It was inevitable, and it didn’t take long. The EUnuchs are unhappy because they weren’t consulted about Bush’s speech. And the fact that he’s not sucking up to their buddy, Arafat.

Some of the quotes are delicious.

…the European official said Bush’s broad signal to the Palestinians that Arafat needed to be replaced as a prerequisite to the establishment of a Palestinian state, “is rather alien to European thinking.”

Yes, that’s why there’s still no peace to the Middle East. We’ve been going along with European “thinking,” for far too long.

And here’s a shocker:

European heads of state reserved as much criticism for Israel as for the Palestinians.

And the usual idiotarian party line:

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer welcomed Bush’s “clear commitment” to peace in the Middle East, but added, “The Palestinian people alone will decide who is their legitimate leader.”

That’s right, Herr Fischer. And the Palestinian people alone will choose their fate, and live with the consequences of their actions. It’s all up to them, now.

Europe has rendered itself utterly irrelevant.

[Update at 5 PM PDT]

Comment “Matt” astutely points out this bit of hypocrisy, in response to the comment that “…Bush’s broad signal to the Palestinians that Arafat needed to be replaced as a prerequisite to the establishment of a Palestinian state, “is rather alien to European thinking.”

If we don’t like your leaders then you can’t have what you want? Yeah, the EU never said that to anyone…

*coughHaidercough*

*coughLePencough*

Well, to be fair, maybe they were just talking about replacing Arafat as being alien to their thinking. I’m sure they didn’t intend to have a double standard…