(Washington Post) - President Bush released his long-awaited "road map" to Middle East peace not in a sun-dappled Rose Garden ceremony or a televised East Room address, but in a written statement read by his spokesman. Bush's closest political allies, religious conservatives, are fiercely protective of Israel and would resist any signal that he is pressuring the government of Prime Minister Sharon. The biggest advocates of the action Bush took Wednesday - Democrats and liberals - are unlikely to support Bush in any case. That reality helps to explain why many Middle East analysts do not have high expectations for the road map. For Bush to produce a peace accord, they figure, he must be willing to apply pressure on the Israelis. But that runs counter to his own instincts and his domestic political environment. The very notion of the road map was less a Bush idea than a response to an Arab request for help. During a White House visit, Jordan's King Abdullah II said to Bush, "What we need is a road map." Bush turned to William Burns, the assistant secretary of state for the region. "He wants a road map," Bush said to Burns. "Can we give him a road map?"
2003-05-01 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive