KUCINICH TOURS SOUTH LEBANON

FRESH OFF HIS MEETING WITH SYRIA'S ASSAD, TINFOIL-HATTED DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTAL CANDIDATE DENNIS KUCINICH TOURED SOUTHERN LEBANON AND CALLED FOR A "MORE EVEN-HANDED" U.S. APPROACH TO THE PEACE PROCESS. WINK. WINK.

Kucinich tours south Lebanon (JTA)
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) toured areas of south Lebanon marked by Israeli cluster bombs that fell in last year's war.

Kucinich, a long-shot candidate for his party's presidential nomination, said the situation in the region was "dire." "There has to be a commitment to cleaning up these cluster bombs," he said.

The candidate, who met with Lebanese and Syrian leaders during his trip this week, also called for a more "even-handed" U.S. approach to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"America must lead the way in this regard, by taking an even-handed approach in the Middle East which includes establishment of two states, together with the protection of the social, economic and political rights of Palestinians simultaneous with mandatory, firm long-term structural security assurances for Israel," he said.