Biden Scolds Israel Over Settlement Plan Again (VIDEO)

(AP) RAMALLAH, West Bank — An open diplomatic row during the visit of Vice President Joe Biden has shined a spotlight on the U.S. failure to rein in Israeli settlement ambitions and deepened Palestinian suspicions that the United States is too weak to broker a deal.

Biden's handshakes and embraces gave way to one of the strongest rebukes of Israel by a senior U.S. official in years after Israel's announcement during his visit that it plans to build 1,600 homes in disputed east Jerusalem. Israel apologized for the poor timing but is sticking to its plan to build the homes, enlarging one of the settlements that have impeded negotiations with Palestinians.

The vice president on Wednesday assured Palestinians the U.S. is squarely behind their bid for statehood and urged the sides to refrain from actions "that inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of talks."

"It's incumbent on both parties to build an atmosphere of support for negotiations, and not to complicate them," Biden said, standing alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israel's announcement was widely seen as a slap in the face to its all-important U.S. ally. It stirred significant anger among U.S. officials and widespread skepticism about whether the Obama administration would have the courage or the backing to take Israel to task as the U.S. relaunches long-stalled peace negotiations. The future of those talks was called into question late Wednesday when the Arab League recommended withdrawing support for them.

"This is a global message of American weakness and Israeli arrogance," said Palestinian lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi.

The vice president's visit had been largely aimed at repairing U.S.-Israeli ties strained over the very same issue now overshadowing Biden's trip: Jewish settlements. Palestinians and the U.S. consider settlements built on lands claimed by the Palestinians to be obstacles to peace.

Biden condemned the Israeli announcement and pointedly arrived 90 minutes late to a dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel's oblique response to the row – that Netanyahu was blindsided by the announcement, that no one meant to offend Biden, that in the future the prime minister would make sure sensitive announcements are routed through him – did not appear likely to put the matter to rest.

The words of Interior Minister Eli Yishai, whose office ordered the new homes – "I am very sorry for the embarrassment ... Next time we need to take timing into account" – only reinforced the feeling that there would in fact be a "next time."

It appears President Barack Obama now has the choice of absorbing the blow or engaging in a politically unpalatable battle with the Israeli leadership, which past U.S. presidents have largely avoided. Obama may be too invested in key domestic problems, the Iran nuclear issue and two wars to walk into that political minefield.

The Palestinians largely lost faith in the U.S. as a broker after Obama tried – and failed – to get the hawkish Netanyahu government to stop building on lands Palestinians claim for a future state. Netanyahu eventually agreed to a construction slowdown rather than a freeze, but that did little to mollify Palestinians.

Abbas' aides have said privately that if Obama can't get Israel to play by the rules on settlements, he won't be able to push on far more sensitive issues, such as a partition of Jerusalem.

After nearly two decades of stop-and-go negotiations with few tangible results, strong U.S. intervention is seen as key to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel's latest building plans came just as the Palestinians had reluctantly agreed to resume indirect, U.S.-brokered talks in the coming days – after a 14-month deadlock.

Capping a day of meetings with Palestinian leaders, Biden declared Wednesday that Washington is committed to brokering a final peace deal.

"The United States pledges to play an active as well as a sustainable role in these talks," Biden said. He stressed the Palestinians deserve an independent state that is "viable and contiguous," a clear message to Israel that the U.S. expects a broad withdrawal from the West Bank as part of a settlement. Palestinians fear Jewish settlement enclaves would render a future state untenable by breaking it up into pieces.

Abbas, the Palestinians' leader, said Wednesday that new Israeli building, especially in Jerusalem, threatened the negotiations before they got off the ground.

"We call on Israel to cancel these decisions," Abbas said. "I call on the Israeli government not to lose a chance to make peace. I call on them to halt settlement building and to stop imposing facts on the ground" – a reference to the fear that settlement expansion will predetermine Israel's future borders.

The fate of Jewish settlements is one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Nearly 300,000 settlers live in the West Bank, in addition to 180,000 Israelis living in Jewish neighborhoods built in east Jerusalem. The Palestinians want both areas – captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war – along with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to become their future state.

Netanyahu's settlement slowdown pointedly excluded east Jerusalem, which Israel annexed after 1967 and considers part of its capital. Netanyahu has said he will never share control of the holy city.

The plan to build 1,600 new homes in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo could increase that neighborhood's population of 20,000 by more than half.

Ministry spokeswoman Efrat Orbach said the ministry routinely issues announcements of planning decisions immediately after they are taken. This is not the first time that such announcements have dovetailed with visits by top U.S. officials. Plans for hundreds of settlement apartments were announced during the peace mission of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Israel could end up paying for this slap by seeing amplified U.S. pressure to make concessions.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said the Palestinians appreciated "the strong statement of condemnation" by the U.S. administration. But it was unclear if Biden's condemnation could restore U.S. credibility among Palestinians.

That condemnation appeared likely to exacerbate a widespread feeling in Israel that Obama is less friendly to the Jewish state than his predecessors. Still, Israeli leaders have traditionally been reluctant to openly spar with the United States, and Netanyahu could pay a domestic price.

Israel's opposition Kadima Party said it is planning a no-confidence vote in the prime minister in parliament for "destroying" the Biden visit.

The new construction plan also drew a sharp rebuke from Egypt, Israel's closest ally in the Arab world, and from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Late Wednesday, the 22-nation Arab League recommended withdrawing support for indirect talks between Palestinians and Israelis. Abbas had agreed to resume indirect negotiations with Israel due to the backing from Arab countries.

The league's Arab peace initiative committee called for a meeting of Arab foreign ministers, saying Israel's announcement showed it was not serious about negotiating. If the Israeli settlement moves are not halted immediately, the committee said, the talks would have "no meaning."

The European Union also urged Israel to reverse its decision "and to refrain from unilateral decisions and actions that may jeopardize" negotiations. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called it a "bad decision at the wrong time." Germany said the plan was "not acceptable" given the two sides' recent agreement to renew talks.

From the windows of his limousine Wednesday, Biden was able to see many of the region's points of contention – including several enormous east Jerusalem settlements and the towering gray cement slabs of Israel's West Bank separation barrier.

In Bethlehem, the city of Jesus' birth, the vice president toured a Palestinian quarry and stopped at a local souvenir shop where he bought a small golden cross.

"How many such visits have we already had?" asked Rizek Qassis, a Palestinian butcher from the nearby town of Beit Jalla, as he watched the scene. "They come, shake hands, go home, and we remain behind, like always."

___

Gutkin reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press Writers Dalia Nammari in Ramallah and Steve Hurst and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

(This version corrects that Arab League action was a recommendation to withdraw support for talks, not a withdrawal of support.)

Comments

[Nelson Montana]

11:24 AM on 03/14/2010

"Scolding" Israel is like giving a lecture to a pitbull. They only understand action. And that includes fear. Israel is not afraid of Biden or Obama so their opinions are meaningles­s.

[LizM]

05:15 PM on 03/14/2010

"Scolding" was a word used in a headline and what is meaningles­s here ... not the opinions of Biden or Obama.

Unless, of course, you can provide us with an inside view of what occurred during Biden's meetings over there ...

What's happening here is that the interests of the US in the greater Middle East are at odds with how the US has traditiona­lly managed its relationsh­ip with Israel, among other countries. The time may have come for the US to demonstrat­e bold leadership instead of waiting for it to come from the principal players in the Israeli-Pa­lestinian conflict ... and this dramatic change of course, it should be noted, would be in the best interests of the state of Israel, if it wishes to remain Jewish and democratic­.

[SparkyDash]

08:50 PM on 03/14/2010

Using *fear* as an action? Using fear to control persons is a inappropri­ate management tool of manipulati­on.

Biden and Obama do not stoop to that level, and if they did, would lose my support.

[Nelson Montana]

09:15 PM on 03/14/2010

It's no different than raising a child. If you keep saying "Do that one more time and I'll..." and never follow through, the child will just keep trying to get away with more. It's not "stooping.­" it's called "sticking to your guns. " Do this, and you'll lose. If you want out support, these are our stipulatio­ns. Make them AFRAID of losing support. How is that inappropri­ate?

[Grim Al]

10:58 AM on 03/14/2010

While Biden's and Clinton's public rebukes of Israel are a welcome change, we should not expect any meaningful change in the US coddling of Israel. In the face of Israel's disrespect of the US they had no choice but to speak out, but their record and that of the government as a whole suggest that we'll be back to the status quo in no time.

This lauded "special relationsh­ip" is in reality one of subservien­ce to a tiny country by the "most powerful nation on earth". It is difficult to fully understand why this persists but it seems to me to be peverse to say the least.

[jollyelle]

08:11 PM on 03/13/2010

Now that Biden's awakened for a moment, he should visit Gaza and experience how the Israeli siege is
punishing one and a half million people.

[SparkyDash]

08:38 PM on 03/14/2010

Mr. Biden has been fully awake and aware for a long time.

[k6007]

06:03 PM on 03/12/2010

The talk time keeps growing, and the land keeps shrinking. It's almost as if it's by design.

http://www­.3quarksda­ily.com/3q­uarksdaily­/2009/01/t­he-shrinki­ng-map-of-­palestine.­html

[BubbaC33]

11:26 AM on 03/12/2010

How did Israel come to control the West Bank, the answer to this question has been ignored by most of the pro-Arab writers on this site. Yet it is important to the discussion­. Israel came to control the West Bank because we were attacked without provocatio­n an army made up of soldiers from over 6 Arab nations. In 1967 the first shots of that war were not fired by the IAF, but by forces of the Egyptian military during the illegal closing of the Straits of Tiran. Israel was fighting a defensive war for our survival, not for imperialis­tic reasons. Those who demand a return to the pre-67 war borders ignore this basic fact. Israel was attacked while inside the borders these people claim will bring about peace. It is a foolish myth to believe such a lie.
From 1948 until the IDF liberated the entire city of Jerusalem in 1967 Jews were not allowed access to our holiest sites. Religious sites in the city are now open to people of all religions, not just the Jews. More to the point, Jeruslaem is the historc and cultural capital of Israel. To demand that we give up a part of it or share it with some other nation is a pointless demand. The future of Jerusalem is not a discussion point.

[tobyjim]

04:23 PM on 03/12/2010

Hi Bubba, few questions, you say we were attacked, was america attacked? and on the illegal closing of the straights of tiran, was this illegal under internatio­nal law? and from 1948 to 1967 was the access into west jerusalem from east jerusalem for arabs only and jews were forbidden access to our holy sites?

[BubbaC33]

05:16 PM on 03/12/2010

Here are a few answers.
Yes, the US was attacked in 2001. I understand the point of your question, if you had read my profile you'd realize I hold dual citizenshi­p, but spend most of each year in Israel. I am an IDF veteran, in case you were wondering.
According to a number of nations the closing of the Straits of Tiran was in fact illegal according to internatio­nal law. Israel, the US, a few other nations had warned the Egyptians that to close the Straits would be considered an act of war.
From 1948-1967 Jews were not allowed in the parts of Jerusalem home to our holiest sites. All of the sites important to Islam are inside the part of the city the Arabs controlled­. Now, under Israeli rule, all sites are open to all religions with one exception. Rastafaria­ns cannot come and go from the burial place of Bob Marley.

[Peter Noble 2]

11:48 AM on 03/13/2010

Oh please without provocatio­n?

Ever heard of operation Megrafa? It targeted so called returning Palestinia­ns but targeting mainly Palestinia­n villagers in Galilee, 1949. When this ended, Israeli's set about expelling the Al-Sani tribe from Beer Sheba to Hebron. Sharon took part.

And:
"In an article in Ha'aretz of 29 January 1999, Gideon Spiro a former member of the 890th battalion, says the unit "was an early, more primitive prototype for the more sophistica­ted liquidatio­n units of Duvdevan and Shimshon establishe­d during the Intifada". Its operations­, wrote Spiro, were characteri­sed by "lots of killing of civilians and little real combat"."

Need more?

Ever heard of Unit 101 and your supreme hero Sharon's role in the many unprovoked massacres of Palestinia­n villagers. One such unprovoked attack was on Qibya during the night of October 14th 1953:
Village houses were blown up while the inhabitant­s were asleep. Sixty-nine women and children were killed.
UN report:
"bullet-ri­ddled bodies near the doorways and multiple hits on the doors of the demolished houses indicated that the inhabitant­s had been forced to remain inside while their homes were blown up"

I could list more and these included IAF attacks on Nomads, dropping bombs on tribes is so well Italian Fascist.

The so called act of unprovoked aggression was the kind of attack America and its allies would launch on rogue Muslim States that support terrorists­. It's called preemptive attack.

Again one set of ethics for Arabs and one great justificat­ion for Israel.

[mamacat]

06:14 AM on 03/12/2010

Don't want to offend Biden and the U.S.? Then stop expanding Israel at the expense of the Arabs. Enough is enough.

[GenosseJoe]

07:16 AM on 03/12/2010

Israel is not expanding at all. Its borders are securely negotiated with Egypt and Jordan directly and with Lebanon via UN. Those are the only internatio­naly recognized borders Israel has.

As any other state, Israel can build whatever she want within these internatio­nally recognized and clearly marked borders.

[SteepleAston]

07:49 AM on 03/12/2010

Your comment contains false informatio­n. israel is not building within its borders.
If you agree with settlement expansion and seizure of Arab lands, then why don't you just say it instead of making up some type of silly fiction like this?

[Peter Noble 2]

11:58 AM on 03/13/2010

Funny I was told by some Israeli apologist on HP only last week that the UN has not defined the borders of Israel. The West Bank is now officially part of Israel? East Jerusalem is recognized as part of Israel? If this is all accepted why does America not have its big Embassy in Jerusalem, the eternal and God given capital of the Jews of Israel.

Settler routinely attack and kill Palestinia­ns trying to harvest orchards or olive trees, leaving them abandoned and then the settlers steal them claiming the land is empty. Settlers even sell stolen well water back to the Palestinia­ns.

It's a miracle of restraint born out of defeat that more Israelis do not die.

[Peter Noble 2]

01:18 AM on 03/12/2010

We really need to do more than scold Israel. What are they our naughty children?

I simply do not understand why we expect the Palestinia­ns to regard us as honest brokers when we clearly favor the one side over the other. I really had hoped Obama would walk a little like he talks.. Biden is just a mouthpiece­. I guess we should send another check and see if that will teach Israel a lesson.

Anyway I guess that the love of a parent for it's child is irrational and even if the child is ugly, fat and spoiled it does not matter as they will always be our Bibis ..

[BubbaC33]

11:07 AM on 03/12/2010

Israel is acting in its own best interest to make certain we have a future. Those unable or unwilling to understand this very simple fact are most likely to criticize what they cannot understand­.

[Peter Noble 2]

12:36 PM on 03/12/2010

BubbaC33
Whose best interest? I'm an American but I was born British into a Jewish family. I was British but chose to become American. Unlike Pollard I take my citizenshi­p seriously will never betray America and certainly not for some silver from Israel.

As a Jew I am not interested in the petty bigotry of a tiny country with weapons more suited to a Superpower that has hijacked the Holocaust to justify dropping bombs on apartment blocks, using children or civilians as human shield and killing American citizens who go over to peacefully protest.

As Israel was partly created through the actions of the Irgun.. a terrorist group.. then I will not presume to tell the Palestinia­ns how they choose to die fighting for their freedom. If they merely protest peacefully they get shot, if they fight they get shot, if they use terror they get shot. Like the Irish we can call them stupid terrorists but in the end the Irish after 800 years won. They are just like Jews who killed civilians to form Israel. They will never forget and never forgive, just like us Jews.

Freedom is the right of every human being be they Jew or Palestinia­n. That's why I am shamed by Clinton/GW­B and now Obama for funding a rogue state that is a democracy of bigots.

[totaldisbelief]

01:15 AM on 03/12/2010

not one more dime.

[Niasia]

09:43 PM on 03/11/2010

You can't keep taking more and more land... Haven't they strong armed enough acres already?!?

[boomslang]

12:47 PM on 03/11/2010

As long as Presidenti­al candidates genuflect before AIPAC as part of the election process, the US will never be an honest broker for peace , Biden bluster not withstandi­ng.

[GenosseJoe]

08:12 PM on 03/11/2010

Do you prefer for Presidenti­al candidates to attend a candy distributi­ng ceremony like the one held by Palestinia­ns on 9/11 ?

[Peter Noble 2]

01:28 AM on 03/12/2010

Oh clearly anyone who is critical of Israel really loves terrorists­?

I'm a Jew and an American. I think the latter is more important. I therefore do not subscribe to allowing a democracy to behave like the worst dictatorsh­ip when it comes to Palestinia­ns.

I don't remember the candy ceremony by Palestinia­ns for 9/11 but given our complete indifferen­ce to their plight, their children dead... I'd not be surprised or upset. We haven't done a thing but provide the missiles Israel uses against markets and apartment blocks.

Ironically some Israelis were temporaril­y arrested on 9/11 for having a celebratio­n on the Jersey shore while watching the towers burn and collapse. People thought they were Arabs in cahoots...­They were overjoyed as they hoped we would now allow Israel complete freedom to kill Arabs: they were right.

[Turtleposer]

02:29 PM on 03/12/2010

With friends like Israel, you don't enemies.

Last time I checked, the Palestinia­ns didn't attack us on 9/11. They don't like us because we continuall­y support a country which abuses them.

Now, Israel, a country with nuclear weapons, wants to drag us into a war with Iran which may or may not have nuclear weapons. Unbelievab­le. No, sorry, totally believable for Israel.

How 'bout the Israelis figure out how to pay for their ventures all by themselves since they consider themselves a viable, 1st world nation? They should feel embarrasse­d to ask for our $.

[rudolph]

12:41 PM on 03/11/2010

We have tried hard enough and long enough to persuade Israel to honor its commitment­s. We owe the Palestinia­ns a huge apology.

[GZLives]

02:34 PM on 03/11/2010

Yeah we apologize that you opted to go to war in 1947 hoping to kill all the Jews rather then agree to Partition and co existence.
And we apologize you tried again to annihilate the Jews in 1967 and lost ...

Do you see how silly your post is now or have you forgotten that the Palestinia­ns have continued to REJECT peace unless its exactly to what they demand. Do you know any other country on the planet that lost not just one war but many and still thinks they call the shots?

Let me know when you come up with one

[Peter Noble 2]

10:56 AM on 03/12/2010

Israel was founded by terrorists­. The most infamous killers of many civilians was the Irgun. Rahm is the son of a such a terrorist. But they killed British so that doesn't count?

Do we praise Irgun but not Hamas? I find both despicable but both have the same ethos, killing civilians gets rid of the occupying power. Irgun won so are not considered terrorists but merely a bunch of tough Jews.

MOST Palestinia­ns know they have lost and now want less than 24% of what they once fought to retain. A large part of that was controlled by Jordan. Surely even a Greater Israel apologist would consider this a great bargain: only 24%!

Only you seem to think a people willing to settle for 24% are acting as victors. Wow some kind of victory giving up the fight and losing over 75% of your land to the enemy.

[Json]

03:19 PM on 03/11/2010

Do we owe the Israelis an apology for failing to get the palestinia­ns to stop firing rockets at schools and sending suicide bombers into nightclubs­?

[totaldisbelief]

01:18 AM on 03/12/2010

so if the dshoe were on the other vfoot you'd just sit quietly and smile?

[renatam]

12:04 PM on 03/11/2010

http://www­.timesonli­ne.co.uk/t­ol/news/wo­rld/middle­_east/arti­cle7057819­.ece


Israeli supermarke­t parodies Dubai assassinat­ion in TV advert

==========­==========­==========­==========­==========­==========­==
Fellow Americans, after 61 years - WE have done enough for this WELFARE STATE the size of Togo. They are not only ingrates, but the Israeli delusional superiorit­y complex is dangerous to American interests and have put us in the position of subsidizin­g an APARTHEID STATE. America is at-risk because we are doing so. We must cease entering foreign wars at the behest of Israel and dual citizens in the United States, who are conflicted at best - and at worst, something I won't mention.

It is time for American tax dollars to be spent solely for our own people/int­erests - and we must immediatel­y cease sending ANY "aid" to the Middle East. Period. We must NOT leave a legacy borne by the boomers to no end and countless wars and trillions of our hard-earne­d tax dollars - to Xers/Mille­nnials who will have 79 boomers to carry as well as the challenges of a very different kind of world than boomers inherited.

We have FAILED by taking sides in this matter and can no longer be of assistance in any way that makes progress/s­ense. We have rope-a-dop­ed by Israel - profitably to them - and emptying our treasury.

ENOUGH.

[batguano]

04:17 PM on 03/11/2010

Hear hear, renatum, well and truly said!

[Peter Noble 2]

11:31 AM on 03/11/2010

"Nearly half of Israel's high school students do not believe that Israeli-Ar­abs are entitled to the same rights as Jews in Israel, according to the results of a new survey released yesterday. The same poll revealed that more than half the students would deny Arabs the right to be elected to the Knesset. "
http://www­.haaretz.c­om/hasen/s­pages/1155­627.html

We have to stop thinking of my tribe as the eternal victims of history. We now live in a golden age where Jews can slaughter Arab women and children and be rewarded by Congress and presidents of America. Is this what being Jewish has become? Would the ADL be pleased to read of this if the children were American? If this is Jewish culture at its best then this Jew says let Israel turn to dust and blow out to sea.

Enough with the chiding and cut their allowance. No more Welfare or guns for Israel. This is one Jew who is sickened by this Israel..a vile racist country. They do not share American values and if they do we really should be ashamed too.

[batguano]

12:22 PM on 03/11/2010

When Israeli textbooks teach racism, it is understand­able that Israeli kids hold racist views. The view (teaching) that "one thousand non Jewish (Arab) lives are not worth one Jewish fingernail­" is representa­tive of the hubris and arrogance that drives Israeli, especially "settler" violence toward Palestinia­ns; it is pure racism and hate.

http://www­.wrmea.com­/backissue­s/0999/990­9019.html

http://www­.globalres­earch.ca/a­rticles/BE­N108A.html

[David Rozgonyi]

01:08 PM on 03/11/2010

You can find hundreds of video examples of monstrous racism from Isr. youth toward pal. youth. The next generation is coming, and it won't be any better, unfortunat­ely....

[sbabwb]

11:20 AM on 03/11/2010

Look Israel has weapons... they can manage. If they want to expand then they should deal with the problems that come with it.
That's not the our agenda.
Israel has come a long way with U.S. assistance­. If they don't want to be a part of the peace process then let the chips falls, it's their problem. They can use all the weapons we have given them to defend themselves­.

[Eric4969]

11:12 AM on 03/11/2010

LOL I would like to see how us Americans would Act if we we're in Palistines Position. Un able to move freely. Isreal controls your Water & Goods so your always short on supplies and Medicine. The truth sad to say is we would Prob become Radical as well. Yeh i know NO WE WOULDN'T well until you live in their enviroment you realy coudn't say for sure but knowing our ME first here in America I would bet Money you would become a Radical...­.....Katri­na didn't take long before we turned on each other and some became radical. Just a thought

[David Rozgonyi]

11:17 AM on 03/11/2010

I'll tell you how we Hungarians acted in 1956:

Hungary was occupied by the Russians as everyone knows. In 1956, with the United States promising to assist, Hungarians revolted in Budapest. For a week, barely-arm­ed with homemade weapons and child soldiers, Hungarians massacred almost every Russian and AVO (hungarian­/russian secret service) in Budapest. They threw them out of windows, they hung them from trees, they stomped them into the gutters and spat on their bodies. When needless to say US help was not coming as promised, the Russians came back and returned the favor. In the fighting against the occupiers, the Hungarians hid in public buildings, sheltered exactly as Palestinia­n fighters do today, used similar weapons; there are even cases of what amount to suicide attacks on approachin­g tanks by men and even children. Eventually­, the uprising was put down, and Hungary wasn't freed till 1989. Oh, and we hold a terrible grudge for Trianon land theft (72% of Hungary reallocate­d to her neighbors)­.

My point? It is easy to say there is something in Islam that allows for such dirty fighting, or that "they" are different from us. Wrong. Any human being is capable of this if pushed far enough and long enough and hard enough, and they do not see a way out of their misery. The US and Isr. (being the occupiers and funding the occupiers) do not learn from this history at their peril.

[SpoonieLuv]

12:56 PM on 03/11/2010

If Americans were in that situation, I'd give it about a week until Jerusalem was renamed 'New Washington­.'

[David Rozgonyi]

12:59 PM on 03/11/2010

Ha ha! Too true...

[Peter Noble 2]

12:52 PM on 03/12/2010

If Americans were without real support, nearly starved to death and denied medicines.­.I'd give it 6 months before we'd be willing to strap on a bomb and take out the enemy.. if that's all we had apart from rocks and old WW2 rifles.