President Bush and Prime Minister Olmert have made it crystal clear peace will happen on their terms or not at all. The Israeli Prime Minister in just 4 months on the job has told the Palestinians to elect someone he can negotiate with in 4 months or take his offer. As no Palestinian elections are slated in that time frame, they will just have to accept his terms. That is the message Olmert is sending the Palestinians via his huge foray into Lebanon.
He likes to disguise these facts with words like:
“I'll surprise you. I genuinely believe that the outcome of the present (conflict) and the emergence of a new order that will provide more stability and will defeat the forces of terror will help create the necessary environment that will allow me ... to create a new momentum between us and the Palestinians.”
As the neighborhood bully, Olmert will be able to impose his conditions upon the Palestinian people but peace cannot be imposed by one party of the agreement. It cannot be forced from the outside despite President Bush’s fervent intentions.
How can a new Middle East arise solely from the actions of two Western countries, one which lives in the neighborhood? It can’t. That Bush and Olmert haven’t figured this out is most concerning. What else are they not taking into account?
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