Fla. senator defies Bush, visits Syria. George Bush and crew are INCOMPETENT administrators of America's government, and he should be impeached...
George Bush and crew are INCOMPETENT administrators of America's government, and he should be impeached and removed from power. George W. Bush is everything that Al Gore said about Bush's father during the Clinton-Gore campaign of 1992. In one of the last scenes of the docu-movie "The War Room," Al Gore gives an impassioned stump speech in the final days of campaign 1992: "Everything that SHOULD BE DOWN IS UP, everything that SHOULD BE UP IS DOWN!" and Gore drove his points home to enthusiastic voters with passion and gusto. But at least the Senior Bush was strategically competent (if you overlook his allowing Yugoslavia to descend into chaos, and his Ambassador, April Gilespi, giving Saddam Hussein a 'green light' to invade Kuwait with her infamous "we have no position in intra-Arab fueding."
George W. Bush can not point to ONE THING that has improved in America, unless one looks at the inflated portfolios of America's wealthiest top 2%, as for example the $16 billion profits posted by Goldman Sachs and other investment bankers this year. But G-S's profits are not entirely "free market" and not entirely "profit" - they come at the expense of the TRILLION dollar DEFICITS racked up by the Bush (W) administration, and at the expense of America's working families who can no longer afford health care. Indeed, the Goldman-Sachs profits are only the most visible proof of how profitable it is to OUTSOURCE AMERICAN JOBS.
Economic policy, domestic policy, foreign policy, and especially national security policy: in ALL respects except the rising wealth of America's top 2%, George W. Bush has been a disaster for America, and if the other Democrats in the House and Senate do not follow Senator Nelson's lead to provide SOME ALTERNATIVES to the Bush-Cheney march to disaster, then the Bush legacy of wreckage will only get worse for America.
Fla. senator defies Bush, visits Syria
By Anne Plummer Flaherty, Associated Press Writer
13 Dec. 2006
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061213/ap_on_go_co/us_syria
WASHINGTON - In a direct affront to the Bush administration, a Democratic senator spent an hour Wednesday with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus, emerging from the meeting to say Assad was willing to help control the Iraq-Syrian border.
Sen. Bill Nelson (news, bio, voting record) of Florida, a member of the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, met with Assad after the State Department said that it disapproved of his trip. The United States has limited diplomatic ties with Syria because of its support of Hezbollah and Hamas, which the U.S. deems terrorist organizations, and President Bush has expressed reluctance to seek help from Damascus on Iraq until the Syrians curb that support and reduce their influence in Lebanon.
"Assad clearly indicated the willingness to cooperate with the Americans and or the Iraqi army to be part of a solution" in Iraq, Nelson told reporters in a conference call following the meeting. The U.S. says foreign fighters often enter Iraq across that boundary.
Syrian officials have indicated a willingness before to engage the U.S. in discussions about Iraq, which the Bush administration has treated with skepticism. Nelson said he viewed Assad's remarks as "a crack in the door for discussions to continue. I approach this with realism not optimism."
Nelson said he reported the information to embassy officials and will brief his congressional committees on the trip. Also expected to visit Syria is Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa..
"We don't think that members of Congress ought to be going there," White House press secretary Tony Snow said, adding that the United States continues to denounce Syria's meddling in Lebanon and its ties to terrorist groups.
Snow noted the existing diplomatic ties between U.S. and Syria. "I think it's a real stretch to think the Syrians don't know where we stand or what we think," he said.
The diplomatic push from Congress comes on the heels of a recommendation by a bipartisan panel that the U.S. engage Iran and Syria on the war in Iraq. Bush has remained cool to the proposal by the Iraq Study Group, which was led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind.
Nelson said he ultimately received logistical support from the State Department in what he called a "fact-finding trip" across the Middle East, being transported by embassy officials from Jordan's capital city of Amman to Damascus. Prior to heading to Damascus, Nelson met with top Israeli and Palestinian officials; in coming days, he plans to visit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Iraq.
Nelson said he was not interested visiting Iran "at this time" and did not say why.
However, the senator did say that he raised the issue of a nuclear-armed Iran to Assad, saying "he ought to understand that that's not only a threat to him, Syria, but to the entire world. . . . He took note," Nelson said.
The senator said he also expressed to the Syrian leader the problems caused by Hezbollah and Hamas and urged Assad to support the release of captured Israeli soldiers. Nelson said the Syrian president responded by saying Israel had 20 Syrians in captivity, one of whom died recently from leukemia.
The senator shrugged off suggestions he was challenging Bush's authority by sidestepping administration policy that the U.S. have no contact with Syrian officials.
"I have a constitutional role as a member of Congress," Nelson said.
Meanwhile, Bush criticized Damascus anew and called on it to free all political prisoners.
In a statement, the president expressed support for the Syrian people, and said they "deserve a government whose legitimacy is grounded in the consent of the people, not brute force."
The U.S.-backed government in Lebanon led by Prime Minister Fuad Saniora is being challenged by the Hezbollah-led, pro-Syrian opposition. Bush said Syria should disclose the fate of the many missing Lebanese citizens who disappeared following their arrest in Lebanon during decades of Syrian military occupation.
"The Syrian regime should immediately free all political prisoners, including Aref Dalila, Michel Kilo, Anwar al-Bunni, Mahmoud Issa, and Kamal Labwani," Bush said. "I am deeply troubled by reports that some ailing political prisoners are denied health care while others are held in cells with violent criminals."
George W. Bush can not point to ONE THING that has improved in America, unless one looks at the inflated portfolios of America's wealthiest top 2%, as for example the $16 billion profits posted by Goldman Sachs and other investment bankers this year. But G-S's profits are not entirely "free market" and not entirely "profit" - they come at the expense of the TRILLION dollar DEFICITS racked up by the Bush (W) administration, and at the expense of America's working families who can no longer afford health care. Indeed, the Goldman-Sachs profits are only the most visible proof of how profitable it is to OUTSOURCE AMERICAN JOBS.
Economic policy, domestic policy, foreign policy, and especially national security policy: in ALL respects except the rising wealth of America's top 2%, George W. Bush has been a disaster for America, and if the other Democrats in the House and Senate do not follow Senator Nelson's lead to provide SOME ALTERNATIVES to the Bush-Cheney march to disaster, then the Bush legacy of wreckage will only get worse for America.
Fla. senator defies Bush, visits Syria
By Anne Plummer Flaherty, Associated Press Writer
13 Dec. 2006
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061213/ap_on_go_co/us_syria
WASHINGTON - In a direct affront to the Bush administration, a Democratic senator spent an hour Wednesday with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus, emerging from the meeting to say Assad was willing to help control the Iraq-Syrian border.
Sen. Bill Nelson (news, bio, voting record) of Florida, a member of the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, met with Assad after the State Department said that it disapproved of his trip. The United States has limited diplomatic ties with Syria because of its support of Hezbollah and Hamas, which the U.S. deems terrorist organizations, and President Bush has expressed reluctance to seek help from Damascus on Iraq until the Syrians curb that support and reduce their influence in Lebanon.
"Assad clearly indicated the willingness to cooperate with the Americans and or the Iraqi army to be part of a solution" in Iraq, Nelson told reporters in a conference call following the meeting. The U.S. says foreign fighters often enter Iraq across that boundary.
Syrian officials have indicated a willingness before to engage the U.S. in discussions about Iraq, which the Bush administration has treated with skepticism. Nelson said he viewed Assad's remarks as "a crack in the door for discussions to continue. I approach this with realism not optimism."
Nelson said he reported the information to embassy officials and will brief his congressional committees on the trip. Also expected to visit Syria is Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa..
"We don't think that members of Congress ought to be going there," White House press secretary Tony Snow said, adding that the United States continues to denounce Syria's meddling in Lebanon and its ties to terrorist groups.
Snow noted the existing diplomatic ties between U.S. and Syria. "I think it's a real stretch to think the Syrians don't know where we stand or what we think," he said.
The diplomatic push from Congress comes on the heels of a recommendation by a bipartisan panel that the U.S. engage Iran and Syria on the war in Iraq. Bush has remained cool to the proposal by the Iraq Study Group, which was led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind.
Nelson said he ultimately received logistical support from the State Department in what he called a "fact-finding trip" across the Middle East, being transported by embassy officials from Jordan's capital city of Amman to Damascus. Prior to heading to Damascus, Nelson met with top Israeli and Palestinian officials; in coming days, he plans to visit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Iraq.
Nelson said he was not interested visiting Iran "at this time" and did not say why.
However, the senator did say that he raised the issue of a nuclear-armed Iran to Assad, saying "he ought to understand that that's not only a threat to him, Syria, but to the entire world. . . . He took note," Nelson said.
The senator said he also expressed to the Syrian leader the problems caused by Hezbollah and Hamas and urged Assad to support the release of captured Israeli soldiers. Nelson said the Syrian president responded by saying Israel had 20 Syrians in captivity, one of whom died recently from leukemia.
The senator shrugged off suggestions he was challenging Bush's authority by sidestepping administration policy that the U.S. have no contact with Syrian officials.
"I have a constitutional role as a member of Congress," Nelson said.
Meanwhile, Bush criticized Damascus anew and called on it to free all political prisoners.
In a statement, the president expressed support for the Syrian people, and said they "deserve a government whose legitimacy is grounded in the consent of the people, not brute force."
The U.S.-backed government in Lebanon led by Prime Minister Fuad Saniora is being challenged by the Hezbollah-led, pro-Syrian opposition. Bush said Syria should disclose the fate of the many missing Lebanese citizens who disappeared following their arrest in Lebanon during decades of Syrian military occupation.
"The Syrian regime should immediately free all political prisoners, including Aref Dalila, Michel Kilo, Anwar al-Bunni, Mahmoud Issa, and Kamal Labwani," Bush said. "I am deeply troubled by reports that some ailing political prisoners are denied health care while others are held in cells with violent criminals."
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