JERUSALEM, May 14, 2008
Mideast Unrest Shadows Bush's Peace Push
Despite Troubling Realities In Region, President Says Democratic Israel A Cause For Optimism
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President Bush talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Wednesday, May 14, 2008, during a meeting at the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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President Bush and first lady Laura Bush wave as they arrive at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Tuesday, May 13, 2008. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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President Bush, center, flanked by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, left, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, right, makes a statement on the Middle East peace process in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007. (AP)
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"I suspect if you looked back 60 years ago and tried to guess where Israel would be at that time, it would be hard to be able to project such a prosperous, hopeful land," Mr. Bush said during a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres. "No question, people would have said, 'We'd be surrounded by hostile forces."'
Yet Mr. Bush's message of optimism was immediately offset by troubling realities in the region.
A weakened Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert fended off corruption allegations. Another burst of violence erupted in the Gaza Strip. And an Israeli Cabinet minister claimed he's won approval to expand settlement activity in the West Bank, a development that could undermine peace talks with Palestinians.
CBS News correspondent Robert Berger said regular citizens on both sides of the divide were quick to voice their pessimism about any lasting peace agreement being reached by the end of the year - a goal Mr. Bush had voiced firm belief in after a summit last year in Maryland.
Berger reported that Israelis blame the Palestinians for the impasse in the peace process and the Palestinians blame Israel - but neither side believes the latest shuttle diplomacy by the American leader will have a significant effect.
Mr. Bush, trying to hold together peace talks in his waning months in office, said modern Israel gives him a strong example to preach optimism to the Middle East.
"The objective of the United States must be to support our strongest ally and friend in the Middle East ... and, at the same time, talk about a hopeful future," he said.
Mr. Bush has expressed confidence, though more tempered lately, that an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement would be struck before his term ends. But he and his aides are holding out little hope for a major breakthrough during this five-day trip to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said ahead of the trip that reaching a deal to end one of the world's longest-running and most difficult disputes within the next eight months "might be improbable, but it's not impossible."
Peres backed Mr. Bush's hope for an accord, saying Israelis want to work with Palestinians.
"We would like to see the Palestinians living together," he said. "They have suffered a great deal of their life. The separation is a tragedy for them and for the rest of us."
However, just hours before Mr. Bush arrived, Eli Yishai, a right-wing minister in Olmert's Cabinet, said Olmert had agreed to the construction of hundreds of homes in a West Bank settlement, though Olmert spokesman Mark Regev disputed the claim, saying no decision had been made. In current peace talks, the Palestinians demand that Israel stop building in areas they both want for a future state, and Israel's failure to do so - despite pressure from the Bush administration - has increased Palestinian disappointment and frustration.
Amid Palestinians' declining hopes for an agreement, they also are marking a different sort of anniversary - the "nakba," or catastrophe, the word they use to describe Israel's establishment which resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Israel has imposed a closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip during Bush's visit, preventing Palestinians from entering the country. Normally, tens of thousands of Palestinians are permitted into Israel each day for work, health care and family visits.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Mr. Bush national security adviser Stephen Hadley suggested that Mr. Bush might acknowledge the Palestinian view of the milestone when marking the anniversary of the Jewish state's founding on May 14, 1948.
Meanwhile, the violence continued. Two Palestinian civilians and three militants were killed Wednesday in Israeli military raids on the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical officials said. One of the civilians was a 17-year-old riding his bike, doctors added. Israel frequently raids Gaza to try to stop militants from firing rockets and mortars at Israeli border communities. But the attacks occur almost daily, and two Israelis were killed in the past week.
Israeli TV station reported Wednesday that a rocket fired from Gaza exploded in a shopping center in the Israeli city of Ashkelon. Channel 2 TV reported that an unknown number of people have been injured.
Upon Mr. Bush's arrival at the airport at Tel Aviv, he hugged Olmert, the subject of a new criminal investigation that could push him from office. Earlier, broadcasters' microphones had picked up Olmert's assurances to Hadley: "Holding on, holding on, don't worry."
Olmert has rejected charges that he accepted illegal campaign contributions and possibly bribes, but he also pledged to step down if he is indicted.
In the Gaza Strip, Hamas called the Bush visit a "bad omen."
"No greetings to you, Bush, on our holy land," said Hamas strongman Mahmoud Zahar. "Your people will punish you one day."
And in Tehran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that Israel is dying and that its 60th anniversary celebrations are an attempt to prevent its "annihilation."
Peres chastised Hezbollah for aiming to destroy Lebanon and accused Hamas of working to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state. The U.S. has labeled both as terrorist groups.
Mr. Bush and Peres spoke after briefly strolling through the gardens behind the Israeli president's residence. They sat with their aides under an ivy-covered sandstone trellis amid a grove of trees and flowers.
Stepping somewhat on the message of the anniversary festivities, Mr. Bush joked that Israel really isn't so long in the tooth.
"As a person who's 61 years old, it doesn't seem that old," he said.
Mr. Bush, who had visited Israel in January, was set to speak Wednesday night at a conference in Jerusalem celebrating Israel's anniversary. The conference, convened by Peres, includes former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, writer and Holocaust survivor Eli Wiesel, and other Jewish Nobel laureates.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 71 Commentsi hope they at least thanked us for the last 8 billion dollar check?!
but I doubt it, israelis are God''s chosen people... we owe them, right?
hey, what about our "shared values" !!
israelis use 190mm artilery shells to dislodge "terrorists" in high rise apartment complexes, killing any and all, mostly women and kids.
don''t we share those values too? And the wonderful jewish state has created a marvelous apartheid situation for the sub-human palestinians - don''t we share that value too?
Gee, there is just so much that binds our two countries, it''s amazing!
Posted by underdogus,
I guess they are. However, it does bring one question to mind. If they are gods chosen people then why do they need our foriegn aid?
Can you imagine the savings in taxpayer funds if we stopped giving them money we borrow from China and if we got out of Iraq?
We simply cannot afford it anymore since we have be come a consumer nation and shipped all the meaningful production jobs offshore.
BUSH AND MIDDLE EAST PEACE!
START WAR CRIMES TRIALS ON THIS CHIMP!
AMERICA STAND UP OR SHUT UP!
I think his approval rating jumps a percentage point or two everytime he leaves the country.
Posted by dragonwagon5 at 06:45 AM : May 14, 2008
I guess it would when his job approval rating is 30 percent. However, you have to consider the positives.
Can you imagine working for someone where you can be off 1000 percent in terms of project costs and timing and still have a job? The example of Bushs project in this case is Iraq.
In regards to jamesm12341s post. Based on you point I assume you voted for Bush both times. Considering all the false statements and lack of job performance, are you not dissapointed with your chioce?
I would be considering that I am responsible for executing projects in my job. I can assure you if Bush worked where I do, he would have been terminated for lack of performance long ago.
The old deal about we are God''s chosen people is bs,that sounds like the American general who spoke about the Blackhawk Down incident in Somalia in 1993 when he spoke of the heathen war-lord, and said"My God was stronger than his God", if that was the case why did our troops get killed and embarrassed by an actually weak force. It happened because the pious born-again evangelical Christian white general lacked the will power to use the plentiful troops he had outside the city to step in and rescue his troops, in effect he sat around asking "GOD" what to do next and did nothing!!
- President Theodore Roosevelt, 1908
jamesm, according to your mantra, Teddy Roosevelt had a problem with America, and should have left.
what he is really saying is "We Consider Isreal a place for Christians and Jews"
that makes more sence, this is not about peace,
he is going to hand off the giant vaseline jar
over to the next President so they can use it
after they get elected......
Posted by jamesm12341 at 08:34 AM : May 14, 2008
You appear to have a very limited collection of old worn out cliches that you attempt to belittle people with, however all they provoke are yawns. Why don''t you trot over to Faux News and try them out on those mental ''giants''. I''m sure they will go ''ga ga'' over them.
Posted by dragonwagon5 at 09:28 AM : May 14, 2008
His mental state is that of a two year old. Always asking questions but not mentally mature to answer any.
Posted by dragonwagon5 at 09:31 AM : May 14, 2008
Yeah...you''re right. Have at it. Sorry I interferred with your fun. Ha!Ha!
As far as the article is concerned, we''re not going to see peace in the Middle East as long as our policies remain the same......as Einstein once said, "Insanity is doing the same things over again and expecting a different result."
Posted by dragonwagon5 at 09:39 AM : May 14, 2008
When bush says...''stay the course'' these toe tapping zombies do just that, even as their ship sinks slowly into the deep. They are not capable of thinking for themselves and they NEVER question anything their leader tells them to do. They are reminicent of the Nazi party members. They were ''just following orders''. Sad but true.
Posted by jamesm12341 at 09:49 AM : May 14, 2008
Try reading your own posts some time, they might shed some light...but in your case I doubt it.
When will our leaders wake up that there is no appeasing Muslims that they are not just after Israel, but they are after taking the world so as there is no other god than allah in the whole world, just as Mohammad ordered, and while the west keeps delaying Muslims gather more strength and more weapons, the Quran says that when weaponry becomes available that they should fight, of course back then they didn''t have nuclear... Hitler once said that "what luck for leaders that people don''t think", but in this case I think it should be reversed to say, What disaster for people that leaders don''t think,....
Posted by jamesm12341 at 10:13 AM : May 14, 2008
James, what does it take to be a "sharp knife in the drawer" since you clearly have it!! Does it take an actual thought?
Posted by jamesm12341 at 10:13 AM : May 14, 2008
Ha!Ha! I''m sure your ''case'' is well rested by now, as many times as you have rested it. You are sure hung up on that chiche ''sharpest knives in the drawer'' aren''t you? That''s what happens when you have NO argument for your stand and you can''t come up with something INTELLIGENT to say. Keep on jamesm12341, you amuse us. Ha!Ha!Ha! Only 251 days left! Enjoy! Ha!Ha!Ha!
Send in some tanks....a few smart bombs...the ones that know how to make peace.
Is give peace a chance....
OR ELSE!
Stop drinking that lake water...
4072 Dead Americans because of those lies.
As Harry Powell said, "A liar is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord."
George W Bush is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord!
G W Bush - Son of Satan
Damned for all time!
Posted by dragonwagon5 at 10:17 AM : May 14, 2008
Ha!Ha! That toe tapper sure knows how to entertain, doesn''t he? HaHaHa!
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Posted by arlt1627 at 10:25 AM : May 14, 2008
LOL~!~ if you have to ask..then you never will be... LOL.... you libs are to easy
Posted by jamesm12341
Wow!! You really are terrible at this forum/blog thing. You don''t have an actual thought......blow in your ear and you get kind of an echo sound....Did you ever take a history, government, or political science class....or study anything for that matter? I''m guessing no...due to the ignorance of your comments today and everyday! Keep up the good right-wing work! lol
WHAT A JOKE, IF BUSH wanted Peace in the Mideast he would have been been doing something 7 years ago. NICE TRY GEORGIE W BUSHIE nobody is falling for you BS this late in your second term. Stop trying to save FACE and Just go back to your Group Home in Crawford Texas with all the TARDS.
Posted by dragonwagon5 at 11:15 AM : May 14, 2008
Dang! I do believe he has ''cut and run''. Can''t take the heat is my guess.
WHAT A JOKE, IF BUSH wanted Peace in the Mideast he would have been been doing something 7 years ago. NICE TRY GEORGIE W BUSHIE nobody is falling for you BS this late in your second term. Stop trying to save FACE and Just go back to your Group Home in Crawford Texas with all the TARDS.
I wonder WHAT democracies HE built strong. Does any bushie out there know?
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/156417-Sixty-Years-of-Bloodshed-Treachery-and-Terror
Here is nice article on Israel...at sott, there is an article on the Masada myth as well.
End aid to Israel, Egypt and Palestine!
Five years of Demopublican War. Enjoy 95 more!-- And, the draft after the election...after the next false flag attack...Cheers!
since when did Land Grabbing and Apparteid become a democratic society????
He''ll be scurrying around barking orders while everyone else looks away.
He''ll ignore one half but claim to know the whole,
The hypocrite has no where to go.
Waste o'' Time Bush we got something on you.
About 2,000 troops were sent to work on a dam near the epicenter of Monday''s earthquake, state-run media reported.
The Ministry of Water Resources said that an irrigation system and Dujiangyan City -- which has a population of about 630,000 -- "would be swamped," if major problems emerged at the dam, China.org said.
The Zipingpu dam, upriver from Dujiangyan in Sichuan province, was in "great danger," the Xinhua news agency reported.
China.org said that the 7.9-magnitude earthquake had caused "severe cracks" in the dam.
The "plant and associated buildings have collapsed and some are partly sunk," it said of the hydropower station.
Peace in the Middle East brokered by Bush and Kinda-loser Rice what a stupid joke.
Posted by QuetzalCrist..Al-Zawari,osama bin laden,Ahmadinejad Approve this message...Quetzal you''re a Jihadist supporter and a fraud!!
YOU POSTED : President Bush should insist on the prosecution of those two homosexuals, Bin Laden and Zawahiri. LAMO. HAHAHAHAHA!
Being Gay my self I don''t think that Ben Laden and Zawahiri are very attractive and any Gay Guy in their right mind would not even go out on a date with somebody who smells like Goats or Barn Animals. Ben Laden and Zawahiri need major Make Overs and get sportin that Metro Sexual look, if they just got some products from HSN and shaved and used some moisturizer and a little of hygene they both would go from FIZZLE TO SIZZLE in about 45 minutes and they would have gay guys swingin from their ***** all night.
YOU POSTED : President Bush should insist on the prosecution of those two homosexuals, Bin Laden and Zawahiri. LAMO. HAHAHAHAHA!
Being Gay my self I don''''t think that Ben Laden and Zawahiri are very attractive and any Gay Guy in their right mind would not even go out on a date with somebody who smells like Goats or Barn Animals or Nasty Stinky Body Odor. Ben Laden and Zawahiri need major Make Overs and get sportin that Metro Sexual look, if they just got some products from HSN and shaved and used some moisturizer and a little of hygene they both would go from FIZZLE TO SIZZLE in about 45 minutes and they would have gay guys swingin from their ***** all night.
YOU POSTED : President Bush should insist on the prosecution of those two homosexuals, Bin Laden and Zawahiri. LAMO. HAHAHAHAHA!
Being Gay my self I don''''t think that Ben Laden and Zawahiri are very attractive and any Gay Guy in their right mind would not even go out on a date with somebody who smells like Goats or Barn Animals or Nasty Stinky Body Odor. Ben Laden and Zawahiri need major Make Overs and get sportin that Metro Sexual look, if they just got some products from HSN and shaved and used some moisturizer and a little of hygene they both would go from FIZZLE TO SIZZLE in about 45 minutes and they would have gay guys swingin from their ***** all night.
YOU POSTED : President Bush should insist on the prosecution of those two homosexuals, Bin Laden and Zawahiri. LAMO. HAHAHAHAHA!
Being Gay my self I don''''t think that Ben Laden and Zawahiri are very attractive and any Gay Guy in their right mind would not even go out on a date with somebody who smells like Goats or Barn Animals or Nasty Stinky Body Odor. Ben Laden and Zawahiri need major Make Overs and get sportin that Metro Sexual look, if they just got some products from HSN and shaved and used some moisturizer and a little of hygene they both would go from FIZZLE TO SIZZLE in about 45 minutes and they would have gay guys swingin from their ***** all night.
YOU POSTED : President Bush should insist on the prosecution of those two homosexuals, Bin Laden and Zawahiri. LAMO. HAHAHAHAHA!
Being Gay my self I don''''t think that Ben Laden and Zawahiri are very attractive and any Gay Guy in their right mind would not even go out on a date with somebody who smells like Goats or Barn Animals or Nasty Stinky Body Odor. Ben Laden and Zawahiri need major Make Overs and get sportin that Metro Sexual look, if they just got some products from HSN and shaved and used some moisturizer and a little of hygene they both would go from FIZZLE TO SIZZLE in about 45 minutes and they would have gay guys swingin from their ***** all night.
YOU POSTED : President Bush should insist on the prosecution of those two homosexuals, Bin Laden and Zawahiri. LAMO. HAHAHAHAHA!
Being Gay my self I don''''t think that Ben Laden and Zawahiri are very attractive and any Gay Guy in their right mind would not even go out on a date with somebody who smells like Goats or Barn Animals or Nasty Stinky Body Odor. Ben Laden and Zawahiri need major Make Overs and get sportin that Metro Sexual look, if they just got some products from HSN and shaved and used some moisturizer and a little of hygene they both would go from FIZZLE TO SIZZLE in about 45 minutes and they would have gay guys swingin from their ***** all night.
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