South by Southwest: Condoleezza, Puh-leeze!

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Condoleezza, Puh-leeze!

There are those who feel offended by a statement last Friday by our Secretary of State. The tendency to conflate within this administration is very disturbing. Condoleezza Rice, unfortunately, juxtaposed (giving birth) with the (Israeli-Hezbollah conflict). Rice's comparison, of the current violence in the Middle East to the much more natural and honored experience of a woman giving birth, implies an unquestioning acceptance of violence that is unnerving. Here is the Condoleezza Rice quote from Yahoo News!

. . . Rice warned that demands from many of those nations for an immediate ceasefire belonged in the "old" Middle East as they ignored what Washington said was the cause of the conflict. "A ceasefire would be a false promise if it simply returns us to the status quo," Rice said.
"This is a different Middle East. It's a new Middle East. It's hard, We're going through a very violent time," she said.
"What we're seeing here ... are the birth pangs of a new Middle East and whatever we do, we have to be certain that we are pushing forward to the new Middle East, not going back to the old one."In another sign that diplomatic efforts were reaching a higher gear, the White House said Rice would join President George W. Bush Sunday to discuss the crisis with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.

Others feel heartened by the comment - Prophesy in the news discusses Secretary Rice's comment. To quote,

Well my friend Javier has just sent another prophetically explosive image. I am absolutely shocked at what is occurring this week. Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to visit the Middle East by the end of the week. President Bush's administration expressed the opinion that there was little point to calling for a cease fire now, and have this problem raise its ugly head six months down the line, so they have given Israel more time to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure before pressing for an agreement. The Iranian and Syrian Presidents have expressed their opinion that if Hizbullah is defeated by Israel, this will create an entirely new situation in the Middle East, one devoid of Iranian influence. A stable Lebanon and a secure Israel would go someway towards creating a peaceful Middle Eastern region if the war continues, which war US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has apparently stated is the "Birth Pangs of the new Middle East". Quote,
"I think we are beginning to see the outlines of a political framework that might allow the cessation of violence in a more sustainable way, tied to 1559, tied to what is there in the G-8 statement. The elements are becoming quite clear. But I have no interest in diplomacy for the sake of returning Lebanon and Israel to the status quo ante. I think it would be a mistake. What we're seeing here, in a sense, is the growing -- the birth pangs of a new Middle East."
Anybody who knows their Bible will identify immediately with the phrase "birth pangs". Birth pangs are mentioned several times in the Scriptures, but most notably in 1st Thessalonians 5 and Revelation 12. Birth pangs in the literal sense are indicators of how close a child is to birth, and they increase in intensity and frequency as the child is about to be born. In the Scriptural sense, birth pangs are prophetical indicators of how close we are to a particular accomplishment in God's prophetic calendar, and these prophetical indicators also increase in intensity and frequency as we have been seeing. Both 1st Thessalonians 5 and Revelation 12 refer to the tribulation period, and describe the sorrow Israel must go through before she sees her Messiah at the Second Coming of Christ.

Our opponents characterize the Rice statement with this headline: "Rice sees bombs as birth pangs" from KatazCenter.com; they are using an Aljazeera story.

Lack of originality in this administration is a problem. Ms. Rice did not make up the idea of democracy's birth pangs. It seems that they are getting many of their ideas from people outside.
For example, Francis Fukuyama wrote about the (birth pangs idea) regarding the Balkans in 1995. His article, "The Primacy of Culture," is carried in the June, 2006 Journal of Democracy. An article on 12/11/00 appeared in Central Europe Review, referring to the birth pangs of democracy in the Balkans. And Simon Tisdall wrote an article for Salon, March 1, 2005 titled "Democracy's Birth Pangs." It referred to the possible loosening grip of state control by Egypt's Mubarek.
Secretary of State Rice is headed to the Middle East this afternoon, shortly after meeting with her boss, as well as the Veep with the Saudis, according to Reuters.
The Strategy - Tom Friedman, in a CNBC 7/22/06 interview with Tim Russert laid out a possible strategy of breaking the Syrian-Iran alliance as a way around the current ME crisis. (I am paraphrasing, due to the lack of a transcript. Therefore I am currently listening to a rebroadcast on MSNBC.) Friedman asked "what would Henry Kissinger do?" Friedman's answer is to ask, "What is the game changer, what is the new opportunity? Syria belongs back in the Sunni fold. What are the carrots and sticks the U.S. could explore during the trip?" Friedman was on his way to the Middle East following the interview.
Analysis of the strategy -At the same time, The New York Times published a very similar analysis of the Bush administration's foreign policy plans for dealing with the crisis in the Middle East.

As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to Israel on Sunday, Bush administration officials say they recognize Syria is central to any plans to resolve the crisis in the Middle East, and they are seeking ways to peel Syria away from its alliance of convenience with Iran.
In interviews, senior administration officials said they had no plans right now to resume direct talks with the Syrian government. . . . But officials said this week that they were at the beginning stages of a plan to encourage Saudi Arabia and Egypt to make the case to the Syrians that they must turn against Hezbollah.
With the crisis at such a pivotal stage, officials who are involved in the delicate negotiations to end it agreed to speak about their expectations only if they were not quoted by name.
“We think that the Syrians will listen to their Arab neighbors on this rather than us,’’ a senior official said, “so it’s all a question of how well that can be orchestrated.’’