Bush Departs From Mideast Without Concrete Progress on Peace

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Source: Bloomberg.com

May 18 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush left the Middle East after a five-day trip that was filled with speeches and support for Israel and little sign of concrete progress toward a Palestinian-Israeli peace deal.

Bush capped his trip with a speech today in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt to a World Economic Forum conference that drew sporadic, stilted applause, contrasting sharply with the wildly enthusiastic support he received when addressing Israel's Knesset and a 60th anniversary celebration in Jerusalem last week.

Asked if anything of substance had occurred on the trip to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Bush's national security adviser Stephen Hadley stressed the trip was meant to ``make clear America's commitment to the Israeli people'' and show the president's ``continued support for the effort to negotiate a Palestinian peace.''

Hadley left open the possibility that Bush may return to the Middle East for a third time this year to work toward that goal. ``I think the president will come back here when there is work for him to do to advance the process,'' Hadley told reporters accompanying Bush. The president is ``committed to do what needs to be done to try and get a success here.''

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aS2y7Hi1pFig&refer=home

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[rsmith6621]

1. Yep An 8 Year Waste Of Time.....

....he is a total failure.......

....Bush does not know how to talk diplomacy nor is he interested in learning....the my way or the highway man is almost on his way back to the fake ranch.

[Journeyman]

2. Damn -- could have written that headline last weekend, saved the cost of the trip. . .

and not had to hear a lot of insipid bullshit to boot.

[existentialist]

3. Did anyone expect anything more?

[Donkeykick]

4. A Thought.

Asked if anything of substance had occurred on the trip to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt,

Bush's answer: "Sure did. Didn't you hear me cut down on the Democrats and make a complete fool of myself, when the press found out that Robert Gates and John McCain was wanting to negotiate with Hamas?" :eyes:

[ToughLuck]

5. No surprise, a failure til the end..thats Bush.

Only good was that the Eqyptian press threw Bush his bullshit "appeaser" term right back in damn face.

[ladjf]

6. As usual, the expectations were zero and the accomplishments

were zero of less. This man needs to be in jail now.

[asjr]

7. And if Congress had the guts

to impeach right after the invasion of Iraq, we wouldn't be going through this stuff. I still don't understand why he has not been impeached.

[ladjf]

8. Nor do I. But, an infusion of a bunch of new Democratic Congressmen and women

might do wonders for their courage factor.

[struggle4progress]

9. soup rise soup rise

[bluesmail]

10. He can't even do divide and conquer properly. HA!

[kevinbgoode]

11. Can't we revoke his passport. . .before he gets home?

hehehe eom/

[FarCenter]

12. "Without concrete progress" overstates his success

But the president's criticism of Hamas, which has been shunned by Israel and the West as a "terrorist organisation" despite winning Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006, is likely to stir new controversy.

Egypt, a key US ally, has been negotiating indirect talks between Hamas and other Palestinian groups on one side and Israel on the other.

Amani Soliman, Al Jazeera's Middle East editor said: "For Bush to come out and say this in Egypt ... puts the Egyptians in an uncomfortable situation.

"These people are sitting down to talk to the Israelis, albeit through Egypt."

Before the US president spoke, Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian leader, had called on Israel to accept peace offers by the various Palestinian factions, stressing that no agreement would be forced on the Palestinians.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/01B1F8D0-842A-4364-BCAC-830EA99D9143.htm

[Jack Rabbit]

13. When we want peace, we send in a pro

Jimmy Carter

[Buns_of_Fire]

14. He'll go back "when there is work for him to do to advance the process''

I guess that means this'll be his last trip to the region, huh?

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

15. ...And if he's NOT committed he SHOULD be...

[Doctor_J]

16. This headline is a gag, right?

Has * accomplished anything he's set out to do IN HIS FUCKING LIFE? Did anyone believe this trip would accomplish anything?

I am so sick of this sack of shit and his media sycophants.

[shanti]

17. mission accomplished!

:eyes:

[calimary]

18. They're not going to do any further business with him. They're just not going to.

They have no further interest in him. As his arrogant, imperious mom once told Al Franken dismissively - "I'm through with you." Well, they're all through with her precious, too.

These folks just aren't going to bother with him anymore. They're not interested. Nothing he can do for them anyway, especially when they undoubtedly realize he's worthless to begin with, and anything he DOES do for people leads directly to great loss and heart-ache.

He's the Typhoid Texan, for sure. They were calling him, and cheney, too, radioactive on CNN earlier today (Sunday), quoting VA republi-CON tom davis, I think, as saying everybody running for reelection has got to RUN, DON'T WALK away from him. Well deserved, but WAY too late in coming.