C. David Welch: Murderous Motherfucker.

"I like this violence," says the skinny U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and career bag man for the U.S. State Department. Palestinians killing each other thanks to the noble efforts of the Bush-Cheney Machine and its U.S. State Department appendage. What's not to like?

One of the truly wonderful things about being totally bereft of professional and social ambitions is that it affords me the cathartic luxury of calling a sitting State Department official a murderous motherfucker.

I know name-calling isn't nice. It isn't civil. It isn't pretty. It isn't supposed to be. They're lying, murderous motherfuckers. Just how much civility are they entitled to?

By way of this post at Chris Floyd's Empire Burlesque, I waded through the blood to A Tiny Revolution where Jonathan Shwartz has assembled the pieces of this exemplary model of American diplomacy in action. It is a must-read. Go there for the details and come back for the polemic.

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When he isn't crafting devious methods of killing people, C. David Welch likes to inspire young people. Last September, he delivered a convocation address to the bright & shiney faces at The Fletcher School at Tufts University:

“While making progress on the Arab-Israeli conflict remains a core concern, the ability of the international community and determined states in the region to improve the economic and political situation in the many nations of the region remain the only way to create the conditions for real development and lasting stability,” Welch said. “To the degree that we and they are successful the ambitions of radicals and extremists will fail.”

He continued, “We are under no illusions. We know how hard conflict resolution and reform in the region will be. But I am an optimist and I think we can succeed. As I said before, the Middle East is a region in transition and it has come to a crossroads. U.S. leadership is key. How we respond will define our relationship with the region for the foreseeable future.”

If C. David Welch is an optimist, I'll stick with pessimism.

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When The Empire's henchmen exalt democracy in Palestine and the inside job goes awry, there is only one option: Flood the place with enough weapons and briefcases full of crisp, U.S. taxpayer dollars to spark a civil war. It's a win-win situation, or win-win-win situation if you count the arms dealers. The world stops laughing at the egg on Uncle Sam's dour face. Israel takes a breather. And the Palestinians become preoccupied with killing each other instead of building a functional government, critical infrastructure and attracting enough foreign invesment to feed, educate and employ the men, women and children who live there.

Sure, innocent people die, but what's a patriot to do.

If you're George W. Bush or one of his many surrogates, you have an orgy of self-congratulation and tell everyone who will listen, Those people have been killing each other for a million years.

If you're Congress, you express solidarity with Israel.

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In Palestine, elected or not, the bad guys cannot be allowed to succeed. Neither can the good guys. In fact, the only feature distinguishing the good guys from the bad guys is the number of rounds they're willing to go before taking a dive for Washington, D.C.. Success is not an option. It never has been.

When Syria or Iran stand accused of similar involvement in Lebanon or Iraq, the word terrorism gushes out of every television and media command center in the Western hemisphere.

When my government does this in Palestine, the C. David Welch's of The Empire call it U.S. leadership.

I call it criminal.