Condi Update: "Honey, I Lost The Mid-East!"

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What are the chances anyone will look back at the Condi years at the State Department and refer to "The Rice Doctrine?"

... And, when convention calls for "making nice" in posed shots with heads of state, what could possibly lead to scenes of hectoring and debate?  Besides the Mubarak pictures, I thought the top right image with Egyptian Foreign Minister Gheit was particularly characteristic of Rice (and the administration's foreign policy).  They are no longer engaged strategically (to the extent they ever were) so much as stubbornly (and now, desperately) looking for openings to continue imposing their will.

As relations continues to deteriorate, the theme of the Condi doctrine becomes more crystallized ever day.  Call it:  "Who Knew?"

Last week, Rice was in Egypt and Saudi Arabia arguing for (or, likely, with) both countries to withhold funding for Hamas, the organization Rice "never anticipated" would win the Palestinian elections.  Consistent with the competency of the Secretary and her team, there was this telltale sentence embedded in the NYT write up on the Saudi leg of the trip:

Saudi Arabia's position on Hamas had been enigmatic until now, and on the way here senior State Department officials said they were not sure what the Saudis would say.

What the Egyptians and Saudis would say -- as illustrated -- was to get lost.

(image 1: Reuters/Stringer. February 22, 2006. Cairo, Egypt. Via YahooNews. image 2: Nasser Nasser/AP. February 21, 2006. Cairo, Egypt. Via YahooNews. image 3: Khaled Desouk/AFPi. February 22, 2006. Cairo, Egypt. Via YahooNews. image 4: Nasser Nasser/AP. February 21, 2006. Cairo, Egypt. Via YahooNews.)

Comments

[black dog barking]

…the theme of the Condi doctrine becomes more crystallized everyday: "Who Knew?"

The Condi Doctrine is her improvisation and implementation of the overarching theme of the Rove Administration. Stated simply – Now What?

[error27]

I visited someone working in rebel controlled Sudan a couple years ago, after the north-south civil war had ended. The rebels couldn't officially tax anyone without upsetting the UN and the peace process, but they still had to feed their military.

In our area they scammed food from the WFO. It was a good system because no one got hurt. During the war, the army would just take food at gun point. That was like taxes but with more killings.

Now Israel is withholding $50 million in taxes that it owes to Palestine and the US is withholding aid.

US foreign policy under Bush is that you don't negotiate. You don't negotiate with Arafat. You don't negotiate with North Korea. You don't negotiate with Iran. You don't negotiate with the UN. You don't negotiate with Hamas.

Palestine is going to try get funding somehow. If we were giving aid to Palestine we could apply pressure to help the peace process there. No only Iran has a say...

[marysz]

Rice has real chutzpah--first she lectures the Middle East about democracy. Then, when a democratic election (complete with international observers) is held in Palestine and Hamas wins, she invites herself on a trip to the Middle East to try to get them to financially starve the Palestinian government. She wants to punish them for holding a democratic election. Is this nerve or what? It's surreal. This is what passes for American foreign policy these days. I like the graphic of the chicken with its head cut off. There's no credit listed for it, but looks like it's by Bob Blechman.

[momly]

I said to my husband when Hamas won the election that "growing democracies" for this administration is sort of like turning your car over to your teenager; you may not like where they are going but YOU gave them the durn keys.

Anyway, what I wanted to say was I sorta feel sorry for Rice; someone somewhere will say her incompetence stems from her gender but I think it stems from the fact that she is a size ten foot trying to squeeze into a size seven boot. ( I always seem to imagine shoes when I think of her for some reason.....) Soviet expert? Where are the soviets?

[momly]

Signing back on to say that the expressions on her face are less scowly than usual. These MUST be staged - she looks entirely too comfortable and at ease. She usually looks like she is v-e-r-y t-i-g-h-t-l-y wound.

[Megan]

There is nothing in the center of any of the four pictures. Empty white space in the two left pictures; empty dark space in the two right pictures. With no opportunities to be in the center, they can only take sides.

[mugatea]

Are those excessively expensive shoes on the headless chicken?

[jt from BC]

The name "Condoleezza" is derived from the Italian music-related expression,"Con dolcezza" meaning "with sweetness" (wiki)

Its not surprising her mother a music teacher would prepare a highly talented daughter for a career as a concert pianist.

I don't know how the Rice doctrine will go down in history but I'll always wonder if the mother was overly optimistic or her daughter became by nature progressively deranged in temperament and in contradiction with these musical related words (name) derived from the nomenclature of art.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Gheit's hands indicate a middle path, he is a bold or foolish man ignoring Condi as she does the two handed index finger draw directed toward his eyes.

Position # 1 learned from Karate Sensi Rumsfeld ?
Compare her Viper Fang with Donald's Viper Fang.
As she travels more frequently "in that rough neighbourhood" it will be interesting to observe her Karate progress in conjunction with her diplomatic stances.

Rumsfeld Fighting Technique:
http://poe-news.com/features.php?feat=31845

[pjr]

The further irony is that Rice never saw the snubs coming.....

[ummabdulla]

The two photos with Hosni Mubarak look like the kind that are taken before any actual discussions take place, just to get pictures to show on government news broadcasts. If so, it's unusual that they're already in an animated conversation.

There was a time when senior U.S. officials made tours of the Middle East to issue orders to various governments, knowing that they'd be followed. I think that time is over, at least for a while. Rulers like Hosni Mubarak have some leverage of their own now.

The chicken with its head cut off is a good symbol. They have too much going on and don't know how to handle even that, and new problems keep coming up. Aside from all that, they may be trying to add more issues, like an attack on Iran...

[ISY Not]

All four of these pictures have sexual overtones.
One could have considerable fun making up captions to go with each one. Placed in the correct order they would then make up quite the funny comic strip.

[Quentin]

They'll look back on the Miss Muschroom Cloud years and say that then the good old U.S. of A. had no Secretary of State. Just like it had not president.

[ziz]

One reason (amongst many) why the reign of Condi the bathroom assistant to the President will not linger in the memory is her "drive by diplomacy"... this must be Wednesday afternoon it must be Beirut (where she lasted all of 4 hours).

But then it doesn't take long to tell her to fuck off, even in Arabic.

(Of course she didn't make it to Indonesia - she was so upset by the "out of the blue" election of Hamas.)

The world has woken up to the fact that US military might is great at bombing from 22,000 feet and upwards, but that is where their power and influence ends.

Robert Coover has a wonderful story "Whatever happened to Gloomy Gus of the Chicago Bears" concerning GG who has to be taught to make love by numbers, He gets confused by the coach shouting numbers for plays and his lovemaking with disatrous impact on the cheerleaders.

Condi reminds me of him ... I followed the book and it didn't work. The lady lacks the human relationship needed to understand how to relate to people ... perhaps it tells you why their is no man (or woman) in HER life.

Anyway she knows what to do in the bathroom at the White House ... puts her on a par with pudding Lewinsky I guess.... eeeek but those teeth!!!!

[gleex]

Great call ISY Not, good eye.

Looks like a fish story, perhaps they are measuring and now with these fools in charge the US is not coming up with the big fish anymore - only a fish tale.