BUSH PREDICTS MIDEAST PEACE TREATY
By Anne Gearan
AP
January 10, 2008 1:46 PM
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) – President Bush on Thursday predicted that
a Mideast peace treaty would be completed by the time he leaves,
and named a U.S. Air Force general to oversee compliance with a
U.S.-backed peace plan.
Bush said he’s convinced that both Israeli and Palestinian leaders
understand "the importance of democratic states living side by side"
in peace, and noted that he has a one-year deadline for progress on
his watch.
"I’m on a timetable," he told reporters. "I’ve got 12 months."
He named Lt. Gen. William Fraser III, assistant to the Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to monitor progress that both sides are
making on the peace process known as the "roadmap," a U.S. official
told The Associated Press.
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AP’s earlier story is below.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) – President Bush on Thursday predicted that a
Mideast peace treaty would be completed by the time he leaves office,
but undercut that optimism with harsh criticism of Hamas militants
who control part of the land that would form an eventual independent
Palestine.
Bush said he’s convinced that both Israeli and Palestinian leaders
understand "the importance of democratic states living side by side"
in peace, and noted that he has a one-year deadline for progress on
his watch.-
"I’m on a timetable," he told reporters. "I’ve got 12 months."
He said he is not sure that the problem of Hamas, a militant Islamic
group that took over the Gaza Strip in June, can be solved within
that time frame.
Hamas, he said, was elected to help improve the lot of Palestinians,
but "has delivered nothing but misery."
Standing alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Bush said he is
confident that "with proper help, the state of Palestine will emerge."
"I am confident that the status quo is unacceptable, Mr. President,
and we want to help you," Bush said.
Bush is on a three-day visit to Israel and the West Bank to show
support for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks following seven
years of violence.
"The question is whether or not hard issues can be resolved and the
vision emerges, so that the choice is clear amongst the Palestinians,"
Bush said.
"The choice being, `Do you want this state? Or do you want the
status quo?
Do you want a future based upon a democratic state? Or do you want
the same old stuff?"’
"We want a state, of course," Abbas said in English.
The Palestinian leader called on Israel to fulfill its commitments
under a 2003 U.S.-backed Mideast peace plan. The plan calls on Israel
to halt settlement activity in the West Bank, while requiring the
Palestinians to dismantle militant groups. Neither side has fully
carried out its obligations.
"We start with you a new year, hoping that this will be the year for
the creation of peace," Abbas told Bush.
Abbas aide Yasser Abed Rabbo said that the Palestinian president would
raise two key issues with Bush in a working lunch – a Palestinian
call that Israel lift checkpoints and freeze settlements.
Even though it’s Bush’s first trip to the Palestinian West Bank,
it generated little excitement among Palestinians, who are largely
skeptical of his promises to try to move along Israeli-Palestinian
peace talks. The U.S. is perceived in the Palestinian areas as a
staunch ally of Israel, at the expense of the Palestinians, but Abbas
said Bush’s visit "that gives our people great hope," Abbas said.
Heavy fog, which forced Bush to drive, rather than fly to Ramallah,
meant that he got an unexpected glimpse of the daily frustrations
faced by Palestinians trying to move around the West Bank, nominally
a Palestinian territory but one heavily controlled by the Israeli
military. On his drive, Bush passed through a security checkpoint, and
drove within sight of the Israeli separation barrier that Palestinians
call an unacceptable wall.
Bush said he expects both Israelis and Palestinians to honor their
obligations under the peace plan backed by the U.S., and that Israelis
should help the Palestinians modernize their security forces.
"In order for there to be lasting peace, President Abbas and Prime
Minister Olmert have to come together and make tough choices," Bush
said. "And I’m convinced they will. And I believe it’s possible – not
only possible, I believe it’s going to happen – that there be a signed
peace treaty by the time I leave office (in January 2009). That’s
what I believe."
Bush’s trip through the Mideast does not include a stop in Gaza,
an area controlled by Hamas, which swept Palestinian parliamentary
elections in 2006. Hamas later led a violent takeover of the Gaza
Strip, essentially splitting Palestinian governance. Hamas, which
does not recognize Israel’s right to exist, now runs Gaza, while
Abbas and his secular Fatah Party, backed by the United States,
now run the West Bank. That split is a major stumbling block to any
negotiated peace pact.
While Bush claims that Hamas has failed to help improve the lives
of Palestinians living in Gaza, the president acknowledged that he
doesn’t know whether Abbas’ government can resolve the Palestinian
division before the end of the year.
"Gaza’s a tough situation," Bush said. "I don’t know whether you can
solve it in a year or not."
But it won’t be solved, Bush said, unless Abbas lays out a choice
to the people in Gaza: He defined that as: "Do you want those who
have created chaos to run your country? Or do you want those of
us who negotiated a settlement with the Israelis that will lead to
lasting peace."
"There is a competing vision taking place in Gaza," Bush said. "And in
my judgment, Hamas – which I thought ran on the campaign, ‘We’re going
to improve your lives through better education and better health’ –
has delivered nothing but misery."
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, quickly dismissed Bush and
Abbas’ hopeful comments.
"This meeting was for public relations only, it was an empty meeting
without results, only more dreams and waste of time," the Hamas
spokesman said. "The meeting focused on the so-called security topics
which mean to act against the interests of the Palestinian majority
and the resistance."
Bush also jabbed Israel for security polices that could carve up
Palestinian territory into unworkable or ungovernable chunks.
"Swiss cheese isn’t going to work when it comes to the outline of a
state," Bush said. To be viable, a future Palestinian state must have
"contiguous territory," he said.
The president also said that he understands Palestinian frustrations
over checkpoints throughout the West Bank but says they’re necessary
for now to give Israelis a sense of security.
"The whole object is to create a state that is capable of defending
itself internally and giving confidence to its neighbor that
checkpoints won’t be needed," Bush.
In Jerusalem, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said his
government shares the belief that the "current status quo is far
from desirable."
"The purpose of the process we’re in now is to create a new reality
that will be better for both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples,"
Regev said.
On Wednesday, Olmert said "there will be no peace" unless attacks
are halted from all parts of the Palestinian territories. Olmert,
however, said that both sides "are very seriously trying to move
forward" on a peace agreement.
"Israel does not tolerate and will not tolerate the continuation of
these vicious attacks," Olmert said after 2 1/2 hours of talks with
Bush. "We will not hesitate to take all the necessary measures. There
will be no peace unless terror is stopped. And terror will have to
be stopped everywhere."
The fog having lifted, Bush flew from Ramallah to Bethlehem after his
news conference with Abbas. Along the way, signs in English proclaimed
"Occupation is terrorism" and commanded the United States to "stop
giving aid to occupation and death to our children."
The president toured the Church of the Navity, which is jointly
administered by three Christian denominations – Roman Catholic, Greek
Orthodox and Armenian. Bush walked around the church with clerics in
black robes and toured the grotto or cave beneath, which many believe
is the birthplace of Christ. The president also is visiting the Roman
Catholic Church of St.
Catherine where Christmas decorations adorned 19th Century stone walls.
Bush said he was moved and happy to be in Bethlehem and lamented the
walls and checkpoints that restrict Palestinian life there.
"For those of us who practice the Christian faith, there is no holier
place," Bush said.