Honesty and peace, they go hand in hand. And without one...

For the past eight years Bush has used the "Blame the Beaten Wife" argument against Palestinians, so his implementation of it again in his radio address today isn't surprising. Likewise, maybe this part of is speech isn't surprising, either, but I think it's worthy of closer inspection:

He expressed concern about the humanitarian suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza, but again blamed this on Hamas.

"By spending its resources on rocket launchers instead of roads and schools, Hamas has demonstrated that it has no intention of serving the Palestinian people," Bush said.

The assumption here is that the Palestinian people are free to live their lives how they wish and build a society. You have to be pretty ignorant of history to believe this, but Bush is talking to Americans here... So we have a lot of people who believe this.

I could whip out the traditions arguments against Bush's assertion: Israel's economic blockade of the Occupied Territories: controlling how much water and electricity they do (and don't receive), continually taking their land, building walls around their society that separate the territories from the rest of the world, etc. And all of that is important, but first we need a visual representation of oppression.



Here's a colored map of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where most Palestinians live. The dark green spots show the parts of the territories which are nominally under the control of Palestinians. As you can tell, the areas that Palestinians "control" in their own territory is startlingly fragmented -- how could anyone even claim that Palestinians are free to build their own society when they are given so little land build upon?

And where it's not dark green? Could be an Israeli-only highway, could be Israeli settlers who are surrounded by the IDF for protection. Last July, a Guardian reporter went to a West Bank town (which I would surmise to not be in a dark green zone) and made a must-see audio slideshow of how differently Palestinians and Israeli settlers are treated there. The slideshow gives you a personal view of all the traditional arguments: land and water control, electricity, checkpoints, etc. Is this the Palestinian freedom that Bush speaks of? Is he kidding?

As for the dark green spots, some will point out that all of Gaza is dark green because Israel moved all of its settlers out of there. So they're free, right? I think the past couple of weeks have given us an answer to that question -- an indisputable fact that only a stubborn idiot would protest against.

Which brings us back to Bush.

One wonders what Bush's motivations are. With less than 20 days left in office, does he have any motivation left? Does he actually believe what his speech writers tell him to say even though it can easily be debunked by a blogger with half an hour to kill? Is Bush actually that stupid? Or is Israel holding a gun to Bush's head, telling him that they'll spend billions on arms from Russia instead of us if he doesn't pimp their public relations points about how war against Palestinians is an awesome thing? Though interesting to ponder, we won't know the answer for quite a while (if ever, depending on how many documents the Bush administration shreds on its way out the door).

What is important to note is that, whether or not Bush knows he's lying, he's not helping. By arguing that Palestinians are free and choose to be terrorists, Bush does not honestly assess the dire situation the Palestinians live under every day. How can a peace process even begin when one side isn't represented honestly?

Thus, the cycle of violence continues. Thanks Bush. Please be sure to fuck the hell off on your way out, you warmongering fucking asshole.