Bush Pushes Peace While Market Is Attacked

Despite Troubling Realities In Region, President Says Democratic Israel A Cause For Optimism

(CBS/AP)  From a whispered conversation to a deafening rocket attack, there were fresh signs of trouble Wednesday on the perilous road toward Mideast peace.

As President Bush greeted Israeli officials at the airport on his arrival, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert drew aside the White House national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, for a few quiet words. A key player in the Mideast talks, Olmert has been weakened by a corruption investigation that has raised doubts about his ability to make compromises necessary for a deal with Palestinian leaders. He has promised to resign if indicted.

"Holding on. Holding on. Don't worry," Olmert told Hadley. Picked up by media microphones, the anxious assurance did little to assuage questions about Olmert's influence or grip on power.

Within hours, there was even more troubling news.

Bush and Olmert met to discuss the peace process and threats to Israel's security - only to learn that a rocket fired from Gaza had slammed into a crowded shopping center in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. At least 14 people were wounded. Two militant groups, the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad and the Hamas-linked Popular Resistance Committees, claimed responsibility.

"What happened today is entirely intolerable and unacceptable," Olmert declared at an Israeli celebration Wednesday night during which Bush was honored. "The government of Israel is committed to stopping it, and we will take the necessary steps so that this will stop." The audience erupted in applause before he finished the sentence.

The White House blamed Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. "Political goals will never be achieved by launching rockets from Gaza onto innocent women and children," the U.S. said.

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.

Welcomed as Israel's closest ally, Bush was the star guest at an evening of music, dance and speeches marking the 60th anniversary of Israel's founding in the wake of the Nazi holocaust. Bush's approval ratings are at record lows at home, but he got a hero's reception here.

The audience of several thousand people included American businessman Sheldon Adelson, whom Israeli police questioned Monday in the Olmert probe. Wednesday night, the billionaire casino mogul sat in the front row with Bush, first lady Laura Bush and other U.S. and Israeli officials, including Olmert.

In 1948, the United States was the first country to recognize Israel, 11 minutes after the Israelis declared statehood. In that decision, President Harry Truman broke with his secretary of state, George Marshall, and most of the foreign policy community.

"Because Harry Truman did what was right instead of following the conventional wisdom, we can say today that America is Israel's oldest and best friend in the world," Bush said to cheers from conference guests.

"America stands for peace, and so does Israel," Bush said. "And as we stand in peace, we must understand the realities of the world in which we live. We must be steadfast. And we must be strong in the face of those who murder the innocent to achieve their objectives. In the long run, we share a powerful belief and a powerful weapon against the terrorists. We believe that the surest way to defeat the enemies of hatred is to advance the cause of hope through the cause of freedom."

Bush said there will be a day when every child of the Middle East can live in peace and freedom.

Olmert told Bush: "You are an unusual person. You are an unusual leader. And you are an unusual friend of the people of Israel."

Bush's eyes teared up. He received an ovation from the audience and a hug from Olmert.

With barely 250 days remaining in his presidency, Bush is trying to leave his mark with a historic peace agreement and the foundations for a Palestinian state before he leaves office in January.

"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," Bush said as he opened talks with Israeli President Shimon Peres. "No question people would have said, 'Well, we'd be surrounded by hostile forces.'

"But I doubt people would have been able to see the modern Israel, which is one reason I bring so much optimism to the Middle East, because what happened here is possible everywhere."

Israel's success stands in contrast to the dire poverty suffered by millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants scattered in the West Bank and Gaza and in desperate camps across the Middle East.

The creation of Israel was the birth of the Palestinian refugee problem; Palestinians refer to Israel's creation as "al-Naqba," or "the catastrophe." Bush is largely seen as a friend and ally of Israel, at the expense of the Palestinians.

While celebrating Israel's birthday in a speech Thursday before the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, Bush is expected to acknowledge that Palestinians view the anniversary very differently. Bush will state his concern for the daily lives of Palestinians and say that Israel is responsible for helping to improve conditions, a senior administration official said. Olmert, in Bush's view, is a partner who agrees with this.

Bush also will look far ahead and offer his vision of Israel on its 120th anniversary - a vision that includes peaceful coexistence with a Palestinian state, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

"The United States and Israel share a belief that all people have the right to live in peace, that democracy is the best way to ensure human rights, that religious liberty is fundamental to civilized society and that using violence to achieve political objectives is always wrong," Johndroe said in a preview of the speech's themes.

Peres, meeting with Bush in the trellis-covered sandstone portion of his gardens, endorsed Bush's call for Mideast peace, 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."

In the Gaza Strip, Hamas called Bush's 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."

Israeli military raids on the Gaza Strip killed two Palestinian civilians and three militants on Wednesday, Palestinian medical officials said.

Before Bush arrived, Eli Yishai, a right-wing minister in Olmert's Cabinet, said the prime minister had agreed to the construction of hundreds of homes in a West Bank settlement. Olmert spokesman Mark Regev said 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.

[tekgiz]

Our support for Israel may have generated a certain enmity among the Arab nations, but historically, from the pronouncements of Osa and his lieutenants, the reason for the attack on 9/11/01 was the presence of American (infidel) troops on holy Saudi soil.

One of our problems, folks, is that our government is as short of understanding that Wasabi, Sunni and Shiite (there are even more divisions, like Arab Shiite vs. Persian) Shiite) have almost as much hatred of each other as they do us. When, in our rhetoric we lump them all together we just exacerbate their distaste. Rather like certain middle eastern demigogs who can''t differentiate between Americans and their government.

[neoconrcrazy]

9 May 2008: The investigating officer%u2019s findings do not clear Israel of responsibility for the deaths of the Abu Me''tiq family

Following the publication of the findings of the investigating officer into the death of five members of the Abu Me''tiq family in Beit Hanun on 28 April, B''Tselem repeated its call to the Israeli army%u2019s Judge Advocate General to open a Military Police investigation of the case. In its letter, B''Tselem writes that the video footage filmed by a military UAV, depicting part of the event, strengthens the suspicion that the lethal measures used by the army did not adhere to the international humanitarian law principle of proportionality.

B''Tselem, israeli human rights org

[neoconrcrazy]

9 May 2008: The investigating officer%u2019s findings do not clear Israel of responsibility for the deaths of the Abu Me''tiq family

Following the publication of the findings of the investigating officer into the death of five members of the Abu Me''tiq family in Beit Hanun on 28 April, B''Tselem repeated its call to the Israeli army%u2019s Judge Advocate General to open a Military Police investigation of the case. In its letter, B''Tselem writes that the video footage filmed by a military UAV, depicting part of the event, strengthens the suspicion that the lethal measures used by the army did not adhere to the international humanitarian law principle of proportionality.

B''Tselem, israeli human rights org

[whoami54]

In times of americans loseing jobs and there homes record high health care cost bush has gon to israel how meany time in the last seven years? I bring this up
becuse we pay for ther health care do you know what kind of care they (all) get? keep in mind its are tax dollars am not picking on jews and befor you start calling me names am a jew I just thing its sad
Recently Americans have begun to read and hear that "Israel receives $3 billion in annual U.S. foreign aid." That''s true. But it''s still a lie. The problem is that in fiscal 1997 alone, Israel received from a variety of other U.S. federal budgets at least $525.8 million above and beyond its $3 billion from the foreign aid budget, and yet another $2 billion in federal loan guarantees. So the complete total of U.S. grants and loan guarantees to Israel for fiscal 1997 was $5,525,800,000.

One can truthfully blame the mainstream media for never digging out these figures for themselves, because none ever have. They were compiled by the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. But the mainstream media certainly are not alone. Although Congress authorizes America''s foreign aid total, the fact that more than a third of it goes to a country smaller in both area and population than Hong Kong probably never has been mentioned on the floor of the Senate or House. Yet it''s been going on for more than a generation.

[dennisjr6]

BUSH,
SHOULD NOT BE SPEAKING IN THAT WAY ABOUT BARACK OBAMA AND HE SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HIMSELF....

[dmgenet]

Quack, quack, slur, sniggle, snort, chortle, quack. (unintelligible) quacks. Smirk.

[quetzalcrist]

earth56..

yeah, the old black and white ones, the reruns are still on TV...

so are the mikey mouse stamps..

[hungry1968]

So whats your beef with Israel if billions are not spent on actually defending it with blood and the US military actually not doing the dirty work?

Why do the other countrys not defend their existence like Israel ?

I''''m sorry that you can''''t figure out what it costs to have a navy and miltitry running 24/7 to defend a country or region.

Figure it out if your so brilliant instead of me copying and pasting off web sites.

Can you actually do that or can''''t you think without some webmaster showing you how ?

Posted by earth56 at 11:59 AM : May 15, 2008





My beef with Israel, is that our support of them is what got us attacked on 9/11. If they want to fight a "holy war" against their ideological enemies, that''s their problem - NOT ours. We ABSOLUTELY should NOT be involved.

Why aren''t OTHER countries defending Israel, like the US is? Please note - only the countries and citizens that support Israel, are the ones that are attacked and continually targeted by radical Islamic terrorists.

Irregardless of what it costs to run a military 24/7, why is it OUR responsibility to foot the cost for policing the whole world? We aren''t the richest country in the world, and we''re not the most populous.

[hungry1968]

Because of an offshoot of Islam called Wahabism started in the 1920s.

9/11 happened not because of Israel but because Osama and his ilk did not like a foreign power on Saudi soil because they were considered infidels by extremists.
Osama and his gang hated the monarchy controlling Saudi Arabia.

Again if you do some REAL research you will find that Osama said zilch about the Palestinians until after 9/11 .

Concluded ???

and Elvis is really alive too..right ?

Posted by earth56 at 11:53 AM : May 15, 2008





Perhaps you should actually READ the *****1998***** fatwa, instead of ignoring 3/4 of it:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/terrorism/international/fatwa_1998.html

Particularly the passage that says:

"Third, if the Americans'' aims behind these wars are religious and economic, the aim is also to serve the Jews'' petty state and divert attention from its occupation of Jerusalem and murder of Muslims there. The best proof of this is their eagerness to destroy Iraq, the strongest neighboring Arab state, and their endeavor to fragment all the states of the region such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Sudan into paper statelets and through their disunion and weakness to guarantee Israel''s survival and the continuation of the brutal crusade occupation of the Peninsula."

[hungry1968]

and you can''''t distinguish between a rant and a confession ?

You actually think Osama was confessing ?

Osama Bin Laden cares about the Palestinians as much as Ulysses Grant

Their just fodder to him

Posted by earth56 at 11:17 AM : May 15, 2008





Okay genius - then WHY were we attacked on 9/11, if not for the reason that the perpetrators confessed to, and our own government concluded?

[hungry1968]

Will do later as I don''''t have a copy and paste website of unfactual facts.

Its an accumalitive number-6bil

Posted by earth56 at 11:11 AM : May 15, 2008





If you have no source of information stating that it costs $6 billion dollars a year, then you shouldn''t make the statement. Especially if you can''t prove those obvious BS statements.

Secondly, I highly doubt that any military presence that we have in any region of the world, is there for the sole benefit of one country, and one country only. In other words, I think that ANY military presence we have in the region will benefit Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, India, S. Korea, etc, etc - not just one country.

[quetzalcrist]

earth56 ..

that was an excellent show, especially after southpark reruns, a nice bottle of Merlot,
and a little stamp with mickey mouse on it..

sweet.....

[quetzalcrist]

I Like your Christ, i dont like your christians,
your christians are so unlike your christ,......

Ghandi.....

Dear lord save me from your Followers.

Quetzal 3:16

[quetzalcrist]

earth56 ..

the bible is full of genocide..
yet its wrong to kill,
theres even a whole chapter dedicated to murder
and its consequences, abel and cain,
yet its full of contradictions.

[quetzalcrist]

if the bible says killing is wrong why is it ok to kill in his name?

[cfin5]

birds dont lie,

Posted by QuetzalCrist at 11:12 AM : May 15, 2008-----They just mock.

[quetzalcrist]

birds dont lie,

[cfin5]

Posted by earth56 at 11:09 AM : May 15, 2008-----The web page updated and when my eyes came back to the page, QuetzalCrist''s name was there instead :)

[cfin5]

earth56,....Sorry. My bad.

[hungry1968]

I''''m agnostic *** and I guess if Bin Laden says something than we should all listen be cause he''''s like EF Hutton.

I guess we know whos side your on,

The information about Taiwan is available on JANES

Posted by earth56 at 10:50 AM : May 15, 2008





So if a cop arrests a criminal, the criminal is taken in for questioning, and the criminal confesses, we should automatically dismiss the confession?

And through some bizarre, flawed logic, if the cop takes that confession AND he believes it, that means that the cop is on the side of the criminal?

You''re kidding, right?




I searched for the non-existent article on how much the military presence in Taiwan is costing America, to refute your claim that it costs $6 billion a year, but couldn''t find the non-existent article.

Can you post the link?