4/6     Lebanese minster thanks Pelosi for her visit to Syria:
        "Her visit was a godsend to an isolated and beleaguered regime," says a
        Lebanese minister. "The Syrian regime, which had been thinking of
        bowing to international pressure, is now reassured: All it has to do is
        to wait until Pelosi's party takes over the White House in 2009."
        http://csua.org/u/ien
        \_ YA!!! now they can openly support terrorism in 2009!!
        \_ Yeah, that unsourced quote in a NY Post op-ed piece doesn't sound
           the least bit made up to me.
           \_ Now wait a second.  Are you accusing the Post of fabricating a
              quote from a Lebanese minster?
              \_ If pp's not, I am. -!pp
        \_ "...the region's current trend toward reform and liberalization
            would largely come to a halt." Typical delusional neocon
            fantasizing. Does he mean the election of Hamas, the civil war
            in Iraq, the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan or Iran's recent
            advances toward nuclear weapons and more belligerent attitude
            toward The West? Perhaps he means Mubarak's cancelling of
            elections and outlawing of opposition parties in Egypt. The author
            should just put on a flight suit and declare "Mission Accomplished!"
            \_ You forgot Lebanon's missile attacks on Isreal, and Isreal's
               subsequent invasion.  -tom
            \_ Just an FYI, Iran has not stopped working on their nuke program
               since it started ~20 years ago, nor has their attitude changed
               in the least since 1979.  The Taliban also dates back for about
               20 years also.  Mubarak has always been a thug but "he's *our*
               thug!" so it's ok.  And in additon to what tom added, you also
               forgot Intifada I and II which was the first time anyone
               strapped a bomb onto a child.  At no time *ever* in recorded
               history has the middle east ever been civilised or any less
               basket-casey than it is today.
               \_ Perhaps you are unfamiliar with the Kamikaze in WWII.
                  The Middle East was quite stable under Ottoman Empire rule.
                  \_ Are you suggesting that the Japanese strapped bombs onto
                     children and used them as kamikaze pilots? 'Cos I just
                     want to be clear on this before I call you an idiot.
                     \- re: "first time anyone ever strapped a bomb on to a
                        child" ... that's not correct. in the vietnam war,
                        is is supposed to have happened. also comparable things
                        happened like standing children in the middle of roads
                        so convoys/trucks would stop and could be attacked
                        [first they tried it with cattle, but later "escalated"
                        to people]. i dont recall if this has happened in the
                        sri lankan conflict ... certainly teenagers were
                        involved, not sure about young children. has it not
                        occurred to you instead of taking this only as a
                        lesson about "what kinds of degenerates are these"
                        that the take away might be "things are pretty fucked
                        up for people who'd resort to this kind of thing."
                     \_ There are documented cases of 16 year old Kamikaze
                        pilots. Sorry reality is such a bummer to you.
                        \_ Congratulations: you're half right, so you're only
                           half an idiot.
                        \_ Uh oh, you found other times where kids were
                           strapped to bombs and pointed.  Yeah, that makes
                           it ok in the middle east, too.  Ok, thanks for
                           the correction.  I'll mentally remove that from
                           my list of middle east insanity.  Glad you found
                           the trees.  Seen the forest yet?