Run-up to Mideast talks hints at split from Bush

WASHINGTON - When the Middle East peace conference kicks off Tuesday in Annapolis, Md., President George W. Bush will deliver the opening speech and also conduct three rounds of personal diplomacy with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

Such an active role is notable for a president who has never visited Israel while in office, has made only one trip to Egypt and Jordan to promote peace efforts, and has left the peace process largely in the hands of his secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice.

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Her efforts have yielded this one-day meeting in Annapolis. But Arab officials are skeptical that the conference will amount to much, because Bush has remained relatively silent on the matter, said Daniel Kurtzer, Bush's ambassador to Israel from 2001 to 2005.

"You don't get a sense that he's invested in it," Kurtzer said.

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Flynt Leverett, Rice's former top aide on Middle East issues, said she indicated that she wanted to be bolder in helping the Palestinian side of the equation but folded in the face of intense opposition from Vice President Dick Cheney, then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other conservatives.

more:http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/ny-usrice1125,0,1622354.story

He's still trying to undercut Rice and bush lacks the cojones to stand up to him.

If there's ever a "World Vacation Summit", Smirk would be a great keynote speaker. Other than that, what subject can he talk intelligently about?