January 7th, 2008

Bush Sees Mideast Peace Deal This Year ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times by Daniel Dombey - January 7, 2008 - 6:17pm George W. Bush has predicted a peace deal this year between Israel and the Palestinians ahead of his most extensive visit yet to the Middle East. US officials say the president will devote the week-long tour, in which he will travel to six countries and the Palestinian territories, to pushing for Middle East peace, rallying his regional allies against Iran and reviving Washington’s stalled democratisation agenda. » Read more

Leading Article: A Belated Awakening To Middle East Obligations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent (Editorial) January 7, 2008 - 6:15pm Given how central the Middle East has been to US foreign policy in recent decades, it is remarkable that it has taken George Bush the best part of seven years to make his first visit to Israel as President. There have, of course, been extenuating circumstances: the preoccupation with terrorism and Afghanistan after the attacks of 11 September 2001; the ill-conceived and mismanaged war in Iraq; and Mr Bush's own home-body temperament. Even at the best of times, he was a notoriously reluctant traveller. » Read more

Hardline Israeli Settlers Plan Chilly Reception For Bush ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) by Michael Blum - January 7, 2008 - 6:14pm Residents of one of the oldest and most radical Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank are dreading the upcoming Middle East visit by US President George W. Bush. The settlers of Kiryat Arba west of Hebron -- one of the first set up after the West Bank's capture in 1967 -- fear for their future amid new peace talks with the Palestinians. But they remain defiant over American pressure to freeze settlement activity during the talks, and plan to make their voices heard during the landmark visit. » Read more

Surprising Lessons From Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune by Emily Schaeffer - January 7, 2008 - 6:12pm Six years after Sept. 11th and the ensuing war on terror, what seemed a temporary situation has become a protracted conflict, with everyone from the Bush administration to competing presidential candidates offering recommendations for change. Proposals vary from withdrawing troops from Iraq to reforming the military commissions in Guantánamo. But amid an open-ended war on terror, would any of these comparatively small changes really matter? » Read more

Bush's Mideast Mission ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe (Editorial) January 7, 2008 - 6:10pm IN AN effort to bring about enormous changes at the last minute, President Bush will arrive in Israel Wednesday to begin an eight-day trip to a half-dozen countries in the Middle East. This will be his first state visit to all the countries on his itinerary except Egypt, and Americans must hope this belated trip to such a strategically vital region means Bush now recognizes the mistake he made in waiting so long. » Read more

Substance, Not Smiles ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Baltimore Sun (Editorial) January 7, 2008 - 6:09pm Jerusalem is draping itself in the flags of the city, Israel and the United States in honor of President Bush's visit this week, perfect for the essential photo op. And that's all this trip sounds like it's shaping up to be since neither the president nor his advisers have identified any policy or message that Mr. Bush will relay to advance the commitments made at the Annapolis peace summit. And that's just unacceptable. » Read more

Straddling Cultures, Irreverently, In Life And Art ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - January 7, 2008 - 6:07pm Being an Arab Israeli has always been a complex affair, at times almost a contradiction in terms. For Sayed Kashua, 32, an Israeli-born Arab journalist and author, it just got more complicated. » Read more

As Bush Heads To Mideast, Renewed Questions On Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Michael Abramowitz, Ellen Knickmeyer - January 7, 2008 - 6:06pm President Bush intends to use his first extended tour of the Middle East to rally support for international pressure against Iran, even as a recent U.S. intelligence report playing down Tehran's nuclear ambitions has left Israeli and Arab leaders rethinking their own approach toward Iran and questioning Washington's resolve, according to senior U.S. officials, diplomats and regional experts. » Read more

Israel's False Friends ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by John J. Mearsheimer And Stephen M. Walt - (Opinion) January 7, 2008 - 6:05pm Once again, as the presidential campaign season gets underway, the leading candidates are going to enormous lengths to demonstrate their devotion to the state of Israel and their steadfast commitment to its "special relationship" with the United States. » Read more

Bush Faces Mideast Obstacles ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Amy Teibel - January 7, 2008 - 6:04pm President Bush heads to Israel and the West Bank this week, hoping his first visit as U.S. leader will open the throttle on Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. But in the six weeks since Bush declared at an international gathering in Annapolis, Md., that "the time is right" to make peace, two perennial obstacles to Mideast peacemaking have already reared up: Israeli settlements and violence. » Read more