Sunday, April 13, 2003 :::
 
As the war on Iraq winds down, and "Operation Iraqi Freedom" proves to be somewhat of a success, there are a few complex sides to this that still deserve our attention and exploration.

Firstly, the Middle East situation as a whole. My day was brightened when I read this comment from Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon, who said that he is willing to make "painful concessions", including giving up some Jewish settlements, to ensure "true peace, real peace, peace for generations". Now is the time! With Iraq in the painful, early reconstructive stages of a budding democracy, now is the time for the United States to sit down with Sharon and Palestinian Authorities, and to stop the bloodshed in Israel. Bush has repeatedly promised to support a Palestinian state, and personally, I'm all for it if it means a decline in violence. From a speech by Bush on June 24, 2002:

My vision is two states, living side by side, in peace and security. There is simply no way to achieve that peace until all parties fight terror.

Yet at this critical moment, if all parties will break with the past and set out on a new path, we can overcome the darkness with the light of hope.

Peace requires a new and different Palestinian leadership, so that a Palestinian state can be born. I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror.

I call upon them to build a practicing democracy based on tolerance and liberty.

Far, far easier said than done. Bush is not a master of diplomacy, we have seen that with this situation with Iraq. The months leading up to the invasion of Iraq were an exercise in bureaucracy and sleight-of-hand foreign policy, where we go on and on about WMDs and UN Resolutions, when our motivations for destroying Saddam were not the same as what we said. However, in the greater scheme of things- Iraq is "freed", to a certain extent, and I pray that Iraq will serve as a springboard for a solid Middle East peace plan. Now is the time for Bush to devote his resources to this long-overdue healing process.


::: posted by Andrewski at 1:40 PM