Word: aqaba
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...Middle East, where hatreds are measured in generations and a long weekend of peace counts as a triumph, the gap between dreams and reality is deep. In the 10 days following a historic meeting at the Jordanian town of Aqaba among President George W. Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas--a meeting full of promise and fine words--five Israeli soldiers and 18 civilians were killed by Palestinian gunmen and suicide bombers, and 23 Palestinians were killed by Israeli missile attacks designed to eradicate the leadership of the terrorist group Hamas. Of the Palestinians...
...toughness of Bush's statement, according to U.S. and diplomatic sources, was easily explained. By attempting to kill Rantisi, they say, Sharon had violated an undertaking that he had given Bush before Aqaba and reiterated there. Sharon, say these sources, had indicated that henceforth Israel would commit assassinations only in the case of a "ticking time bomb"--understood, on the American side, to mean a terrorist on his way to an attack. Administration sources doubt that Rantisi filled the bill. "Sure, we'll stipulate the guy's a terrorist," says a White House official. "Was he going to be responsible...
...That option, however, is not in Powell's toolbox. His job this weekend will be to turn the optimistic phrases of Aqaba into a working peace agreement. And it's an unenviable...
Winning over leaders is one thing; convincing wary Palestinians, Israelis and Arabs that this peace process will lead somewhere is another. Few Palestinians share the optimism felt at Aqaba. They doubt Bush's sincerity, are suspicious of Sharon's intentions and fear Abbas is an American puppet. "The problem with the Americans," a Palestinian Authority official tells TIME, "is that they get bored with the Arab-Israeli conflict very easily...
...great-man theory of history--the idea that individual leaders can have an outsize impact on the course of events. For now, he is full of optimism and enticed by the prospect of success. "A lot of Presidents have tried," Bush said as Air Force One left Aqaba. "Every President should try. We ought to use the prestige of America to try for peace... [And] maybe history is such that now we can achieve it." Even if Bush suspects that the road isn't likely to lead to everlasting peace, he at least knows he has to start traveling...