Bush Middle East Plan Starts to Unravel

Source: The Guardian

Bush Middle East plan starts to unravel

Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian

George Bush yesterday encountered the weakest of welcomes for his call for an international peace conference on the Middle East.

A day after he unveiled his plan for a conference of Israelis, Palestinians and Arab governments in the autumn, there were few signs of optimism that such a gathering could produce a final resolution to the conflict.

- snip -

He added the conference would not address final status issues, such as borders, further lowering expectations. Israel had put Washington on notice earlier yesterday that it was not prepared to discuss such issues as borders at the conference.

"We have been very clear that we are not willing to discuss at this stage the three core issue of borders, refugees and Jerusalem," Miri Eisen, a spokeswoman for the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, told reporters.


Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2128763,00.html

(Fri. May 11, 2007)

<snip>

"As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice presses Israelis and Palestinians to meet a new set of policy benchmarks, the White House is reassuring Jewish groups and conservatives that the president has no plans to pressure Jerusalem.

Deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams told a group of Jewish communal leaders last week that the president would ensure that the process does not lead to Israel being pushed into an agreement with which it is uncomfortable.

Also last week, at a regular gathering of Jewish Republicans, sources said, Abrams described President Bush as an “emergency brake” who would prevent Israel from being pressed into a deal; during the breakfast gathering, the White House official also said that a lot of what is done during Rice’s frequent trips to the region is “just process” — steps needed in order to keep the Europeans and moderate Arab countries “on the team” and to make sure they feel that the United States is promoting peace in the Middle East.

According to one of the participants in the meeting of Jewish Republicans, Abrams said that he does not believe that the United States can make much progress on the Israeli-Palestinian front. The United States could only see success, Abrams added, on limited issues relating to freedom of movement for Palestinians in the territories and efforts to strengthen the presidential guard of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Abrams offered his skeptical view of the prospects for progress as the State Department was launching its latest effort to push the process forward. In general, according to Washington insiders, Rice and her Middle East team are pushing an increasingly aggressive agenda on the Israeli-Palestinian front, while the White House policy team, led by Abrams, is pulling back, viewing any major breakthrough as unlikely."

more

word just to cloud the issue. That's why they make up all these idiot phrases they use.

skid marks might be more appropriate.

Jeez.


His policy was never even raveled.

Proving once again that the Israeli don't want a negociated peace settlement that involves a little sacrifice!!

is it really fair to say the pilot is experiencing "in-flight" difficulties?

mikey_the_rat

So now the plane is sitting on its belly on the tarmak.

"Smirk. You were expecting something other than abject failure from a Connecticut preppy c-student Deserter, who pretends he is a Texan, and who has totally screwed up with everything he has ever been involved with? Smirk, smirk, smirk."

- Commander AWOL