Lebanese leader: Bush
a 'mad emperor'

An opposition member of Lebanon's Parliament says the true axis of evil is one of "oil and Jews," calling President George W. Bush a "mad emperor" and Prime Minister Tony Blair an "imperial servant" with a "peacock appearance."

The comments were part of an article published Monday in Lebanon's English-language paper, The Daily Star, and distributed by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

Like much of the Arab media in the Middle East, Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt also rejoiced in the Columbia shuttle tragedy, reveling in the death of Israeli astronaut Col. Ilan Ramon.

In talking about the Bush administration, Jumblatt also targeted National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, calling her "oil-colored."

Here are excerpts from the article in The Daily Star:

Walid Jumblatt lashed out Sunday against Western politicians and "the Jews," calling on Arab leaders to hold popular referendums before allowing in foreign troops for a war against Iraq.

The Progressive Socialist Party leader also said he felt "great joy" at Saturday's destruction of the United States space shuttle Columbia, because it carried an Israeli astronaut who had taken part in aggression against "Lebanon and Iraq."

"The true axis of evil that rules the world today is an axis of oil and Jews," Jumblatt said at his family home of Mukhtara, Chouf.

"The oil axis is present in most of the U.S. administration, beginning with its president, vice president and top advisers, including (Condoleezza) Rice, who is oil-colored, while the axis of Jews is present with Paul Wolfowitz, the leading hawk who is inciting (America) to occupy and destroy Iraq," he continued.

The Druze leader described U.S. President George W. Bush, while delivering his State of the Union address last week, as someone who "considers himself God's deputy on Earth, threatening and classifying the world (into different camps), and relying on his imperial power."

"'How dangerous emperors are when they go mad. … In the same axis we have the trustworthy servant, the imperial servant … pleased with himself and his idiotic laugh, his peacock appearance, none other than Tony Blair," Jumblatt said.

"Also joining this axis is the comprador Mussolini of the 21st century, the prime minister of Italy today, Silvio Berlusconi, who seems to want to renew the empire of the Caesars.

"To complete the picture, we have Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, the Spanish neo-rightist, whom I could term a progressive Franco," said Jumblatt. …

"And by the way, Aznar and Blair spend a lot of time in front of the mirror every morning, it seems, so that their hair is parted perfectly," said Jumblatt.

"'People who pay that much attention to their appearance are fascists by nature. Or they have psychological or sexual complexes. I think the best way to understand (them) would be to … read Freud," he said. …

"In answer to the post-Sept. 11 question in America of 'why do they hate us?' … I would have liked to have felt sorry for the space shuttle that was destroyed (Saturday) but my joy was great because one of those killed was an Israeli astronaut who had previously been part of the Jewish criminal army, particularly against Lebanon and Iraq," Jumblatt said, referring to Israeli Col. Ilan Ramon, who participated in the mission that bombed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981.

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