Bush follows Christ

From an "ANALYSIS" in The Australian, by Abraham Rabinovich January 12, 2008 [excerpts only, with my own emphasis added - may not convey the author's intended, ridiculous, message...SL]:

BETWEEN his complex round of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and a five-day foray to the Persian Gulf, George W. Bush paused briefly yesterday on the biblical Mount of Beatitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee to contemplate the message delivered there 2000 years before: "blessed are the peacemakers".

...he traced the footsteps of Jesus Christ in the Holy Land...

....Bush's peacemaking efforts extended even to internal Israeli politics. At a farewell dinner at the home of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Bush urged the leaders of two right-wing coalition parties not to leave the Government as they have threatened to do if Olmert negotiates further Israeli withdrawals on the West Bank and in Jerusalem.
"Take care of Olmert, so he will stay in power," said Bush. "He's a strong leader."

One of these leaders, Eli Yishai of the religious Shas party, said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not control the Gaza Strip and was therefore not a suitable negotiating partner.
"We cannot make peace with half the Palestinian nation." [Note that Abbas doesn't even control the West Bank .... why does he NEVER venture out of Ramallah? - SL]

....When Bush visited the provisional Palestinian capital, Ramallah, he was guarded by three circles of security men - US secret service agents, US marines and, in the outer circle, Palestinian security forces. The Palestinian guards carried rifles but they were not provided with ammunition. Many of the attacks on Israelis in the West Bank have been carried out by security men wearing the uniform of the Palestinian Authority led by Abbas, but whose allegiance lies with Hamas or other militant groups. Bush, therefore, had to be protected from his own guards.

...He appeared to gain spiritual sustenance in visits to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, marking where Christ is believed to have been born, and the site of the Sermon on the Mount.