Bush and Sharon -- on the same page
Shhhhh!
You won't read of it in the New York Times. You won't find it mentioned on the wires, nor published in any "news" magazine. Peter Jennings' lips are sealed. Dittos Tom and Dan.
What's the big secret, you ask?
The media mystery shrouding the Bush-Sharon Oval Office tete-a-tete this week, that's what. No, not the phony accounts, but the real deal -- what really happened behind closed doors last Tuesday.
From the torrent of grim press reports, the meeting ended in failure -- utter failure. The two leaders were at loggerheads, tussling and wrangling over Arafat; haggling and squabbling over Israel's incursion; bickering and brawling even over the meaning of the Bush doctrine. The 70-minute face-to-face was less a summit and more a donnybrook -- a full-fledge, free-for-all melee.
To hear the press tell it, Bush played the part of McGovern -- a groveling peacenik brimming with fondness and tenderness for Arafat, a suck-up for the PA, a bootlick for 'suicide' bombers. But Sharon stood firm. The Israeli Prime Minister was, in every sense, truly Reaganesque -- strongly reminding his wobbly host that peace, per the Gipper, comes only through strength.
If you can believe this phony media portrait, you can imagine the following exchange:
BUSH: Surrender to Arafat', Mr. Sharon -- I order you now! War is futile -- nothing good comes of it. Why not give peace a chance, man?
SHARON: But, Mr. President, what about the War on Terror, the Bush doctrine? Have you forgotten those? I more than believe in your doctrine, sir -- I'm applying it, everyday, throughout the West Bank, for crying out loud! Why have you turned into such a dove, so suddenly?
BUSH: See? That's your problem -- you see war as the only solution, always. Well, I'm here to tell you, buddy boy, it isn't. It never is. Never will be. War is never a cure. Only peace is the answer. You, Mr. Sharon, are a warmonger. You need an attitude adjustment, m' man.
SHARON: Get real, Mr. President. Have you been reading the news lately? Our Pizzarias, shopping malls, nightclubs, discotechs, buses, etc. are being blown to bits; so what are we to do about it, Mr. President? Stand around, twiddle our thumbs like a bunch of dunces and take it?
BUSH: C'mon, Sharon, think about it: What about the Palestinian people? You are brutally crushing them under the weight of your tanks -- it's time to stop! Stop this madness -- stop the warmongering!
SHARON: I take umbrage at that, Mr. President. Arafat is a terrorist, I've got reams of evidence to prove it. 'Either you're with us, or with the terrorists' -- those are your words, not mine, Mr. President.
BUSH: Don't be ridiculous, Sharon. Arafat -- a terrorist? Give me a break. He's a man of peace. Why else would they award him the Peace Prize? Or did you forget?
Kidding aside, the common thread among the plethora of media reports is this: Bush tried to pressure Sharon into negotiating with Arafat, but Sharon prevailed.
Bush, in essence, carried Arafat's brief. Gee, never mind that this President has yet to even meet with Arafat. Can't let niggling facts get in our way, now can we?
So what's the deal? What really happened during that crucial Bush-Sharon summit last Tuesday?
Forget the American news media -- it's too busy trying to drive a wedge among conservatives to give you the real lowdown.
According to Ha'aretz, a widely respected Israeli newspaper, a vastly different picture of that meeting emerges, one which flatly contradicts the clap-trap from media sources here.
Under the header, Bush agrees to neutralize Arafat, Aluf Benn writes that "sources in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's entourage to Washington said Wednesday that..Bush has agreed that peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians must wait until internal reforms within the PA have brought about a governing body that 'would be headed by a different person or different people' than the current leader", Yasser Arafat.
Translation: Bush and Sharon agree to dump Arafat. Neither leader sees him as a viable negotiating partner. It's time to give the terrorist his walking papers, as it were.
Moreover, according to Ha'aretz, this was -- not Sharon's -- but Bush's plan all along.
Mr. Benn continues: "Bush and his advisors have proposed the establishment of a temporary government within the PA until a constitution is drawn up and elections are held."
No talks until a new leadership emerges.
Indeed, Mr. Benn quotes American officials as saying that "there is no one to talk to within the PA and it is a waste of effort."
Wait a sec: Bush in the catbird seat, the man with a plan, in total command of events? Not quite the portrait painted by the New York Times, is it?
Anyway, that's.....
My two cents....
"JohnHuang2"
Bush Won't Label Arafat A Terrorist
