Middle East Peace as Smokescreen for Escalation Against Iran?

Watching America.com is running a plethora of articles on Bush’s visit to the Middle East. Among them two are of particular interest, especially when taken together.

It’s difficult to find a soul who isn’t skeptical about Bush’s Mid-East tour – both its purpose and the fact the tour is intended to improve on a mess whose perpetuation the visitor, Bush, is considered to be largely responsible for.

The contrast between the Iranian English-language Press TV output and Egypt’s Arabic Akhbar Elyom in expressing that skepticism is marked, and perhaps illustrative of that difference between Arab press coverage for consumption by the West (in English) and that which is by the Arab street for the Arab street. In the former, Arabs’ carefulness in not joining an American anti-Iranian initiative, and maintaining good dialogue with that country is offered as a practical approach to avoiding accidental war. The latter goes beyond this to suggest a slightly sinister intent:

The concern is that all of the talk about moving the peace process is just a smokescreen for the visit’s main objective, which is to mobilize countries of the area in the Gulf region against the ‘Iranian threat’ in preparation for setting policies or taking escalatory steps against Iran. The intent is also to ensure that the region does not recognize that the real danger, in fact, is Israel, which is only country in the region that possesses a nuclear arsenal and continues policies of occupation and aggression with absolute support from the American ally.

Read Middle East Peace Smokescreen for Hostilities with Iran and other articles on Bush’s visit to the Middle East on Watching America.com