From Juan Cole: http://tinyurl.com/rt8tg

Karen Hughes Denies Israel Has Blank Check
Fierce Fighting at Aita al-Shaab, Baalbak

Karen Hughes, W.'s official in charge of public diplomacy to the Muslim world, must be about the loneliest person in the world right now. The Neocons inside the administration have been trying to undermine her, from what I hear in Washington (since they don't want us to make a good impression on Muslims; they want us to kill them.) And, what with Iraq being a basket case and the Israelis bombing little children every day, her intended audience probably does not much want to hear from her right about now.

So it would not be surprising, though it will of course be denied, if she lost it and really did become startlingly frank in an interview for a Malaysian newspaper:

' Claims that Israel has a green light to fight in Lebanon until it ousts Hezbollah are “outrageous,” a top aide to President Bush said.
In interviews over the weekend with Malaysian media, Karen Hughes, Bush’s envoy for public diplomacy in the Middle East, rejected Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon’s claim of U.S. authorization to wipe out Hezbollah.

“That is an outrageous statement,” Hughes said.

“It is false, and my understanding is the government of Israel has disavowed it.”

She compared Ramon to Hezbollah ministers in the Lebanese government who launched the initial July 12 attack on Israel “without the permission of the government of Lebanon.” '

Oooops. Ms. Hughes has her heart in the right place, and one can only applaud her for being the only member of the Bush administration to dare use the word "outrageous" to describe any action of any Israeli official in the current war. But can even her old friendship with W. protect her from the backlash from these statements that will come in the Israel lobby in Washington?

And, if she said it, it draws the curtain aside as to how frustrated some members of the administration are with Israeli high-handedness in this war.
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