Bush: Cheney to Press for Mideast Peace

WASHINGTON — President Bush, dispatching Vice President Dick Cheney to the Middle East, said the goal is to get Israelis and Palestinians to hold firm to the promises they've made toward peace.

Bush said Monday in the Oval Office that Cheney would "reassure people that the United States is committed to a vision of peace in the Middle East."

As Cheney tries to help hold together fragile negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, Bush says he's still optimistic that a peace deal can happen before he leaves office.

Cheney departs Sunday for a trip to Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank and Turkey. Oil is also on his agenda, as the White House _ coping with high energy prices that have socked American consumers _ continues to push for greater oil production in the Mideast.

The vice president's visit comes on the heels of a brief troubleshooting mission to the Mideast by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She was able to pressure the moderate Palestinian leadership to resume peace talks with Israel, which broke off after a deadly Israeli military incursion into Gaza.

"I'm optimistic that we'll be able to achieve a vision that shows a way forward, and I'm optimistic leaders will step forward and do the hard things necessary so people don't have to live in deprivation and fear," Bush said, addressing reporters after a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

In his final year in office, Bush has turned a Mideast peace deal into a signature foreign policy goal. But violence in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel has hampered the peace talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Cheney will meet with both men.

Palestinians have also condemned Israeli plans to build more housing in disputed east Jerusalem _ an area the Palestinians hope to make the capital of a future independent state.

Bush made clear he expects Cheney to prod the leaders to stick to their obligations under the U.S.-backed road map, which calls on the Palestinians to disarm militants and for Israel to halt settlement construction. "Those obligations are clear," Bush said.

The United States blames recent violence on Hamas, which took over the Gaza Strip last July and is deemed by the U.S. to be a terrorist organization.

Without naming Hamas, Bush said: "There's one force in the Middle East _ and some suspect that they're funded from outside governments and outside movements, all aiming to destabilize democracy, all aiming to prevent the vision where people can live side-by-side in peace, all wanting to destroy Israel."

Bush said the key question is whether enough will exists to reject those extremist forces.

"Our mission is exactly along those lines, and I'm optimistic," Bush said.

On Monday, Olmert instructed his army to halt airstrikes and raids into the Gaza Strip in response to a serious drop in rocket fire from the territory, allowing Egypt to proceed in its role as a mediator. Israeli defense officials and the Hamas rulers of Gaza said there was no formal truce in place.

Comments

[guntotinganglion]

Ya know...the­y really don't have to make it this easy, do they?

[outnow]

Bush wants to save his "legacy" by bringing peace to the Middle East. Cheney tells us that "one force" being directed by several countries and organizations is "aiming to destabilize democracy.­" That could well be applied to Cheney and Bush's own efforts inside of the United States to create a permanent Republican majority.

Cheney is going to work on the creation of the "will to reject this poisonous ideology" by getting back to the "road map to peace."

Sounds like Cheney and Bush "drove the car off into the ditch" and now are vainly spinning their wheels hoping that the damages in not now insurmountable now that the citizens of the United States will be demanding that Bush and Cheney be held accountable for their misrepresentations and profiteering.

Cheney will "prod" the leaders. Is that with a cattle prod? Maybe if Cheney could finally make a deal with Iran, Hamas would disarm, Israel and Palestine could resolve their differences, and Cheney can ship Iraq's oil through Turkey to Europe.

If Cheney does not succeed will he fall on his sword or just come back defeated, having aggravated the security situation in our country and having caused a massive financial meltdown. Let's see what Cheney's got! So far, he's been all talk with absolutely no results except for the biggest disaster in United States history.

Halting the construction of settlements, oil production, peace? Sounds like what these clowns should have done from day one.

[Razz]

This has to be a big joke. Is it April 1st today? LOL

[amanda85]

Wonderful, Cheney will put out the fire with high-octane gasoline..­.

[zitlight73]

You have to go one hundred and eighty degree from what the Bush Administration says to what it wants to do. When Cheney goes to a peace conference he's probably gathering the kings for the battle of Armageddon.

[danceswithyids]

Cheney will do for the peace process, what lead paint did for toys from China.

[jdbid1]

In the photo provided, is that Dick observing waterboarding?

[charlietuna11]

while hes there he may want to teach them some torture techniques that they may not be familiar with..ther­e was a notorious sheriff in these parts who complained that beating up prisoners with out leaving marks was becoming a lost art..maybe cheney could teach his friends how to water board and how to remove peoples finger nails and still classify the removal as a manicure..

[combatveteran]

i think they have that down.

[Boringat]

It's not April 1 st.

[HST]

Dick (in his best penguin villan voice): waa waa you guys are making us look bad. Waa waa pump some more oil so prices go down and we can steal the next election waa waa.

[NotMyPrez]

It's like asking Sybil to lead Group Therapy...­..

[BlackWidowPilot]

More like asking John Wayne Gacey to run a summer camp for young boys!

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[Dragon5616]

Or David Duke to head the Southern Poverty Law Center....

[jdbid1]

This has to be a slap in the face to Condi. I thought she was doing a heck of a job.

[charlietuna11]

this is absolutely hilarious. if theres one person the arab street distrusts more than george w. bush, its his v.p., dr. death. i really thought it was some joke from comedy central but the story is true..ther­es absolutely no end to this administrations political ignorance. cheneys approval rating is barely visable with a magnafier ,a true lame duck, a man who has never spoken to any arab who wasn't a member of the royal family, and he is going to broker a peace agreement.­.if hes going to the middle east , its to track the investments he has supposedly divested himself of and to put a lid on the dailey scandals his company is involved in.. the white house and their surragates will milk this story for all its worth, but no one with an i.q. above plant life is buying into this fantasy..

[BatedBreath]

They are as deluded as ever. They really don't have a clue, do they?

[mgloraine]

Cheney's way of talking about peace is to threaten somebody with war; he's probably there to order the Palestinians to surrender unconditionally or be totally obliterated. Of course, BushCo's deal with Israel is to ensure that the Palestinians WILL BE totally obliterated whether they cooperate or not, so that Israel can occupy all of Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights. Israel will never allow a Palestinian state when there's money to be made in land grabs.