Word: bidens
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...David Axelrod, President Obama's chief political adviser, on Sunday branded as an "affront" and "insulting" Israel's announcement, during Vice President Joe Biden's visit to announce a renewed peace effort, of plans to build 1,600 new housing units in the part of the Holy City conquered in 1967 and claimed by the Palestinians as their future capital. Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren reportedly told diplomatic colleagues over the weekend that U.S.-Israel relations faced their worst crisis in 35 years. (See pictures of 60 years of Israel...
...fact that the Administration chose to keep the issue alive after Biden's departure demonstrates that it sees the issue as an opportunity. Having been rebuffed in its efforts to get the Israeli government to demonstrate good faith in peace negotiations with the Palestinians by freezing settlement activity on the territories conquered in the war of 1967 - a failure that has underscored Arab skepticism over talking peace with Netanyahu - the White House appears determined to use the Israeli gaffe as leverage to extract a major concession to spur the peace process...
...with the Biden visit having highlighted differences over Jerusalem, the issue can't be easily fudged. Even if Netanyahu quietly undertakes to refrain from new construction in East Jerusalem, the move would not go unnoticed for long - and would prompt right-wing demonstrations and agitation. The right-wing settler movement is well entrenched in the government bureaucracy responsible for settlement construction, and precedent suggests they would find a way to continue building regardless even of any secret promises to the U.S. by Netanyahu. "Everything in East Jerusalem is under a magnifying glass and involves too many people and politics...
...holds that the U.S. must withdraw all combat troops from Iraq by the end of August and the remaining 50,000 support troops by the end of 2011. The Obama Administration has stuck to the timetable. With one eye on a developing political maturity in Iraq, Vice President Joe Biden has predicted that Iraq could be one of the Administration's "great achievements." He said recently, "You're going to see a stable government in Iraq...
...compromise. Plenty don't think they are up to the task. "They are going to push us back to civil war," says Daha Arwai, the head of a charity that looks after the children and widows of men murdered by militias. Will Iraq's leaders prove her wrong? Joe Biden is convinced they will - but then, the Vice President is one of life's sunny optimists. Most others, watching Iraq, have their fingers very firmly crossed...