MidEast Report

CALLING COLIN POWELL, CLEANUP IN AISLE 7...
Once again, it's up to Colin Powell, who often seems like the lone adult in this administration, to step in and try to repair damage caused by his boss's incoherent foreign policy.

"The Bush administration on Tuesday joined in a high-level diplomatic statement that stressed that the key issues dividing Israelis and Palestinians must be negotiated by both sides, just weeks after President Bush pronounced that Israel could keep some West Bank settlements and Palestinian refugees should not resettle in Israel.

U.S. officials and foreign diplomats described the statement as an effort by the Bush administration to repair the international damage from the president's remarks last month, which had drawn sharp criticism in the Arab world and from European allies.

...the lengthy Quartet statement said that "any final settlement on issues such as borders and refugees must be mutually agreed to by Israelis and Palestinians" based on a long list of U.N. resolutions and other diplomatic initiatives, including a Saudi proposal that would have Israel give up all the occupied territories. The Quartet also stressed at several points that Israel must freeze settlement growth, that it "must end the Israeli occupation that began in 1967," and that "no party should take unilateral actions that seek to predetermine issues that can only be resolved through negotiation and agreement between the two parties." "

First, Bush angers the Arab world with his complete support of Sharon's plan. Next: Bush spends the subsequent weeks backpedaling furiously, sending in his surrogates to explain that he didn't quite mean exactly what everybody heard him say. This is leadership?

posted by Matt Duss @ 11:27 AM