Has Bush doomed 'road map'?Some warn outlook for peace clouded by his stan

[Judi Lynn]

Has Bush doomed 'road map'?

Some warn outlook for peace clouded by his stance supporting Israel


03:32 AM CDT on Friday, April 16, 2004


By TOD ROBBERSON / The Dallas Morning News



LONDON – With one brief announcement as Israel's prime minister stood by his side, President Bush reversed more than 50 years of diplomatic protocol and may have scuttled any hope of salvaging his "road map" for Middle East peace, regional analysts said Thursday.

European and Arab leaders warned that Mr. Bush had dealt a double blow to regional peace hopes, first by accepting that Jewish settlements built on West Bank land seized in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war had become too populous to be dismantled. Therefore, Mr. Bush said, "already existing major Israeli population centers" should be allowed to remain in the West Bank.

The United States and United Nations have insisted for more than five decades that no nation, including Israel, can be permitted to seize territory by force. The United Nations invoked the same principle in 1991 when it declared war against Iraq after President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and subsequently annexed it.

The second blow, Arab leaders said, was Mr. Bush's unprecedented announcement that Palestinians who fled their homes during Israel's 1948 war for independence must give up what they regard as the "right of return." Mr. Bush said that "a just, fair and realistic framework" for resolving the issue of refugees would be for them to be resettled in a Palestinian state.
(snip/...)

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/041604dnintusisrael.a26a.html
(Free registration required)

[ozymandius]

1. I first read the headline as "Has Bush doomed 'road map'?

"Some warn outlook for peace clouded by his stain."

When has seizing territory by force (Iraq, Texas Rangers baseball stadium) been a new hobby for Bush?

[David__77]

2. The PA should dissolve itself.

They should turn responsibility over to the State of Israel for the security and well-being of the people in the occupied territories. They should disavow violence and they should seek "one man, one vote." That would radically change the dynamics of the situation, and hopefully save many lives in the process.