Iraq war was good for Israel: Olmert

[NNN0LHI]

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-11-22T201536Z_01_L22136236_RTRUKOC_0_US-ISRAEL-USA-IRAQ.xml&WTmodLoc=IntNewsHome_C2_worldNews-3

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Iraq war was a boon for Israel's security, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Wednesday, voicing fresh endorsement for a Bush administration sapped by the unpopularity at home of its Middle East policies.

The mid-term election losses of U.S. President George W. Bush's Republican Party were widely considered a repudiation of his decision to topple Iraq's Saddam Hussein as part of a vision of democratizing the region and bolstering allies like Israel.

Olmert avoided explicit comment on the Republicans' fortunes during Washington talks with Bush earlier this month. But in a speech to visiting American Jews, Olmert made clear he had few regrets about the changes wrought by the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

"I know all of his (Bush's) policies are controversial in America. There are some who support his policies in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, and some who do not," he said.

[spillthebeans]

1. I wonder what the Israelis say about the Lebanon war

[Nikki Stone1]

2. Well, this will feed the conspiracy theorists

..

[madrchsod]

3. the guy is fucking bat shit crazy

and those two deserve each other

[jannyk]

4. What does he mean 'was'?

Does that mean it's no longer useful to Israel and we can go home now - please?

[muntrv]

5. How does he feel about a stronger Iran?

[PartTimeSatanist]

6. Hey, whatever kills Arabs/Muslims is good in his mind.

"There are some who support his policies in the Middle East" he says... yeah, by and large they are called Israelis.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[theoldman]

8. There were only two reasons to start a war with Iraq.

One was to control their oil. The other was to destroy a country strong enough to wipe out Israel. Without our help, Israel cannot survive. The present problem with Iran is that eventually they also will be able to destroy Israel. The US is caught in the middle.

[HereSince1628]

9. With friends like that we don't need to alienate the Jihadists against us

we can simply off-shore it. :(

Why does Olmert hate us?

[partylessinOhio]

10. Oh, I'm shocked!

:sarcasm:

[malaise]

11. That makes two of us n/t