WAIT a minute. Junior says Israel is our "oldest and best friend?" I thought that was MEXICO!

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Bush pushes peace, says U.S. "best friend" to Israel

Tabassum Zakaria
Reuters US Online Report Top News

May 14, 2008 17:29 EST

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President George W. Bush, in the Middle East to encourage struggling Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, has emphasized historic ties with Israel

saying the United States was its "oldest and best friend in the world."

Bush, in Jerusalem to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Israel's creation, will visit the Roman-era fort at Masada and give a speech before the Knesset on Thursday.

Before making his second trip this year and also of his presidency to Israel, Bush had expressed hope that a peace deal could be reached by the time he leaves office in January, despite obstacles that have cropped up since promises were made in Annapolis, Maryland, last November.

In the latest setback to an agreement with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been hit by calls to resign over suspicions he took bribes from a U.S. businessman.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Bush_pushes_peace_says_U_S_best_fri_05142008.html

Grown Cautious, Fox Expects Delay on U.S. Action on Migrants

By GINGER THOMPSON
Published: March 4, 2004

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E3DE133FF937A35750C0A9629C8B63



Three years ago,

Mr. Bush visited Mr. Fox's family ranch in the northern state of Guanajuato and proclaimed that America had no greater friend than Mexico.

Several months later, Mr. Fox became the first state visitor to the Bush White House.

But the warm personal relationship between the two was severely strained after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, when the Bush administration abandoned its promises to work on a migration accord with Mexico and Mexico voted against war with Iraq at the United Nations. Since then, Mr. Fox and Mr. Bush have had have had little more than stiff and fleeting encounters.

The chill began to thaw in January when Mr. Bush announced his plans for the most comprehensive overhaul of American immigration policy in recent years. Most Mexicans praised the proposal for giving undocumented immigrants opportunities to work legally in the United States and be reunited with their families. Others, however, said it would allow the United States to enjoy the economic benefits of low-cost immigrant labor without offering workers the protections that come with permanent residency.

[ColbertWatcher]

1. I thought it was France. n/t

[MichiganVote]

2. Don't forget Poland!!

[Amerigo Vespucci]

9. I ALWAYS forget Poland! DAMMIT!

:rofl:

:toast:

[whistle]

3. Dubya obviously does not know Mexico from the Middle East just like

...he does not know shit from shinola!

[uppityperson]

4. You have it backwards. He said USA was oldest/best friend to Israel.

So "America" can have no greater friend than Mexico.

The USA is the oldest/best friend to Israel, while Mexico is the USAs greatest friend. Forgetting all them illegals that we're building a fence to keep out, and all that minor stuff.

[bluebellbaby]

5. Wait wasn't our oldest friend France...didn't they support us in the Revolution?

Oh that's right...they didn't support Bush's war so we got "Freedom Fries"...good god when will the bush nightmare end?!

[Thothmes]

17. Dont forget the the Quasi-war with the French

in the early 1800s

[importDavid]

6. Canada? n/m

.

[Muttocracy]

7. Great Britain? nt

[EFerrari]

12. France. n/t

[Muttocracy]

13. I agree, France (unless we back it up to certain Native Americans)

just seems like politicians always say that about the UK/GB/England. Ya know, the folks who burned Washington, D.C. :crazy:

[whistle]

8. Ooops, and then there was the USS Liberty incident when Isreal

...bombed a U.S. naval vessel and killed 34 U.S. servicemen and wounded 173 others

<snip>
The USS Liberty incident was an attack on a U.S. Navy intelligence ship, USS Liberty, in international waters about 12.5 nautical miles (23 km) from the coast of the Sinai Peninsula, north of El Arish, by Israeli fighter planes and torpedo boats on June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War (a conflict between Israel and the Arab states of Egypt, Jordan and Syria). The attack, which killed 34 U.S. servicemen and wounded at least 173, was the second deadliest against a U.S. Naval vessel since the end of World War II, surpassed only by the Iraqi Exocet missile attack on the USS Stark on May 17, 1987, and marked the single greatest loss of life by the U.S. intelligence community.

Israel's official position is that the attack was an accident. Officials say they were assured by the United States that no U.S. ships were in the area, and that its air and naval forces mistakenly identified the Liberty as the Egyptian vessel El Quseir. Supporters of this position say that no credible motive existed for Israel to initiate a surprise attack against an important ally and the possibility of such mistakes were inherent in the tense atmosphere of the Six-Day War. The United States government was concerned about such dangers and ordered the Liberty further away from shore but the order was not received in time due to a series of communication failures.<1> Similar errors by military forces have occurred throughout history and continue to occur today. These types of incidents have become known as friendly fire incidents and are listed there.

Others claim that the attack was premeditated and deliberate. They note that the Liberty was more than twice as large as the El Quseir, and was clearly designated with Latin rather than Arabic letters. Proponents include the surviving Liberty crewmen, <2> and some former U.S. government officials, including then-CIA director Richard Helms and then-Secretary of State Dean Rusk as well as Admiral Thomas Hinman Moorer, former Chief of Naval Operations and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Both the Israeli and American governments conducted multiple inquiries into the incident, and issued reports concluding that the attack was a tragic mistake, caused by confusion about the identity of the USS Liberty. On December 17, 1987, the issue was officially closed by the two governments through an exchange of diplomatic notes. Israel eventually paid nearly US$13 million in humanitarian reparations to the United States and in compensation to the families of the victims.<3> The conclusions reached in these reports remain controversial, and some veterans and intelligence officials who were involved in the incident continue to dispute the official story.<4>

<MORE>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident

[Ice-9]

10. I thought it was supposed to be the UK.

That whole "Anglo-American" alliance thing.

[Dogmudgeon]

11. Oldest? Since 1948?

Sure, Israel is one of our better friends, but the country as a modern state is only 60 years old (as of last week, in fact).

Gotta hand it to Bush -- no detail is too large for him to overlook.

--p!

[Canuckistanian]

14. Israel has only existed since 1948

If that's your "oldest friend", you've got some problems making and keeping friends.

[RaleighNCDUer]

15. Our oldest friend in 230 years is 60 yr old Israel?

It's kind of creepy for an old guy to hang out with a young kid.

[LeftishBrit]

16. Thought it was good old us (the 51st state)...

Especially after all those years of Tony B. playing Benedict Arnold to an American Mad King George; not to mention the great love affair between Maggie and Ronnie.