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels.

It follows a suggestion by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan last week during an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.