[TIME] Tim McGirk - After talks on Monday with Mahmoud Abbas, Secretary of State Rice said she believed that a final-status agreement on the creation of an independent Palestinian state could still be achieved before the Bush Administration leaves the White House in January 2009. But the report card since last November's Annapolis peace summit has been a row of D's and F's, with one exception: Abbas probably rates a C- for working with the Americans to train a security force that will make the streets of Nablus and Jenin safer from armed gangs. But it's unlikely that the new police will be able to stop suicide bombers or rocket launchers from targeting Israel, which is all the Israelis rightly care about. In fact, Israeli officials make clear that even if a final-status agreement is concluded by year's end, it won't be implemented before the Palestinians have complied with President Bush's Roadmap, which requires them to close down the armed wing of Hamas and other militant groups.
2008-04-01 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive