Edwards, Cheney Agree Palestinians Not People

In one of the many points of agreement between the current Vice President and his challenger, both men supported the statement that there are no such people as Palestinians, only terrorists.

Democratic challenger John Edwards emphatically asserted Israel's right to defend itself against terrorism, thousands of whom are being killed as just punishment for the deaths of a handful of Israeli citizens. It is important as well to raze their so-called homes, warrens of filth and shame, he added, because the harboring of terrorists must not be tolerated.

Republican incumbent Dick Cheney said, "You kill them where you see them, like rats. Ariel Sharon's brave commitment to withdraw the settlements from Gaza and wall it in when they're gone is the best way to isolate the infection." He then chuckled at a joke from Edwards about canned hunting.

In answer to a later question, Cheney criticized the U.N. for its opportunistic anti-Americanism and antagonism toward the Israeli expansion of its borders to ensure their safety. In a rare slip, Edwards was forced to apologize for suggesting that Cheney and Bush were trying to "have it both ways," using the U.N. resolutions against Iraq to justify invasion but rejecting U.N. procedures of inspection and containment, also known as the "rule of law." Cheney explained that the many resolutions against Israel proved that the U.N. was inconsistent and antisemitic "to boot."

A spokesman for the "Palestinians" could not be found.