Z.Z. Rice, Appeaser

Z.Z. Rice, Appeaser

In case Barack Obama was feeling lonely being called an “appeaser” by the neocons, he has company: the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) is apoplectic over Condoleezza Rice’s endorsement of the compromise in Lebanon that brought Hezbollah into a power position in Beirut.

According to JINSA, Rice is an appeaser, too.

Here’s what Rice said:

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In case Barack Obama was feeling lonely being called an “appeaser” by the neocons, he has company: the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) is apoplectic over Condoleezza Rice’s endorsement of the compromise in Lebanon that brought Hezbollah into a power position in Beirut.

According to JINSA, Rice is an appeaser, too.

Here’s what Rice said:

Obviously in any compromise there are compromises. This was an agreement that I think served the interests of the Lebanese people. And since it served the interests of the Lebanese people, it served the interests of the United States. We support the democratically elected government of Lebanon.

And here’s what JINSA says about that:

Clearly, as the Bush Administration draws to a close, some of its officials are tired of the hard work of supporting one’s friends – so they’ve gone to trying to appease the enemies of their friends in the hope that at least it will be quiet. Lebanon is being thrown under the bus by a tired America.

The neocons, and some of their militant allies, have called instead for a massive US effort to train and equip the Lebanese armed forces for a showdown with Hezbollah. Clearly, Z.Z. Rice isn’t having any of that. Besides, the Lebanese armed forces, whose commander was just elevated to the post of president of Lebanon as part of the compromise that Rice had no choice but to endorse, is itself divided, and President Michel Suleiman has increasingly been leaning in Hezbollah’s direction for two years now.

And here is JINSA’s kicker:

So, realpolitik is the order of the day. A quiet Lebanon makes for happy neighbors and happy colonial powers. The Iraqis should take a quick and serious lesson from this – get your political house in order before we get tired of you, too, and start looking for compromises with Muqtada al-Sadr and the Mahdi Army.

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