That Darn Multilateralist Bush
It's a bit outlandish to think that the US could lead the way to peace between Israel and Hamas, as Michael Hirsh suggests. Our Navy and Air Force don't provide much leverage over this intractable problem. Who would we bomb?
Is there evidence that this problem is exacerbated because the President has become more "multilateral"? On the contrary, he has been quite consistent in his Israel policy.
Prospects for a stable government in Iraq are better than the prospect of resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Is there evidence that this problem is exacerbated because the President has become more "multilateral"? On the contrary, he has been quite consistent in his Israel policy.
Prospects for a stable government in Iraq are better than the prospect of resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict.
posted by Simon Willard at 11:24 PM
3 Comments:
Simon,
I have to disagree with you here. Of course, America has the power to resolve the Israel/Palestine conflict. But it would involve threatening to isolate Israel. If the U.S. told Israel that they have to go back to the pre 1967 borders or else, Israel would have no choice but to comply. Their very survival as a nation depends our continued support.
The Palestinians would be offered massive foreign investment if they give up the right of return and disarm terrorist organizations.
The problem is no U.S. president has had the political courage to take a tough stance with Israel.
That's an argument with some merit. But the problems I see are (1) Israel would indeed refuse. It's not clear that they can be bought off. (2) Even if all did go according to plan, terrorist organizations would continue to find ways to fire missles into Israel, just as they did this week in contradiction to Lebanese policy. These terrorists can't be bought off, either.
Solving years of conflict in less than 100 words. That's rich.
SW, if you had the answer, don't you think someone else in this world may have thought of the same and perhaps passed it on to a world leader or two?
Making concessions has gotten Israel nowhere lately. Hezbollah and Hamas are not exactly folks to be taken at their word. Iran isn't gonig to stop funding them any time soon.
Doing anything to indicate a distancing from Israel could indeed escalate the situation. And it would certainly be fodder for news organizations. By now you must know that there isn't a d*** thing GW can do right in the eyes of US media.
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