January 14th

Democracy: Fragile Seeds That Fall On Stony Ground ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times by Richard Beeston - January 14, 2008 - 6:07pm Halfway through his eight-nation tour of the Arab world, President Bush delivered yesterday what his hosts had long expected: a call for democracy to flower in the arid political climate of the Middle East. Three years ago, when he made the drive for democracy in the region the central pillar of US foreign policy for his second term in office, the impact caused political shockwaves among friends and foes in a part of the world where rulers and dictators have long resisted change. » Read more

President Bush's Only Achievement In The Middle East Is To Increase The Power Of Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Johann Hari - (Commentary) January 14, 2008 - 6:00pm Just as we were all sighing with relief at the end of the Bush years, the lame duck President has waddled into the Middle East to remind us his beak is still nuclear-tipped. With one year to go, he is standing on the sands of Arabia to announce Iran is "the world leading state sponsor of terror" and must be confronted "before it's too late". He then quacks a few words about peace between Israel and the Palestinians and the "success" of the surge in Iraq. » Read more

Insubstantial Pageant ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian (Editorial) January 14, 2008 - 5:59pm After all the supercharged talk of change in the primaries this week, George Bush's trip to the Middle East served as a reminder that America still has a way to go before it can wave goodbye to all that. As with the US summit in Annapolis last year, it is hard, even for the congenital optimist, to find much to cling on to after Mr Bush's first visit to the region as president. In Prospero's words, "the great globe itself, yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve and, like this insubstantial pageant faded, leave not a rack behind". » Read more

Tensions Threaten Israeli Coalition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times by Tobias Buck - January 14, 2008 - 5:58pm Ehud Olmert is battling to keep together Israel’s fractious multi-party government, amid rising tensions between the prime minister and his rightwing coalition partner over the current Middle East peace talks. » Read more

January 14, 2008 - Vol. 9, Issue 19 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now by Middle East Peace Report - January 14, 2008 - 5:53pm EHUD VS. EHUD: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have been trading barbs over Israel’s failure to evacuate settlement outposts built in violation of Israeli law and Israel’s commitments to the United States. During a media availability with Olmert, U.S. President George W. Bush displayed some impatience over this issue on Wednesday. He said: “Look, I mean, we’ve been talking about it for four years.  The agreement was, get rid of outposts, illegal outposts, and they ought to go.” » Read more

With Concern And Bemusement, Israelis Follow U.s. Elections ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Dina Kraft - January 14, 2008 - 5:30pm Hillary Clinton is the favorite U.S. presidential candidate at Itzik Nir's tiny juice stand at the corner of King George St., a veritable neighborhood listening post where opinions pile up as quickly as the signature orange-banana-passion fruit blends are served. Customers giggle trying to pronounce Mike Huckabee's name and see Barack Obama as an unknown. They’d rather stick to Clinton, who they see as a sure thing for Israel, Nir said. » Read more

It's Not About Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Shibley Telhami - January 14, 2008 - 5:28pm As President Bush travels through the Middle East, the prevailing assumption is that Arab states are primarily focused on the rising Iranian threat and that their attendance at the Annapolis conference with Israel in November was motivated by this threat. This assumption, reflected in the president's speech in the United Arab Emirates yesterday, could be a costly mistake. » Read more

West Bank's Jewish 'outposts' Dig In ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Jonathan Finer - January 14, 2008 - 5:25pm With a pellet gun in his jeans pocket and a hammer in his hand, Dani Landesberg and a crew of teenage Jewish settlers began adding a second story to what has become their new home. They stole occasional glances down the winding access road in case the police came by to evict them, again. » Read more

Still Waiting To Seize The Moment ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Editorial) January 14, 2008 - 5:24pm Visiting the Middle East this week, President Bush sounded an unaccustomed note of diplomatic urgency. He insisted that Israel and the Palestinians will conclude a peace agreement before he leaves office in early 2009, and he tried to rhetorically prod the process along. » Read more

Palestinian Police Reclaim West Bank Streets ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Wafa Amr - January 14, 2008 - 5:15pm Palestinian police are slowly starting to exert control over some West Bank towns, long the domain of hooded gunmen and their automatic rifles, with the aid of Western-backed funding and training.   The security drive, demanded by many Palestinians and which Israel says is a prerequisite for peace, has seen green-bereted security officers bent on enforcing law and order emerge from the chaos of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. » Read more