“The State Department ‘strongly deplored’ an Israeli helicopter attack Sunday on the office of a militant Palestinian group that killed eight people, including two children, but the White House issued a more measured statement urging that both sides abide by a US-brokered cease-fire agreement,” writes the Washington Post on Wednesday this week.
“This marked the second time in as many days that the White House was more reluctant than State to weigh in aggressively on the mounting turmoil in the Middle East.
On Monday, the White House played down the prospect that the United States would soon send monitors to the region, an initiative that American diplomats have been trying to sell to Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
“Former American diplomats attributed the gap between the State Department and the White House to their different audiences. While State does daily business with foreign governments alarmed by Israeli tactics and the surging violence, the White House has its sights on domestic politics and the sensitivities of a pro-Israel Congress,” writes the Post.
“...At the State Department, which has repeatedly criticized Israeli assassinations of suspected Palestinian militants, officials used especially tough language Sunday after the attack on a Hamas political office in Nablus.
“We deeply regret and strongly deplore the killing of civilians,” said State Department spokesman Charles F. Hunter.
“We condemn terror in the strongest possible terms. The Israeli action today, however, was excessive. The attack represents an escalation, is highly provocative and makes efforts to restore calm much more difficult.”
“Hunter said Sunday’s violence represented a ‘new and dangerous escalation’ and warned, ‘Both sides should recognize that down the path of escalation and retaliation lies disaster.’ He added that Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage had raised American concerns about the killings with Israeli Cabinet secretary Gideon Saar, who began a visit to Washington Sunday.
The Post says that shortly after State Department officials issued their condemnation of Israeli tactics, President Bush made a far more restrained statement.
“I wish the levels of violence were lower than they are today. A couple of weeks ago it looked like we had made progress, and then the violence spiked. That means the United States will continue to stay actively involved and urging there to be calm and urging both parties to resist the temptation to resort to violence,’ Bush said.”
Gushing admiration
“Monday’s ‘Good Morning America’ made the odd ethical judgment that instead of having Diane Sawyer handle the subject (of Bill Clinton’s office-opening in Harlem), they would allow former Clinton operative George Stephanopoulos, the substitute co-host of the show, interview current Clinton spinner Joe Lockhart, who orchestrated the PR for Clinton’s office opening. But Stephanopoulos wasn’t the ABC reporter who gushed the most over Bill Clinton,” the Media Research Center’s Brent Baker writes.
“Before the interview, Robin Roberts checked in from Harlem to preview the upcoming celebration. She maintained that there are two Bill Clintons, ‘the one who loves glamour, the one who wants to make the world a better place.’ How nice. Where’s the mean, dishonest and disreputable Clinton? Later, she raved: ‘Today, by public relations design, he becomes an honorary homeboy.’ That gush led into another from Clinton’s former chief of staff, John Podesta, who exulted: ‘He’s a person who always is thinking about tomorrow.’
“Stephanopoulos naturally didn’t ask any tough questions, instead starting by worrying about how Clinton’s mood during the pardon controversy ‘was even darker than it had been during the height of the impeachment scandal.’”
US Muslim groups
hold leadership summit
Leaders of ten national American Muslim organizations met Sunday to outline a joint strategy for dealing with issues related to the Islamic community in the United States.
The American Muslim Political Coordination Council (AMPCC) called for the meeting. Topics discussed at the summit included: 1) ways in which the various segments of the Muslim community can unite on key issues, 2) the necessity to ensure that Imam Jamil Al-Amin receives due process during his upcoming trial, 3) identifying and challenging groups and lobbying efforts attempting to block American Muslim political participation, 4) increasing political support for the Secret Evidence Repeal Act (H.R. 1266) currently under consideration in Congress, 5) mobilization of Muslim voters for the 2002-2004 elections, and 6) the importance of American Muslim input on government policy and public discussions dealing with the issues of Sudan and Palestine.
A joint statement released following the summit stated:
“American Muslims have many opportunities and challenges. To take advantage of those opportunities and effectively face the challenges, we must draw strength from our diversity by mobilizing grassroots social and political activism.”
Groups represented at the summit included (in alphabetical order), American Muslim Alliance (AMA), American Muslim Council (AMC), American Muslims for Jerusalem (AMJ), Coalition for Good Government (CGG), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Muslim American Society Monitoring Team Mid-Atlantic Section, Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA), and Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC).
Clinton keeps $1 million in basic checking account
Former President Bill Clinton keeps over $1,000,000 in a regular checking account, a report out of Washington reveals.
Adjusting to life out of the White House, Clinton is apparently no whiz when it comes to investing his cash.
Accompanying the two-term president to an automated teller machine recently, one aide saw that he was keeping a balance of a million dollars in an ordinary checking account, journalists reported.
Clinton’s bank account is about to get heavier yet this week with the expected announcement of a near-record book deal struck between a yet-to-be-identified publishing house and Bill Clinton.
Clinton is said to have considered a multi-book deal in which he would try his hand at writing fiction as well as a memoir. But in the end, Clinton decided to pen a single memoir for an advance in the neighborhood of the $8 million that Hillary Clinton received.
