United We Stand

Presidents Bush and Mubarak presented a magnificently united front after informal talks in Crawford today. Israel has been acting unilaterally an awful lot of late, and InstantReplay opines that Sharon thinks he can get away with murder (literally) while Bush has his hands tied in the Iraq war. Israel has begun the "Wall", which effectively steals Palestinian land, has decided to withdraw from most settlements in Gaza, and has declared an open season on Arafat. Reacting to all of this, Bush and Mubarak agreed that:

- "Any withdrawal from the occupied territory is very highly appreciated" (Hosni)
- The withdrawal "doesn't replace the path toward the establishment of a Palestinian state" (Dubya)
- "Our objective in the Middle East must be true peace, not just a pause between wars." (Dubya)
- "I would like the withdrawal to coincide with the road map" (Hosni)
- "It is our conviction that reviving the hopes of peace, through our determined efforts to put the peace process back on track is central to enhancing the prospects of reform and the prosperity in the region" (Hosni)
- "President Mubarak is going to wonder, 'is the press corps totally out of control here in America?'" (Dubya)

Unfortunately, I don't know that Bush can do what his highly intelligent advisors know America needs to do to become a political (not just military and economic) force in the Arab world. Mrs. Hill thinks I should have a job advising the President; I think it's being done quite well already.