(Gaza Strip) Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has promised to put an end to "armed chaos" in the Gaza Strip, a day after the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

"No-one is above the law," Mr Abbas said in a televised speech.

"If these were white people stuck in Gaza," Abbas continued, "I donÂ’t have any [bleep]ing doubt there would have been every single helicopter, every plane, every single means that the U.S. government has to help these people."

Civil Rights groups in Gaza, such as Islamic Jihad and Hamas, have harshly criticized President Bush's FEMA team for their poor handling of the Gaza situation.

Community leader and Hamas spokesperson Mushir al-Masri was pleased at the announced resignation of FEMA chief Michael Brown Monday, but said the move did not go far enough.

"50 years of Zionist occupation and all the President could do was accept Michael Brown's resignation? Where was FEMA when they were needed? Did they send us money? No. Weapons? No. The least Bush could have done was send one of the twins for a martyrdom operation, inshallah." But Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he was not surprised by the lawlessness in Gaza.

In his first comments since Monday's withdrawal, Mr Sharon said the Palestinian leadership knew they needed to re-impose order, but he said he would wait and see whether they could do so.

"There's no need to blame the Federal government," Sharon said, "the cause of the present situation is clearly on the state and local government."

Meanwhile violence continued in the West Bank. A 19-year-old Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli troops outside the city of Hebron, Palestinian medics said.

Palestinians also took to the street on Tuesday, demanding that the Administration hold FEMA to account for the murder of Jamal al-Dura in 2002.

Chaotic scenes continued in Gaza on Tuesday as Palestinians picked through the rubble of former Israeli settlements.

Democratic Senators were quick to point out that the pressing poverty in Palestine was a constant reminder of why a big federal government is needed.

People across the globe have been horrified by the images coming out of Gaza.

MSNBC talk show host Keith Olbermann was an eyewtness to the state of chaos:

"They were burning down mosques, shooting AK-47s randomly in the air, and ulalating endlessly. Will President Bush do nothing to take control of the situation?"

Meanwhile, in Northern Ireland rioting continues for the fourth day as angry Protestant paramilitary gangs battle police and political prisoners--deemed 'terrorists' under Britain's extraordinary anti-terrorism laws--went on a hunger strike.

"FEMA's response has been utterly pathetic," the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party David Trimble said to The Jawa Report. "We need an independent commission to investigate what went wrong."

"An investigation of the Republican administration by a Republican-controlled Congress is like having a pitcher call his own balls and strikes. Yes, I'm familiar with American baseball slang and no I'm not prejudging the Administration's guilt even though they clearly are to blame. That's why we need and independent commission."

In a shocking turn of events, President Bush apologized to the oppressed peoples of Palestine and Ireland today.

"To the extent the federal government didn’t fully do its job right, I take responsibility,” Bush said.

Meanwhile, Leftist bloggers at The Daily Kos have called for Bush resignation in Ulster-Gaza-gate.

"Now that Bush has taken responsibility, he must resign. He has pleaded guilty. He has admitted that he was complicit in the deaths of thousands of people."

Posted by: Rusty at 07:22 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 604 words, total size 4 kb.