Gamble on Sharon Goes Awry for Bush- Likud Vote a Blow to U.S.Credibility

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61482-2004May2.html

Gamble on Sharon Goes Awry for Bush
Likud Vote Against Plan a Blow to U.S. Credibility
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, May 3, 2004; Page A15


President Bush took a huge diplomatic gamble two weeks ago when he forcefully embraced Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from Gaza and handed Israel key concessions on a final peace deal. The backlash in Arab and European countries was especially intense, but administration officials argued Sharon's plan carried the seeds of a breakthrough in the stalled peace process.

Now, the Likud Party's overwhelming rejection of that plan has left the administration's credibility in the Middle East in tatters. The tilt toward Israel will not soon be forgotten by the Arab world, but it will be harder for the administration to claim that Bush's support of Sharon has made a difference. Moreover, the Likud vote comes when the image of the United States is already greatly damaged by accounts of psychological and sexual abuse of Iraqi prisoners by some U.S. soldiers.

"The real objective of giving Sharon the blank check he left with was to shore up his political support at home," said a State Department official speaking on the condition of anonymity. "We paid a very high price and did not get a return."

Samuel W. Lewis, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, said the vote yesterday "is an embarrassment diplomatically" for the Bush administration and "now they have the worst of both worlds." He faulted the administration for giving in to many of Sharon's key demands, including saying that in a final peace deal some Israel settlements in the West Bank would be retained and that Palestinians would have to give up their right to return to lands they lost during Israel's war of independence. Instead, he said, Bush should have given just general support to the plan. <snip>

Sources said Abdullah, in a private letter to Bush, asked for his own letter that would provide acknowledgment that the Palestinians would receive compensation, such as territory, if Israel retained settlements. State Department officials have drafted such a letter but it is not clear whether the White House is inclined to grant the king's request. <snip>


While Sharon remained publicly committed to the U.S.-backed peace plan known as the "road map," Arab officials were dubious. They viewed Sharon's plan as an effort to freeze the process. In a little-noticed letter between Rice and Sharon's chief of staff, Israel promised a key U.S. goal -- "territorial contiguity" of a Palestinian state -- in only the northern West Bank. The Israelis pledged to aim for "transportation contiguity" in the rest of the West Bank, meaning a state scattered among Israeli settlements and linked by roads and bridges.

"Now, the Likud Party's overwhelming rejection of that plan has left the adminstrations credibility in the Middle East in tatters."

So exactly when did the administrations credibility get repaired in the Middle East. I must have missed that news story.

Seriously speaking this whole effort was just Mr. Sharon blowing smoke up Shrub's butt, to get the total committment he needed from the US.

Mr. Sharon got the support and we all know how this administration likes to admit they made mistakes(NOT). So it looks as if we will stay the course, we will not retreat, and mission accomplished. LOL