Where are the Christians?
By Pat Buchanan

But where are the Christians? Why is Pope Benedict virtually alone among Christian leaders to have spoken out against what is being done to Lebanese Christians and Muslims?

When al-Qaida captured two U.S. soldiers and barbarically butchered them, the U.S. Army did not smash power plants across the Sunni Triangle. Why then is Bush not only silent but openly supportive when Israelis do this? (snip)

Already, Bush is ranting about Syria being behind the Hezbollah capture of the Israeli soldiers. But where is the proof?

Who is whispering in his ear? The same people who told him Iraq was maybe months away from an atom bomb, that an invasion would be a "cakewalk," that he would be Churchill, that U.S. troops would be greeted with candy and flowers, that democracy would break out across the region, that Palestinians and Israelis would then sit down and make peace?

How much must America pay for the education of this man?

'Hardball with Chris Matthews' for July 19

MATTHEWS: Great, thank you very much. Please keep coming back, Andrew Lee Butters in Beirut.

Let‘s bring in now two political analysts, Pat Buchanan and of course Bob Shrum, both with us regularly. Pat, let‘s go through the politics of this situation. The neocons are out there complaining that this president isn‘t tough enough. I have no idea what they mean, 50,000 dead in Iraq, it was supposed to be a cake walk. Ken Edelman‘s out there today saying we should go other places, you have got guys who have wanted to blow up every Arab country on their list. Why is going on in their complaint and why does the president pays five seconds attention to them?

PAT BUCHANAN, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: I don‘t know why he pays attention to them, Chris. What they want, Chris, is a wider war, especially in the Middle East. They want the United States to fight Israel‘s war against Hezbollah, Syria but especially Iran.

And the Israelis want us to fight Iran‘s well. But it‘s not in the interest of the United States. None of those countries, even Hezbollah and Hamas have not attacked the United States of America. I don‘t think the country is listening to the neocons anymore. I think they‘re discredited. The question is, is Bush listening to them, because he was gone for awhile up through his second inaugural, very much according to a script they wrote.

MATTHEWS: Literally.

BUCHANAN: Yes.

(snip)

MATTHEWS: I just wonder Pat about the simple history. We know from looking at the Arab world, as we‘ve come to understand it, that there‘s this division between the Shia, who are on the outs and they‘re coming to be the ins of course in Iraq and they‘re certainly already in control of Iran, taking on Sunnis, that‘s a war we‘re only vaguely understanding. That‘s a 1,000-year-old war. Do you think we‘re creating another 1,000 year war by killing so many Arabs? I‘ve been afraid of this war from day one, because I‘ve always felt, based on history, every time you somebody, you‘ve got his brother, his mother, his family coming back to get you. We‘ve killed 50,000 Iraqis in a war that was supposed to be a two-day wonder.

When are we going to notice that the neocons don‘t know what they‘re talking about? They‘re not looking at this country‘s long-term interests. They‘re bound up in regional and global ideology and they have had no experience, I‘ll say it again, in even a school yard fight. They don‘t know what physical fighting is all about. They went to school and were intellectuals, but they he want our government to be their big brother. I don‘t get it. I don‘t know why we keep falling for it and the president, you say is he free of these guys yet or not?

BUCHANAN: Well, the president fell for it after 9-11 when they put their little precooked meal in front of him after he knocked down Afghanistan and so they said let‘s do Iraq now and Wolfowitz and all the rest of them. But let me say this Chris, I think the president realizes now that we went into Iraq to pursue weapons that did not exist, a country that did not attack us, did not threaten us, and now we have created a great base camp for terrorism in the Anbar province, the west there, that did not exist.

In response to Mr. Shrum, not only the 150,000 hostages, you attack Iran, Hezbollah will retaliate against the 25,000 Americans in Lebanon, you will have massive hostage takings and killings. Are these people nuts? You‘ve got to ask yourself. I certainly hope the president is not listening to them, because I really question whether they‘ve got America‘s national interest at heart. They are calling for wars against people that never attacked us. I don‘t care how bad they are. There are wicked people all over this world, but you don‘t go after people unless they come after you.

Analysis- Pat Buchanan has it right not only about the silent religious leaders but he is thinking of what is good for the U.S. All I can say is to repeat Pat's question where are the Christians? People are suffering and dying yet I here nothing but Israel good Arab bad. Who is trying to stop the killing? Sitting back and pointing fingers is easy but changes nothing.


Holy War
As the Middle East burns, GOP pols, neocon pundits, and a powerful Christian right leader all sing the same (crazy) tune.
In the June issue of the Prospect, I wrote about Texas televangelist John Hagee, an Armageddon prophesier who insists that military confrontation with Iran is foretold in the Bible as a necessary precondition for the Second Coming.

This is not my religion. This is a religion that has been hijacked for political purposes and I wan't my religion back. A religion of peace.