That's what the Annapolis "Peace Conference" is: http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/bstephens/?id=110010885. At best, it will be a futile exchange where, once again, one side demands the unobtainable (the "right of return") and denies the undeniable ("Israel is NOT a Jewish state", or so says the Palestinian Authority's Saeb Erakat). At worst, it will further poison the atmosphere in the region--if that's possible--to the point where peace will become completely impossible. And, for this mess we have the Arabist State Department and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to thank.
I know that Ehud Olmert, in between dodging the criminal allegations being advanced against him, seems prepared to give up virtually everything, but even he has his limits (he's basically told Erakat that unless Israel's Jewish identity is formally acknowledged, there's no point in discussing anything).
Again, I ask, "What does the U.S. think will come out of this meeting?"
2 comments:
Have you ever heard of Blue and White Kids?
Geek:
You said I know that Ehud Olmert, in between dodging the criminal allegations being advanced against him, seems prepared to give up virtually everything, but even he has his limits (he's basically told Erakat that unless Israel's Jewish identity is formally acknowledged, there's no point in discussing anything).
Given enough time, even Olmert will do something right. Perhaps we should also give him a typewriter, and a thousand monkeys...
As for what the US thinks, I have two answers:
First, the State Department doesn't think, it simply does whatever the Arabs want;
Second, Bush wants to force the birth of a positive legacy. Too bad he's too stupid to see that he could have managed that in Iraq, if he really had "stayed the course," or in Afghanistan, if he hadn't wasted several years on the Iraq sideshow.
Post a Comment