[Washington Times] Editorial - The Bush administration's policy toward Israel and the Palestinians increasingly seems like a reprise of the Oslo "peace process" pushed by the Clinton administration, which ended in disaster six years ago when Arafat rejected a two-state compromise solution and went to war with the Jewish state. Time and again from 1996 to 2000, the Clinton administration pressed Prime Ministers Netanyahu and Barak to be more forthcoming with concessions to Arafat - a man who proved unwilling to make peace. Secretary of State Rice now seems bent on propping up a new generation of failed Palestinian leadership - specifically Mahmoud Abbas. Since the mid-1990s, the Europeans provided massive financial and political support for Arafat. The U.S. tried to train a Palestinian police force, only to see many of the police utilize the training to join terrorist militias targeting Israel. After Arafat died, the international Quartet sought to bolster subsequent Fatah regimes, without achieving any results. After Israel withdrew from Gaza last summer, arrangements negotiated with Egypt and the Europeans to police the border collapsed, including the Nov. 15, 2005, deal Rice pressed Prime Minister Sharon into accepting. It is a disservice to the Palestinians to continue to pretend that failed, bankrupt leaders like Abbas are part of the solution to their plight. In reality, they are part of the problem.
2006-10-20 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive