by Mark Silva
With the prospects of peace between the Israelis and Palestinians clouded by renewed violence this year following earlier pledges to achieve the outlines of two independent states by year's end, Vice President Cheney will be bound for Israel and the West Bank soon.
President Bush has asked the vice president to travel to Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, and Turkey "for discussions with these key partners on issues of mutual interest,'' the White House announced today. Cheney will depart on Sunday.
Cheney plans meetings with Sultan Qaboos of Oman, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Olmert of Israel, Palestinian President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad, President Gul and Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey, as well as senior officials.
Earlier this year, President Bush visited Jerusalem and Ramallah, the first visit of the president to Israel since he was elected. He met with Olmert in Jerusalem and Abbas in Ramallah, and all agreed that they hope to settle on the outlines of an independent Palestinian state by year's end. That hope has been hampered by renewed fighting in Gaza, however.
Cheney will “reassure people that the United States is committed to a vision of peace in the Middle East',' Bush told reporters in the Oval Office today, after a meeting with the Polish prime minister. "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.
"We expect both parties.... to adhere to their obligations in the road map'' for peace, Bush said. "And those obligations are clear....The key question is whether or not a vision can prevail that will enable people who reject violence and extremists -- enable them to see a better tomorrow. That's what we're working toward.
"And, you know, this is a part of the world where people have heard promises before, and they've been vague promises,'' he said. "Now, they've got a president and an administration willing to work for two states, two democracies, side by side in peace.''
Bush plans to return to Israel in May, for the celebration of the nation's 60th anniversary.
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Comments
Cheney on a peace mission?
Welcome to Bizzaro world!
Posted by: JT | March 10, 2008 12:12 PM
Cheney traveling to Middle East on peace mission
That is an oxymoron.
Posted by: bill "Hussein" r. | March 10, 2008 12:15 PM
Cheney on a peace mission? That's hillarious. Are they really that desperate to start another war?
Posted by: Tom O | March 10, 2008 12:19 PM
"Cheney traveling to Middle East on PEACE mission"
Since when does Satan want peace?
Posted by: Bob | March 10, 2008 12:22 PM
Too little, too late.
Posted by: SOS | March 10, 2008 12:31 PM
OK, it's not through any caution by The Swamp, but through my own preventative actions in waterproofing my monitors that I escaped disaster. Having said that, I admit that when I read the title of this article I did a spit-take worthy of any of the Seinfeld characters in search of their comedic laughs.
As I was wiping the water off my screens I began to give The Swamp the benefit of a doubt, perhaps you weren't referring to Vice President Dick Cheney; then I read the text...
All I really have to say is, good luck. I question whether he actually has ANY form of carrot to go along with his big stick. I guess time will tell. Perhaps his influence will convince those he visits to increase oil production...something that might actually help the majority of America, not just the top 2% of earners
Rev. Wm Hayashi
Posted by: Rev. William Hayashi | March 10, 2008 12:37 PM
Guess Bush wanted Cheney out of the country. While he is there, he can check on his Haliburton investments in Iraq.
Posted by: BobinATL | March 10, 2008 12:42 PM
Who's he gonna shoot in the face this time?
Posted by: Jim Phillips | March 10, 2008 12:51 PM
Sounds like throwing gasoline on a fire...as it were.
Posted by: DD | March 10, 2008 1:09 PM
to check on how is investment in Haliburton is doing?
Posted by: rjinchi | March 10, 2008 1:18 PM
Oh, for Pete's sake. Cheney now owns a second gorgeous home in Dubai with a nice gate, shown on TV. All he has to do is catch a local plane to do this "mission" to check his Swiss bank accounts and talk to his contributors from Saudi Arabia. How dumb do you think taxpayers are?
Posted by: Annette Reed | March 10, 2008 1:24 PM
Cheney on a peace mission--surely you jest?
Posted by: judith | March 10, 2008 1:25 PM
GASOLINE, MEET FIRE!!
Posted by: syj | March 10, 2008 1:36 PM
Darned liberals, always ignoring the Bush/Cheney Administration's glorious successes in the middle east.
KBR made record profits last year.
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN2632212420080226
KBR avoided paying US taxes on it's employees in Iraq.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2008/03/06/top_iraq_contractor_skirts_us_taxes_offshore/
KBR is getting away with aiding and abetting the rape of it's female employees in Iraq with no penalty what so ever.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=4099514&page=1
Blackwater got away with murder and still kept their very profitable contracts.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i1mAj-JcxOopICiL4Ikh7xUYsGtwD8UUJ6880
Mission Accomplished!
The military Industrial complex is doing just fantastic.
Thank you Bush/Cheney for giving us such great opportunities for profit, with no legal liability what so ever. That's what a successful Republican foriegn policy is all about. Hopefully Cheney's visit will ensure more of the same.
Posted by: Military Industrial Complex | March 10, 2008 1:38 PM
I figured this would draw out the petty lil' Cheney haters. Grow up!!! I've never seen such a cyncical batch of half-wits in all my days!
Way to stoke the fire, Silva
Posted by: In defense of... | March 10, 2008 1:38 PM
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...toooooo funny!
Posted by: BRIAN FROM OTTAWA | March 10, 2008 1:40 PM
How stupid is this? Like Cheney has anything to do with peace. Yep, he has to check on his Halliburtin and whatever other business ventures he's involved in over there. He cares about peace about as much as Bush does. Maybe he's really going to visit the "troops", the Big Business troops.
Posted by: mj | March 10, 2008 1:42 PM
comedy of errors.
Posted by: Weiss | March 10, 2008 1:53 PM
This must be desperation if they’re going to send the President.
Posted by: Mark Songey | March 10, 2008 1:54 PM
This is the same guy that shot his friend IN THE FACE!
Wait... maybe that's how you keep the peace after all!
Posted by: Rob | March 10, 2008 2:08 PM
No, no, no.
Once again, the liberal media gets it wrong.
It's not peace mission. It's PEACH mission. He's going to set up a chain of street vendors who sell PEACHES.
Boy, when are you guys and gals going to get it straight?
Posted by: Bud McFarlin | March 10, 2008 2:18 PM
VANITY FAIR blows the lid off the Bush/Cheney/Rice conspiracy in the Middle East. A segment of the article is provided, but the full article can be accessed at the URL provided below.
The Gaza Bombshell
After failing to anticipate Hamas’s victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, David Rose reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever.
.....Vanity Fair has obtained confidential documents, since corroborated by sources in the U.S. and Palestine, which lay bare a covert initiative, approved by Bush and implemented by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams, to provoke a Palestinian civil war. The plan was for forces led by Dahlan, and armed with new weapons supplied at America’s behest, to give Fatah the muscle it needed to remove the democratically elected Hamas-led government from power. (The State Department declined to comment.)*
*http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/04/gaza200804
Posted by: the truth | March 10, 2008 2:25 PM
With the threat of war crimes hanging over the Presidents head, it's likely to be the smartest thing George Bush has ever done!
Posted by: mbr47 | March 10, 2008 2:31 PM
This is the absolute funniest story The Swamp and Mark Silva have ever done. Masterful ironic comedy. Congratulations!
Posted by: Jeff Elijah | March 10, 2008 2:39 PM
LIVE - It's Saturday Nite!
Posted by: George Chapman | March 10, 2008 3:32 PM
I believe I speak with many others in stating that the words "Dick Cheney" and "peace" have absolutely no business being used in an affirmative sense in the same sentence together.
Posted by: Jones | March 10, 2008 3:54 PM
Is Cheney going to talk with "our enemies" how novel. Foreign policy has taken a noticable change since Obama. There have been two recent succesful strikes in Pakistan on Taliban bad guys and now this. Nixon made great diplomatic inroads in China, "after he was out of office". We already know of Bush / Cheney effectiveness in office.
Posted by: Fareed | March 10, 2008 4:00 PM
Sending Dick Cheney to the Middle East on a peace mission is like sending Attila the Hun to make peace with Western Europe!
Posted by: Logic Prisoner | March 10, 2008 4:44 PM
What do all these useless "peace initiative" holidays cost us, the taxpayers? Does anyone keep track?
Posted by: Grandma | March 10, 2008 5:19 PM
He plans on stopping in Saudi Arabia to ask his friends to wratchet up the price per barrel a little more.
Posted by: Rick/Sneads Ferry, NC | March 10, 2008 6:01 PM