Jeremy wrote:
] Let's not mince words. American policy today toward the
] Israeli-Palestinian conflict is insane. ... the Bush team ...
] believes that the correct policy is to do nothing.
]
] Well, that is my definition of insane.
]
] ... The Bush team destroyed the Iraqi regime in three weeks
] and has not persuaded Israel to give up one settlement in
] three years. To think America can practice that sort of
] hypocrisy and win the war of ideas in the Arab-Muslim world is
] a truly dangerous fantasy.

The Bush Policy continues previous administrations policies. The Palistine Question is insane to begin with, and we can thank postwar England/German/Russia for much of the debacle. But don't forget the Arabs themselves, who for 50 years, have continued to foment hate, terror, and obstinance for a hot and dusty, and otherwise undredeeming land; who, before the Zionists and Jews started working the land in the late 1800's was still just a barren land without any growth potential.

BTW--the Palestinian land is nothing more than the unwanted Arab lands, and the Palestinians are a made up population--kept around for the Arab world's political use. Why doesn't Saudia Arabia use of its many millions to make the condition of the Palestinians better? Why don't the Arab nations surrounding Israel welcome into their lands the Palestinians?

Why should the US be responsible for a regions stupidity and ignorance?That's the United Nations job, and it has been a joke in the area from the beginning.

Boss wrote:

] The Bush Policy continues previous administrations policies.
] The Palistine Question is insane to begin with, and we can
] thank postwar England/German/Russia for much of the debacle.
] But don't forget the Arabs themselves, who for 50 years, have
] continued to foment hate, terror, and obstinance for a hot and
] dusty, and otherwise undredeeming land; who, before the
] Zionists and Jews started working the land in the late 1800's
] was still just a barren land without any growth potential.

Don't forget France as well and the former League of Nations/UN. I often wonder why so many people quip about the land being a barren land until the Zionists came in. The indigenous people lived off the land the way they could.

] BTW--the Palestinian land is nothing more than the unwanted
] Arab lands, and the Palestinians are a made up
] population--kept around for the Arab world's political use.
] Why doesn't Saudia Arabia use of its many millions to make the
] condition of the Palestinians better? Why don't the Arab
] nations surrounding Israel welcome into their lands the
] Palestinians?

It's disingenuous to say Palesinians are a made up population. Would you say the same for Syria and Iraq? Palestinians are an occupied population.

As for the other Arab nations welcoming Palestinians, they would cease to become Palestinians. The right of return for Palestinian refugees is not honored by Israel. And that's what this whole thing is about. A displaced population. The destruction of their culture. Just because they all speak Arabic doesn't mean they are all the same people and would just meld into another Arabic speaking country.

] Why should the US be responsible for a regions stupidity and
] ignorance?That's the United Nations job, and it has been a
] joke in the area from the beginning.

Last time I checked, the US was one of the original signatories on the original UN charter. It is also one of the permanent Security Council members. Is that a good enough reason?

The Israel/Palestine question is much deeper than all of the above. What we see today is the result of what happens when you don't have moderates making some of the calls. Between Arafat and Sharon, there can be no progress.

Bush sitting on the sidelines on this is really idiotic of him. Keep saying "Roadmap" Dubya, I'll keep watching your lips move.

Hijexx wrote:
] Bush sitting on the sidelines on this is really idiotic of
] him. Keep saying "Roadmap" Dubya, I'll keep watching your
] lips move.

The transcript of Cheney's recent speech explained it all.

On the day of Bush's inauguration, Clinton spent the whole time talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, explaining that he'd tried everything, made a perfectly reasonable offer, and got nothing. Clinton blamed Arafat.

The message to Bush was, basically, don't waste your time on this until Arafat has been replaced. Since Clinton "did everything" and still left the job frustrated, Bush took his advice on this particular issue. Hence our recent history.

Boss wrote:

] Why doesn't Saudia Arabia use of its many millions to make the
] condition of the Palestinians better? Why don't the Arab
] nations surrounding Israel welcome into their lands the
] Palestinians?

There is plenty of blame to go around for this problem. In many cases there are Arab nations who are in a position to "do something" aren't because the existence of the present situation is in their strategic interests. However, the fact that other people are doing the wrong thing doesn't imply that its fine for us to do the wrong thing as well and just expect someone else to take responsibility.

We're involved. We're involved because we have an interest in the existence of Israel. We're involved because we also have an interest in the existence of Egypt, and Jordan. Furthermore, people are dying violent deaths in this place on a monthly basis, and the existence of this situation contributes to other national security issues that impact us directly, such as Al'Q.

To the extent that we are involved we should seek a strategy that effectively solves the problem. Hence the article linked here. The question isn't whether but how.