Friday, June 15, 2007

Bush and Gaza

On the front page of the Washington Post this morning:

Five years ago this month, President Bush stood in the Rose Garden and laid out a vision for the Middle East that included Israel and a state called Palestine living together in peace. "I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror," the president declared.

The takeover this week of the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group dedicated to the elimination of Israel demonstrates how much that vision has failed to materialize, in part because of actions taken by the administration. The United States championed Israel's departure from the Gaza Strip as a first step toward peace and then pressed both Israelis and Palestinians to schedule legislative elections, which Hamas unexpectedly won. Now Hamas is the unchallenged power in Gaza.

After his reelection in 2004, Bush said he would use his "political capital" to help create a Palestinian state by the end of his second term. In his final 18 months as president, he faces the prospect of a shattered Palestinian Authority, a radical Islamic state on Israel's border and increasingly dwindling options to turn the tide against Hamas and create a functioning Palestinian state.

There really is nothing this man has touched that hasn't turned into a disaster. Worst ever.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're right. The President should send in troops, eliminate the Hamas leadership, convert the Palestinians to Christianity, and formally incorporate the nonentity "Palestine" into Israel.

Again, what a maroon. Anyone who thinks Washington can control the actions of people halfway around the world is smoking something...wait, after reading the Open Circle website, I'm certain of it.

liberal pastor said...

Then what were we doing arming and training Fatah? What are we doing in Afghanistan and Iraq? The President is trying very hard to control events halfway around the world and failing miserably. This morning I see they are debating whether or not to bomb Iran. It isn't me who needs a lesson in the limits of power. It's Bush and the 29% of Americans who still back him. If anyone is smoking anything...