Centerblue.org

The State Department announced today that Israel would briefly suspend bombardment of southern Lebanon in the wake of an attack in Qana that killed over 50 people, mostly women and children. There was no announcement from Israel itself.

Could someone explain why the US State Department is speaking for Israel? Does Israel not have a foreign minister? I can’t understand why the US can’t attempt some semblance of neutrality. Instead it seems content to fan the flames of hatred in the Arab world and let them think that the US and Israel or synonymous–or worse yet, that the US speaks for and is accountable for Israel’s actions.

Apparently the State Department has been lying to Congress about the true cost and schedules of reconstruction projects in Iraq. An audit revealed it hid construction overruns by listing them as overhead or administrative costs–in one case exceeding the original budgeted cost by more than 400%. It’s good to know our tax dollars are hard at work.