Posted on 06/03/2003 8:22:05 PM PDT by Brian S
By ELISABETH BUMILLER
SHARM EL SHEIK, Egypt, June 3 — It was not surprising that President Bush would get tough with the Israelis and Palestinians and demand that both get their houses in order. What was surprising, because of an extraordinary mistake by Egyptian television, was that Mr. Bush would be caught unawares on camera today speaking about the Middle East with more bluntness, emotion and religious fervor than had been heard before.
Anyone who has regularly watched Mr. Bush in speeches and news conferences could tell in an instant that he had no idea that his remarks to five moderate Arab leaders were being broadcast for public consumption. He was colloquial, and referred to "Almighty God."
By late afternoon, Mr. Bush's aides acknowledged that the president had not known the cameras were rolling as he spoke. Subsequently, White House transcribers scrambled to record his comments from network tapes.
Speaking the direct language of a politician willing to take a dangerous gamble — as long as the others were, too — Mr. Bush made his comments just after he had spent 90 minutes in an unscheduled meeting with the five Arab leaders, with only interpreters present.
"No matter how difficult it is, you have my commitment that I will expend the energy and effort necessary to move the process forward," Mr. Bush told the leaders as they gathered for a second meeting, this one with multiple aides.
At one point the president turned to look directly at the new Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, a man in whom he had invested political capital and was meeting for the first time. "You, sir, have got a responsibility, and you've assumed it," the president said. "I want to work with you, as do the other leaders here. We must not allow a few people, a few killers, a few terrorists, to destroy the dreams and the hopes of the many."
With that, Mr. Bush turned his attention to Israel, particularly its prime minister, Ariel Sharon, who was not at the table, but will be on Wednesday in Jordan.
"Israel has got responsibilities," Mr. Bush said. "Israel must deal with the settlements. Israel must make sure there's a continuous territory that Palestinians call home." (The White House, which late in the day produced a transcript of Mr. Bush's remarks, put the word "contiguous" in parentheses after "continuous," to indicate that "contiguous" was what Mr. Bush had meant.)
For Mr. Bush, the stop in this jewel of a manufactured oasis on the edge of Bedouin lands was his first big step into the Middle East conflict. Few knew precisely what had occurred between Mr. Bush and the five Arab leaders, because they did not even allow in note-takers. Rarely has Mr. Bush gone so solo. Afterward, the five leaders pledged they would fight the "culture of extremism and violence" that has undercut peace, and act to control the flow of money to terrorist groups.
Mr. Bush sat at a round table with his host, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. Joining them were Mr. Abbas, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah II of Jordan and King Hamad of Bahrain.
Mr. Bush won good reviews on his performance from Arab leaders, who expressed relief and gratitude that he had at last come to their region. His goal today was to enlist support of the Arab leaders behind Mr. Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, whom he wants to promote as the leader of the Palestinians over the administration's nemesis, Yasir Arafat. In one moment caught by an Egyptian TV camera, Mr. Bush and Mr. Abbas could be seen smiling and talking to each other off to the side of the other leaders and officials.
"By the time the lunch was over, they looked like they were old pals from a long time ago," said a high-ranking Saudi official. "The ability of the president to move from different personalities to different types of people — if it was never tested before, it was certainly tested today." The president, the Saudi official said, had shown his "seriousness" about the process.
So far, Mr. Bush has shown no signs of fatigue or impatience on this seven-day, six-nation journey, as he did on a trip to Europe a year ago. One difference is that this time Mr. Bush is the victor of the war in Iraq, more in control, with far more power to wield. He also appears to be having a good time: This afternoon he grinned as he drove Mr. Mubarak by golf cart from the Four Seasons Hotel to an outdoor news conference on a bluff overlooking the sea, where the president was then seen to kiss King Hamad on both cheeks.
Mr. Bush was also evidently comfortable enough to talk to the Arabs about his own religion. "I believe that, as I told the Crown Prince, the Almighty God has endowed each individual on the face of the earth with — that expects each person to be treated with dignity," Mr. Bush said in the remarks that he did not know were being broadcast. "This is a universal call. It's the call of all religions, that each person must be free and treated with respect."
It is with that call, Mr. Bush concluded, "that I feel passionate about the need to move forward."
I wonder if it really was an accident at all.
He also appears to be having a good time: This afternoon he grinned as he drove Mr. Mubarak by golf cart from the Four Seasons Hotel to an outdoor news conference on a bluff overlooking the sea, where the president was then seen to kiss King Hamad on both cheeks.As Maureen Dowd will write it:
He also appears to be having a good time ... to kiss King Hamad on both cheeks.
That's it?!? Hmmmmm . . . must be a NY Slimes article.
I have read that Slick Willie met more times with lizard lips Arafat than his own CIA Director during the early part of his eight year regime.
Good on Bush for ignoring Arafat and marginalizing him.
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