Is there any real point to President Bush’s trip to Israel and Palestine this week – his first ever? According to the op-ed article from France’s Journal du Dimanche au Quotidien, ‘When he flies off to Israel and Palestine on Tuesday, his Arab and Israeli counterparts will be glued to their television sets watching the New Hampshire primaries.’
The Chronicle of Gilles Delafon, Translated By Pascaline Jay, January 6, 2008
France – Le Journal du Dimanche au Quotidien – Original Article (French)It seems so long ago that George W. Bush and his neoconservative friends promised, with great confidence, to redraw the Middle East along more democratic lines. The final tour of the region that the American president will begin this week will highlight above all the extent that his foreign policy has failed.
The proof of this is that when he flies off to Israel and Palestine on Tuesday, his Arab and Israeli counterparts will be glued to their television sets watching the New Hampshire primaries to find out how the United States intends to turn the page. Will it be by electing a woman or a Black person; a Baptist pastor or a Mormon governor?
Even the White House admits that nothing much is to be expected from this visit.
No major announcements. No trilateral meeting with the Israelis and Palestinians. Yet, being true to himself, George W. Bush asserted Friday that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be resolved in 2008 – obviously without saying how.This is all window dressing. The American president will verbally stumble through a few pious wishes about peace and security, will undoubtedly make a sermon about Syria and warn us about Iran. A polite round of applause will follow. His hosts will then politely agree and await the next president.
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