Bush has offered the Saudis a graceful way to get out of this mess. I don't believe that any of them are very happy about Arafat, but they were hemmed in and there was no way out. Now there is. Prince Abdullah will be the peacemaker, bringing tremendous prestige to his country and worldwide admiration. He will negotiate hard for the Palestinians and Sharon will negotiate hard for the Israelis. In the end there will be peace, Israel will be recognized by the Arab world, and, although there will be minor incidents, the prestige of the entire Arab world will rest on them getting it under control....and they will.
The only one who will not get any credit for this is Bush. But he will know, and so will we.
I have tried to make this same point elsewhere. Abdullah needs the credit if he is to remain in power. Bush doesn't. He's got until Jan. '05 at least.
Bush can look for the right results anywhere he finds them. He doesn't need adulation, and he doesn't even need a second term. He could be happy back in Texas inviting friends like Karen Hughes to the ranch for barbecue.
But I've seen enough insanity amongst the Arabs and enough hubris amongst the Fauds that I can't feel too secure in that assessment.
The Saudi's want peace? After the huge investments they have made in furthoring conflict and terror?
I was born in the dark, but it wasnt last night.
Who is naive here? Oh well, the truth will be shown very,very soon.God help us all.
Should Bush and Sharon adopt this "piece plan", I suspect neither of them will be in power within three-and-a-half years.
Is there any possibility you would be willing to share whatever it is that you imbibe, ingest. inject or inhale to cause this thought process? Whatever it is that can induce that much erroneous perception of reality must be worth a fortune to those who seek to escape reality.
;^)
My prediction is that nothing of any substance is coming from Prince Abdullah, though he might succeed in staging a "side show" that papers over the intractible realities of the Israeli-Pali conflict.
The House of Saud has in effect been encouraging its own people to "get radical" over a suffering people -- the Palestinians -- that a rich Arab country like Saudi Arabia could have succored, relocated, even accepted as immigrants to Saudi Arabia (they are always looking for sweat laborers over there...), all in the name of simple humanity.
But no; had that been the case, the Palestinians could never be used as the pawns and tools of Arab anti-Western policy. Angry, ignorant, starving, disaffected Palestinians make for a highly valuable "commodity" in the competition with the West. Plus the House of Saud has a reason to keep its own people distracted -- to keep them from complaining about their own corrupt government. (PRC is doing the same thing -- loudly, constantly demonizing the U.S. and Israel as a way of establishing "national solidarity" against the West; this ploy -- this constant drumbeat of an "external enemy" -- helps keep the Chinese people in line, instead of going after the corrupt gerontocrats in the Politburo....)
Abdullah has no reason (other than oil revenues) to give a fig about the U.S.; and he thinks he's got some real leverage with that "oil weapon" of his -- a big stick to beat the U.S. with. (In his imagination at least.) To the extent that we disproportionately (and quite effectively) support the Jewish state, he has every incentive to reduce Anerican influence in the region. And probably the best way to do that is to get us to buy a bill of goods that is "all show" -- as if intoning the "P" word (for 'Peace') is all you need to do to settle the PLO/Israeli "differences," and to establish a permanent condition of international comity....
Abdullah is selling rhetoric, propaganda; unfortunately, no one's figured out yet how to live in rhetoric/propaganda. What "sounds great" is often the worst sort of Hell in practice -- if history is any guide. Plus I've noticed that, the folks who are crying the "P" word loudest these days seem to be the ones with the bloodiest hands.
I hope Bush tears this grandstanding, corrupt fraud a new *ssh*l*. But he probably won't: He's too much of a man of honor, a gentleman. Still, Abdullah seems to have underestimated our President. That's usually not the "prudent" thing to do. best, bb.