Was this a show or a last attempt?
According to some observers, this was President Bush’s “farewell” visit to the Middle East. As others see it, this was his “final attempt” to take care of the Palestinian problems before leaving the White House.
For others, this five-day tour of the Middle East is, on Bush’s part, a “show” aimed at proving that he has in fact done some things for the region. But no matter the reason for this visit, it is certainly an interesting development that Bush has now visited this region twice in the past five months. What this really shows is that this Republican president’s up-to-now disinterested stance toward the lack of harmony between Arabs and Israelis is changing more and more. But isn’t this all a bit late? If the real goal of this visit is neither to bid “farewell” nor to put on a “show,” and if the real aim is to bring the two sides to some sort of compromise, then it really is late. What’s more, Bush’s tour of the region comes during a time when regional conditions could not be more unfavorable: The Annapolis peace process appears completely blocked, the two Palestinian flanks (Gaza and the West Bank) are completely broken off from one another, tension between Hamas and Israel is at an all-time high, clashes in Lebanon are on the rise, Hezbullah is getting stronger, the government is about to fall to its knees and, in the meantime, Israeli Prime Minister Olmert’s own political future is now unclear due to charges of corruption.
17 May 2008, Saturday
SAM? KOHEN, M?LL?YET
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