Word: roadmap
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President Bush insisted Tuesday that his Middle East peace roadmap "still stands," despite five Palestinian terror attacks in 48 hours. But the latest violence and continuing stalemate between Israeli and Palestinian leaders over how or whether to proceed has been a stark reminder that what the roadmap stands for right now is little more than a statement of the good intentions of its authors. The opportunity for peace the President had confidently predicted would follow Saddam Hussein's ouster has failed to materialize, the situation on the ground is no different than it was before the invasion, and the absence...
...Even before the latest rash of suicide attacks, the Palestinian leadership had adopted the roadmap, but insisted they can't take any steps to implement it before Israel also signs on. But Israel wants President Bush to make a number of substantial changes and insists the priority is the ongoing terror threat and the failure of the Palestinian Authority to confront it. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has made clear he has no interest in embarking on a road to Palestinian statehood as long as violence continues...
...Palestinian militant groups who refuse to be disarmed by Abbas, but their hard line is not of his making - it was previously directed against his own efforts to enforce a cease-fire. The Palestinian militants who have been waging the intifada don't see any point in pursuing the roadmap, which in its prescriptions for the initial phases is simply a reiteration of the major cease-fire initiatives of the past two years (which require that the militants be disarmed), but is deliberately vague on issues such as the eventual borders of a Palestinian state. In the absence...
...clear divergence with the U.S. position, Sharon has studiously avoided conflict with the White House, although where such conflict has arisen he has relied on the U.S. domestic political equation and the divisions within the Bush administration to walk Washington towards his positions. So Sharon hasn't rejected the roadmap out of hand, but has instead made clear his intention to seek a large number of "modifications" despite earlier U.S. statements that the package is not negotiable...
...roadmap has no takers, then, unless the President is prepared to get more directly involved and frog-march the two sides down the road. That's exactly what he promised such key Iraq-coalition partners as Britain and Spain, as well as Arab allies who openly or quietly backed the invasion. It may be what aides most concerned about Washington's global alliances are urging him to do. But pressuring Sharon to do anything he's not inclined to do at a time when Israel is facing terror attacks risks alienating two key domestic political constituencies - the traditional Jewish...