by Frank James

Andrew Cordesman, one of the Washington's top national-security experts, asks and attempts to answer some questions on a lot of people's minds right now: how does the fighting in Gaza stop and what can the U.S. do to help end it?

He calls the crisis a "strategic liability" for the U.S. since it places the U.S., viewed as Israel's strongest ally, at odds with so much of world opinion, especially but not only in the Arab world. And whatever differences in Mideast policy the global population had hoped from a President Obama, are quickly being dashed by the consistency of U.S. policy across administrations.

A snippet from his analysis:

Hard-line Islamist extremist movements, the Hezbollah and Iran, and other opponents of the US have all begun to capitalize on the fighting. Moreover, moderate Arab governments have become targets as well as the US. This pushes such Arab regimes - which have no more love for Hamas than Israel and the US to distance themselves from the US as well as support of Fatah and the peace proposals of the Arab League. It also puts new pressure on Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations.

by Mark Silva

President Bush, who has been "monitoring the situation in the Middle East,'' lays the blame for the newest violence in the Gaza Strip on Hamas and insists that no cease-fire is possible until Hamas stops firing rockets into Israel.

"Another one-way ceasefire that leads to rocket attacks on Israel is not acceptable,'' Bush will say in a radio address that he delivers tomorrow.

"And promises from Hamas will not suffice -- there must be monitoring mechanisms in place to help ensure that smuggling of weapons to terrorist groups in Gaza comes to an end,'' the president will say. "I urge all parties to pressure Hamas to turn away from terror, and to support legitimate Palestinian leaders working for peace..''

The White House released a text of the address this evening, with an infrequent advance release of a weekly address that underscores the administration's interest in getting a message out before another weekend of violence unfolds.

"Good morning,'' Bush plans to say in his weekly radio address airing Saturday morning. "Over the past week, I have been monitoring the situation in the Middle East closely with the members of my national security team. Secretary Rice is actively engaged in diplomacy.

"And I've been in contact with leaders throughout the region -- including the King of Saudi Arabia, the King of Jordan, the President of Egypt, the President and Prime Minister of the Palestinian Territories, and the Prime Minister of Israel.

"This recent outburst of violence was instigated by Hamas -- a Palestinian terrorist group supported by Iran and Syria that calls for Israel's destruction.

by Mark Silva

The White House is again calling on Hamas to refrain from rocket attacks against Israeli territory that have prompted a massive retaliation by Israel forces in the Gaza Strip at a cost of many lives and dashed hopes for peace in the region.

"Last week, Hamas substantially increased its rocket and mortar attacks on the people of Israel,'' said Gordon Johndroe, deputy White House press secretary, in a statement delivered today from the "Crawford White House.'' The attacks, he said, underscore the administration's belief that Hamas is "a terrorist organization'' committed to the destruction of Israel.

President Bush, vacationing in Texas, is receiving daily briefings on the situation.

"In order for the violence to stop,'' Johndroe said, "Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to accept a sustainable cease-fire.''

by Mark Silva

Doves were supposed to be flying at year's end in Israel, where leaders of the Israelis and Palestinians had joined President George W. Bush in making a dubious commitment to a framework for a peaceful, two-state solution by the end of Bush's term.

Instead, F-16s are flying over Gaza, where Israeli air strikes have taken a deadly toll on both Hamas security installations and civilians. This marks the deadliest raid since the Israeli occupation of the coastal region ended in 2005 - with more than 150 people dead. They include Tawfiq Jaber, chief of the Gaza police force, a security official has told Bloomberg News. And it's not over: The Israeli army vows the "operation will be continued, expanded and intensified as much as will be required.''

The attacks cap a week of rocket attacks, with doozens of Qassam rockets fired from Gaza into Israel following the expiration Dec. 19 of a six-month cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Since the attacks, another Qassam rocket has struck Netivot, killing one woman, police report. At least three more have hit Ashkelon without injury.

The attacks will continue "as long as needed," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak says today, warning that Israel faces a "test period that will neither be easy, nor short."

The Palestinian government has spoken out against the raids:

"President Mahmoud Abbas strongly condemns this harsh aggression that Israel is waging now against the Gaza Strip," says Nabil Abu Rudineh, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority. "The president calls on the Israeli government to stop this aggression immediately and urges the international community to intervene."

And the Bush White House has spoken out as well, with National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe calling on both Israel and Hamas to suspend hostilities that have shattered any illusions of peace at the start of a new year, and on the threshold of a new American administration which, once again, will confront one of the world's most irreconcilable conflicts.

Bush is on vacation at his Texas ranch, an event which often seems to coincide with the emergence of another crisis. His successor is on vacation in Hawaii.

And the Middle East has exploded once more.

Early in his first term, Bush spelled out a vision for two states, Israeli and Palestinian, living side by side in peace. But not until the latter part of his second term did the president begin to invest his own waning capital in the peace process. He had summoned a summit in Annapolis in November 2007 attended by Israeli, Palestinian and Arab leaders. It provided the stage for a public commitment to peace in one year.

Now, weeks before President-elect Barack Obama takes his oath of office, the Middle East presents American peace-brokers with a renewed but elusive challenge. So long as the missiles and F-16s are flying, any hope of peace is illusory..

Tribune wire services contributed.

by Frank James

Not surprisingly, reports are that the journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush's head last weekend in Baghdad was beaten.

The judge who visited Muntadhar al-Zeidi said he bore signs of being beaten.

Olivier Knox, a journalist with Agence Presse France who was at the press conference where the shoe-throwing took place, said on public radio's Diane Rehm Show this morning that he saw blood on the floor at the place where al-Zeidi was pounced on by the Secret Service and Iraqi security. He assumed it was al-Zeidi's.

Knox also said that in talking to people in the White House he learned that the Secret Service had noticed al-Zeidi acting suspiciously beforehand -- not taking notes, fidgeting and repeatedly stealing glances at security officials. The Secret Service wanted to station an agent in the aisle next to al-Zeidi, Knox said. But Iraqi security vetoed that idea.

Here's an excerpt of an Associated Press story:

BAGHDAD (AP) -- The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush during a news conference was beaten and had bruises around his eyes and other parts of his face, a judge said Friday.

Judge Dhia al-Kinani, the magistrate investigating the incident, said the court has opened a probe into the alleged beating of journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi during the news conference.

by Frank James

Members of the peace movement who saw Sen. Barack Obama as their candidate, presumably after the ardently anti-war Representatives Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul exited the primaries, don't like what they're hearing from the senator from Illinois and are issuing a warning: Don't assume you've got our votes.

This from a press release issued by Kevin Zeese, executive director of Voters for Peace, whose board includes the nation's most famous anti-war activist, Cindy Sheehan.

As Senator Obama continues his tour of Afghanistan, the Middle East and Europe many peace voters are warning him: Do not take out vote for granted. In a petition, signed by thousands in one day, peace voters are expressing concern about his plans for Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Kuwait.

Obama's recent promise to escalate the number of troops in Afghanistan with 7,000 additional troops. Currently, 60,000 NATO troops are in Afghanistan, 36,000 of them U.S. soldiers. The Soviets and British learned this is a country not easily tamed by foreign troops. Afghanistan could become a more difficult quagmire than Iraq.

On Iraq, Americans who want to see that war ended may be disappointed by the details of his Iraq strategy. While his rhetoric is "end the war" and withdraw combat troops within 16 months, the details of his plan are: redeploying of combat troops to Kuwait to serve a strike force in Iraq, as well is to Afghanistan; and leave a "residual force," whose size Obama has not identified, but aids have said could be 30,000 to 80,000 troops in Iraq. Obama has defined the mission of this force broadly telling Larry King they will: fight terrorists and al Qaeda, protect U.S. bases and interests and train Iraqis. When Obama is asked about private security contractors, like the infamous Blackwater, he told Amy Goodman of Democracy Now that he would not remove these 140,000 private troops from Iraq. Adding it together Obama would leave as many as 225,000 troops and mercenaries in Iraq after his withdrawal is complete.

(Cartoon published in at least two Arabic newspapers.)

by Frank James

Cartoons in the Arab world often depict Israel and Jews in anti-Semitic ways.

Now, with the world's attention on the U.S. presidential race, the same Arab cartoonists are interpolating Senators John McCain and Barack Obama into their anti-Israel, anti-Zionist and ant-Jewish cartoons.

The Anti-Defamation League has collected some of the cartoons in an alert it produced this week. Many of them make the New Yorker's infamous cartoon look pretty tame.

Many of the cartoons have essentially the same theme, that both candidates are in Israel's thrall.

Here's the meat of ADL's press release:

The American elections have provided an excuse for the Arab media to promulgate perverse, bigoted and age-old conspiracy theories that portray Israelis and Jews as controlling the candidates. Appearing in Arab and Muslim newspapers published in the Middle East and the Gulf countries, the cartoons and caricatures focus on four main themes which reflect a deeply rooted sentiment in the Arab world:

The Arab media use these ideas to feed into another common theme: that Jewish/Israeli control of American politics and America's desire to cater to Jewish/Israeli demands is the cause of the Arab suffering and oppression.

by Katie Fretland and updated

Several people were injured in Jerusalem near the hotel where Sen. Barack Obama is scheduled to stay tonight when a man driving a backhoe rammed into other vehicles and a bus, according to news reports.

The driver of the construction vehicle was shot and killed, according to an Israeli government statement reported by CNN.

Israeli police are calling the incident a terror attack, while there was no immediate claim of responsibility. The AP reports that the driver was a Palestinian man from east Jerusalem, which Israel took over in 1967.

Earlier in July, police shot and killed a Palestinian driver after he drove a construction vehicle into cars and pedestrians on a busy street in Jerusalem. The attack left three others dead and dozens wounded.

Video from the BBC showed the wreckage of the scene today. Three cars were crumpled and one vehicle lay overturned.

"Today's bulldozer attack is a reminder of what Israelis have courageously lived with on a daily basis for far too long," Obama said during a press conference in Jordan. "I strongly condemn this attack and will always support Israel in confronting terrorism and pursuing lasting peace and security. Right now my thoughts and prayers go out to all who were injured and to their families."

by Richard Boudreaux

JERUSALEM -- To: Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain

From: The Holy Land

Re: Well, it's complicated. . .

-- So you're competing to become the umpteenth American president burdened by the conflict over this hallowed patch of ground.

Like nearly every other candidate in recent decades, you make a pilgrimage here to show voters back home how much you care about peace and Israel's security. Sen. McCain, your spring visit to Sderot, that rocket-battered Israeli town, was a striking gesture.

This week, Sen. Obama, the Holy Land awaits you. Israelis and Palestinians. Skeptical eyes and ears, tuned to every gesture and word. A verbal minefield for even the most adept campaigner.

You'll get a helicopter tour, a feel for the intimacy of the land in dispute: Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip crowd a space smaller than Maryland between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean.

Yet the conflict here is but one element, if indeed the centerpiece, of a wider regional crisis. Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon all impinge, in ways that make Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking more complicated than ever.

Here are 10 realities to keep in mind about the Holy Land, previous American efforts to pacify it, and the broader conundrum and choices one of you will face when President Bush leaves office six months from now:

*1* It could be worse. At least some of the players are talking about peace.
*2* The conflicts Israel faces have become maddeningly intertwined.
*3* Israel, which has nuclear weapons, and Iran, which might develop them, are openly threatening each other.
*4* Diplomatic success here requires a mix of Arab or Israeli initiatives and American persistence.
*5* America's "special relationship" with Israel can hurt its credibility as a mediator ...

Richard Boudreaux writes for the Los Angeles Times. Read the full story about things a president should know about the Middle East at latimes.com.

by Bay Fang

Iran's reported test-firing of missiles two days in a row, just as it is showing more interest in dialogue about its nuclear enrichment program, highlighted the mixed messages that pose a dilemma for the U.S. as it weighs how to approach a country moving ever closer to becoming a nuclear power.

In a show of strength and readiness, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards reportedly launched nine mid- to long-range ballistic missiles in the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday, and two more Thursday, including one that could reach Israel and U.S. forces stationed in the region.

But it comes as Tehran has seemed to react favorably to a new package of incentives presented by the U.S. and its European allies to halt its nuclear program, and as its top nuclear negotiator is planning to meet with European Union representative Javier Solana in the coming weeks.

Regional analysts surmise that the two approaches could indicate a real division in Tehran over how to deal with the West, but could also be an effective negotiating tactic.

by David Nitkin

President Bush said today he wants to continue toward a diplomatic resolution to Iran's nuclear ambitions, and would not directly address reports that Israel plans a military strike to destroy Iranian uranium enrichment capabilities before the end of the year.

"I have made it very clear to all parties that the first option ought to be to solve this problem diplomatically," Bush said. "And the best way to solve it diplomatically is for the United States to work with other nations to send a focused message. And that is that, You will be isolated and you will have economic hardship if you continue trying to enrich."

Bush addressed his goals for an upcoming trip to Japan for a G8 summit during a statement in the Rose Garden, and took five questions from reporters at the conclusion of his prepared remarks. Two of the questions concerned Israel's intentions in Iran, a topic of escalating debate. But the president did not specifically mention the prospect of Israeli military attacks in his responses.

Bush said he supported a proposal from Russian leader Vladimir Putin to provide enriched uranium for an Iranian civilian nuclear power program and collect the spent fuel, "thereby negating the need for the Iranian regime to enrich at all."

Questions about Israeli intentions in Iran have swelled since last month, when more than 100 Israeli F-16s and F-15s flew more than 900 miles over the Mediterranean in an exercise that included refueling tankers and helicopters that could rescue downed pilots, the New York Times reported. The distance covered during the exercise showed that Israel jets could reach Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment facility.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, and Condoleezza Rice arrive at a press conference at Abbas' headquarters on Sunday in the West Bank city of Ramallah. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

By Joel Greenberg

JERUSALEM -- On her sixth Middle East trip this year to promote peace efforts, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday ratcheted up her criticism of Israeli settlement building on land Palestinians want for a future state, saying that it harmed ongoing negotiations.

The sharpening of the American rhetoric on the settlements followed the latest Israeli announcement of new construction on West Bank land annexed to Jerusalem, work that Palestinian officials say undermines peace talks and prospects for a territorially viable Palestinian state.

It was unclear whether Rice's language signaled a toughening of U.S. policy toward Israeli settlement expansion that might be backed by diplomatic steps, or was just a stronger reiteration of Washington's long-standing opposition to settlement building.

"I do believe, and the United States believes, that the actions and the announcements that are taking place are indeed having a negative effect on the atmosphere for negotiation, and that is not what we want," Rice told U.S. reporters after meeting in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Read the full story at ChicagoTribune.com.

by Clarence Page

He wouldn't bite.

I tossed the question of the day, in my opinion, at Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a meeting he held with American journalists at Blair House, the historic VIP guest house near the White House, and he tossed it right back.

I wanted to know how the prime minister felt about Sen. Barack Obama's vow to meet with leaders like Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, without preconditions, if elected president. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee who spontaneously sang "bomb, bomb, Iran" at one public forum, has used Obama's promise to cause trouble for the Illinois Democrat. Olmert was not about to let the issue cause trouble for him.

Olmert did have the US presidential candidates on his mind. He was scheduled to talk later in the day to McCain, Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton, who was reported to be putting her White House bid on hold this Saturday.

For a guy walking around with a ton of bricks hanging over his head, Olmert was cheerful and upbeat as if he were running in his first election, not facing what many think will be his last days in office. Back home his popularity has nosedived. Some of his own allies have asked him to step down after court testimony indicating that he received stacks of cash from a New York businessman.

by Mark Silva

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt - President Bush, concluding a five-day tour of the Middle East, voiced increased confidence that Israeli and Palestinian leaders can agree upon the outlines of a new Palestine state by the end of this year.

The obstacles to such an agreement are legion - ranging from persistent violence to the precariousness of the political power of Israeli and Palestinian leaders negotiating an accord.

Yet the White House maintains that Bush gained confidence in a series of private talks with Mideast leaders during this journey - Israeli, Palestinian, Saudi, Egyptian and Jordanian - that the outlines of a new state can be drawn by the end of his own presidency. Without elaborating on secretive talks, the administration claimed "tangible progress on hard issues'' during the past few days - leaving the door open to another possible Bush visit to Israel, the third this year, before leaving office in January.

"A peace agreement is in the Palestinians' interests, it is in Israel's interest, it is in Arab states' interests, and it is in the world's interest,'' Bush said Sunday, in an address to a World Economic Forum on the Middle East. "And I firmly believe that with leadership and courage, we can reach that peace agreement this year.''

The actual creation of any independent Palestinian state, the White House ready allows, will take much longer - and depends on further agreement between Israelis and Palestinians over lingering disputes over the fate of refugees, the containment of violence, retrenchment of Israeli settlements and many other matters.

"Is it done yet? No,'' said Stephen Hadley, the president's national security adviser, after a series of private, individual meetings between Bush and leaders of several nations in Israel, Saudi Arabia and here in Sharm el-Sheik. "Are we making progress? The president's view is, yes, we're making progress.''

Analysts skeptical of the chances of success for this pursuit say they have seen no new cause for optimism, with the Israeli and Palestinian heads of state negotiating it facing political problems of their own.

"If you get an agreement from these leaders, how do these leaders begin to implement it -- you have two incredibly weak leaders and a weak American president,'' Jon Alterman, director of Middle East studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Sunday. "How do you bring the skeptics on board? I don't see a plan for that. And the skeptics in this conflict have a lot of guns.''

See the rest of the story in today's Tribune and an expanded version here in the Swamp:

by Mark Silva

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt - President Bush, concluding a five-day tour of the Middle East, will voice increased confidence that Israeli and Palestinian leaders can agree upon the outlines of a new Palestine state by the end of this year.

The obstacles to such an agreement are legion - ranging from persistent violence to the precariousness of the political power of the Israeli and Palestinian leaders negotiating an accord.

Yet the White House maintains that Bush gained confidence in a series of private talks with Mideast leaders during this journey - Israeli, Palestinian, Saudi, Egyptian and Jordanian - that the outlines of a new state can be drawn by the end of his own presidency. Without elaborating on secretive talks, the administration claimed "tangible progress on hard issues'' during the past few days - leaving the door open to another possible Bush visit to Israel, the third this year, before he leaves office in January.

"A peace agreement is in the Palestinians' interest, it is in Israel's interest, it is in Arab states' interest, and it is in the world's interest,'' Bush plans to say today, in an address to a World Economic Forum on the Middle East. "And I firmly believe that with leadership and courage, we can reach that peace agreement this year.

The actual creation of any independent Palestinian state, the Bush administration ready allows, will take much longer - and depends on further agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians over lingering disputes about refugees, the containment of violence, retrenchment of Israeli settlements and many other matters.

"Is it done yet? No,'' said Stephen Hadley, the president's national security adviser, after a series of private, individual meetings between Bush and the leaders of several nations in Israel, Saudi Arabia and here in Sharm el-Sheikh. "Are we making progress? The president's view is, yes, we're making progress.''

The president will express that optimism in an address to a regional forum here in which Bush voices the principles of what the White House calls his "freedom agenda.'' This vision frames the conflict of the times as a struggle between democracy and tyranny, freedom and oppression. And as that struggle unfolds in the Middle East, Bush maintains, an Israeli-Palestinian accord is central to its resolution.

bv Mark Silva

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt -- A dozen young people -- Jews, Israeli Arabs, Palestinians and an Ethiopian -- gathered around President George W. Bush the other day for a rare moment of candor and questioning at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem.

"I think it comes out that you don't like Muslims,'' Henrietta, a 16-year-old Christian Palestinian, told the president. "Because, in most of your speeches, you do tend to relate extremism to Muslims.''

"Actually,'' Bush replied, "what I say is, `You're not a religious person if you're a murderer.' "

Then he abruptly abandoned the explanation and headed for the confession.

"You're right,'' the president told the teenager. "I've got to do a better job of making it clear.''

The president has faced a tall order of communication during this five-day tour of the Middle East, and much of it has centered on convincing Arabs, Palestinians and Egyptians that this unwavering ally of Israel has more than the interests of the 60-year-old Jewish state at heart as he presses for the definition of a new Palestinian state during his final year in office.

by Matthew Hay Brown

In the last major address of his trip to the Middle East, President Bush plans to urge the region's leaders to "move past old grievances" and toward economic and political reforms.

Bush, who has visited Israel and Saudi Arabia, is scheduled to speak Sunday before the World Economic Forum in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt. He previews his remarks today in his weekly radio address.

"I will stress the importance of building dynamic and diverse economies that unleash the creativity and enterprise of citizens throughout the region - especially women and young people," he says. "I will make clear that the only way to ensure true prosperity is to expand political and economic freedom. And I will urge leaders across the region to reject spoilers such as the regimes in Iran and Syria, move past old grievances and embrace the changes necessary for a day when societies across the Middle East are based on justice, tolerance, and freedom."

The complete address follows.

by Frank James

Watching the appearance of conservative radio-talk show host Kevin James on Chris Matthews' "Hardball" show yesterday was a little like watching a car wreck. Very ugly but riveting too.

The topic was whether President Bush was correct, during a speech at Israel's Knesset, to criticize some people (read Sen. Barack Obama) as appeasers, just like Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister who infamously tried to avert war by making concessions to Adolf Hitler.

James (no relation) said Bush was absolutely correct. Then Matthews, like a smart courtroom lawyer who knows beforehand how the witness will answer the question, asked James what exactly Chamberlain did wrong.

That's where the fun began. It was clear that James, who's more of a screamer than even Matthews, didn't have a handle on Chamberlain, at one time getting so flustered that he referred to him and "Nevillain Chamberlain."

"He was an appeaser" was the best James could shout. Which, as you can tell from the video, Matthews suspected all along.

I've seen before that look Matthews' had on his face as he toyed with James. It was on a cat I once owned which tormented a mouse it had caught.

Presidents Bush and Mubarak at Red Sea resort called "city of peace.'' Photos by Silva

by Mark Silva

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt – Despite the persisting violence that imperils prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak today lent his voice to a chorus of leaders holding out an ambitious hope for a peace agreement by the end of this year.

And President Bush, meeting with Mubarak here at the conclusion of an eight-day tour of the Middle East in which Bush has sought support of Arab leaders for negotiations he is spurring between the Israelis and Palestinians, emphatically underscored how serious he is about achieving an agreement this year.

Mubarak told Bush – as other Arab leaders have told the president during his six-nation tour – that resolution of the conflict for Palestinians is key to a broader peace throughout the region.

“I wish to reach a peace agreement before the end of his term,’’ said Mubarak, standing alongside Bush. “We are keen on supporting peace efforts. We are ready, hand-in-hand with the United States of America and the Quartet (of international leaders) and all other regional stakeholders… to put an end to this Israeli-Palestinian conflict… and open new horizons in the Middle East to more peace and security.’’

Bush, basing his own optimism for peace talks on the commitment of Israeli and Palestinian leaders to secure a lasting agreement, also reiterated his promise to return to the region – Bush, who made his first visit to Israel as president during this tour, plans to return for the nation’s 60th anniversary in May.

“When I say I’m coming back to stay engaged, I mean it,’’ Bush said by Mubarak’s side, “and when I say I’m optimistic we can get a deal done, I mean what I’m saying.’’

by Mark Silva

KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT -- "Hand-in-hand on issues core to Kuwait,'' reads the banner headline of the Saturday morning edition of Arab Times, the English language newspaper in Kuwait, indeed picturing a smiling President Bush arriving holding hands with a smiling Amir of Kuwait.

This show of unity at the arrival of the American president at his first stop on a five-nation tour of Arab nations in the Persian Gulf region and Egypt belies the underlying differences that Bush still faces here on "core issues'' -- not only the peace talks underway between Israel and the Palestinians, but also the U.S. stance toward Iran and its potential threat in the region.

And the welcome of the American president today at the Amir's private air terminal falls far short of the hero's welcome that Kuwaitis offered Bush's father when he visited in 1993 -- after leading the coalition of forces that booted the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's invading army from Kuwait in the Gulf War. Then, people lined the airport awaiting the former president's arrival.

Kuwait was one of only two invited guests to take a pass on the Middle East peace conference which Bush convened in Annapolis in November. And Kuwait has some deep concerns about the issue of four Kuwaitis detained by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Nevertheless, Bush, who dined with the Amir Sheikh Sahah Al Ahmed Al Sabah after his arrival here, found cause for optimism in the ministry's public words here. The Amir noted that eight Kuwaitis who had been detained at Guantanamo but were returned have been "good citizens and work hard to prevent youth from falling victim to extremist ideologies, which is proof of Kuwait's ability to contain its sons and rehabilitate them for the good of the nation.''

And the foreign minister, Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah had this to say: "President Bush reiterated his intent to see the establishment a Palestinian state before the end of his term (in his meeting with the Amir) and His Highness the Amir said efforts of the U.S. administration to bring justice to Palestinians and guarantee their right establish an independent sdtate would no doubt be supported by the international community.''

On Saturday, Bush plans to address U.S. troops stationed here and meet with Gen. David Petraeus, commander of multi-national forces in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, who both plan to brief reporters traveling with Bush on the status of the war in Iraq.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

by Mark Silva

KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT – President Bush, vowing to secure a “peace treaty’’ between Israelis and Palestinians by the end of this year, plans to return to Israel – for his second visit as president in four months – during the May celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Jewish homeland.

For all the skepticism surrounding Bush’s newfound goal of establishing the “outlines’’ of the borders of a new Palestinian state before he leaves office in January 2009, the White House insists that an agreement is possible. At the same time, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is warning that no one should expect some “blinding flash’’ of progress in talks with Arab leaders, as the president arrives here to seek their support for the Middle East peace talks.

But Bush will be returning to Israel, he said today, as he departed from Tel Aviv, and Rice elaborated on these plans during the flight from Israel to Kuwait, where the president was dining with the emir tonight -- Air Force One parked at the tall-tented and decorative private royal air terminal here in Kuwait - and planning a meeting with U.S. troops Saturday.

“He’s going to come back for the 60th anniversary of the founding of Israel, but of course it will also be another opportunity to do what he did here, which was to really give momentum to the process that Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas are engaged in,’’ Rice told reporters today aboard Air Force One en route from Tel Aviv to Kuwait City, where Bush is beginning the second phase of an eight-day tour of the Middle East.

The first phase involved Bush’s bid to “nudge’’ peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, with Bush emerging from Israel and the West Bank this week buoyed by a sense of optimism that an agreement is achievable. The second phase is a tour of this and four other Persian Gulf region Arab nations, seeking their support for not only the Middle East peace process, but also the U.S. policy of isolating Iran until it agrees to cease the enrichment of uranium.

The tomb of Yasser Arafat, the late Palestinian leader with whom President Bush refused to negotiate, lies beneath this modern mosque of stone and glass at the Muqata, the compound of the Palestinian government where Bush this week proclaimed that a "peace treaty'' between the Palestinians and Israelis is possible by year's end. Photos by Mark Silva

by Mark Silva

JERUSALEM -- The headline across the top of the Jerusalem Post this morning: "A peace treaty by the time I leave office.''

These, of course, are President Bush's words, uttered after two days of negotiations with Israeli and Palestinian leaders during his first visit to Israel as president.

Suddenly, the president who had never come to Israel during seven years in office promises to return -- perhaps repeateadly -- during his final year as president in pursuit of a treaty outlining the contours of a new, independent Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace with Israel which he has called possible to achieve by year's end.

And suddenly, a White House that arrived in Israel setting expectations as low as possible, with National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley cautioning reporters before this journey that they should not expect any big headlines, has set soaring expectations for peace in the year ahead for a beleaguered nation that will celebrate its 60th anniversay in May.

"We're not looking for headline announcements,'' Hadley had said at the White House last week. "What the president is looking for is better understanding of the challenge we face, and a commitment to dealing with that challenge.''

But they have gotten their headlines, all right: With Bush vowing repeatedly during his appearance at the headquarters of the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank this week that a peace treaty should be signed before the end of this year -- and Bush maintaining that he will do everything he can to make that happen.

Skepticism abounds here, however. "We have been down this road before,'' an Israeli friend of mine said this morning.

President Bush, standing beneath a portrait of the late Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, with whom he had refused to negotiate, at the West Bank headquarters of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, holding out hope for peace. Photos by Mark Silva

by Mark Silva

RAMALLAH, Israel – Despite many obstacles to peace between Palestinians and Israelis, President Bush asserted flatly here today that a “signed peace treaty’’ is possible by the end of this year – the “timeframe’’ of his own presidency’s end.

Bush and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met privately and had lunch today at the Muqata, the Palestinian government headquarters in the West Bank atop a craggy hill in valleys of terraced rock, piano-wire fences, cement walls and Israeli checkpoints.

The late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, with whom Bush refused to negotiate, is buried in this compound – a portrait of the smiling PLO leader hung behind Bush at a press conference with Abbas. The new leader is committed to a negotiated peace with Israel that leads to the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

The two faced a delayed start with a system of headsets that was failing to deliver the interpreter’s report of Abbas’ words, prompting Bush to joke while Abbas spoke: “I agree completely.’’

Bush also told Abbas: “Listen, they say I have enough problems speaking English as it is.’’ But it was largely Texan which Bush was speaking here today, as he delivered his vision of hope for a peaceful settlement in forceful and passionate terms.

The Muqata, the Palestinian government compound.

Presdent Bush holds hope in "a historic opportunity'' for peace for the Middle East. Yet the achievement of a peaceful two-state solution, which Bush first articulated as U.S. policy in 2002, remains no nearer today. The welcoming refrain of a children's chorus that greeted Bush upon arrival in Jerusalem this week served as a reminder, with the eight young performers singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." White House photo by Chris Greenberg.

by Mark Silva and and Joel Greenberg

JERUSALEM -- As President Bush began talks here Wednesday to push forward peace negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert insisted that any accord with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was unlikely without a halt to continuing rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip.

Delivered as Olmert stood alongside Bush on his first presidential visit to the Holy Land, the remarks signaled that any peace deal could not be limited to the West Bank, where Abbas' Fatah movement is dominant, but would have to include an end to violence from Gaza, where the militant Islamic group Hamas seized control in factional fighting in June.

"We made it clear to the Palestinians, they know it, and they understand that Gaza must be a part of the package," Olmert said, "and that as long as there will be terror from Gaza it will be very, very hard to reach any peaceful understanding between us and the Palestinians."

On the first leg of a Middle East tour that includes five Arab nations but not Gaza, Bush promised to push Palestinian leaders on security matters and lend whatever pressure was needed to expedite talks--yet said he cannot "butt in and actually dictate the end result."

For more, see the rest of the story in today's Tribune:

The Western Wall, holiest of all sites for Judaism, stands beneath the Dome of the Rock, one of Islam's holiest site. Leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority hold out hope for two peacefully coexisting states, yet insist that illegal settlements and attacks must stop. Photo by Mark Silva

by Mark Silva

JERUSALEM – With Israel promising today not to build any new settlements in the West Bank, the prime minister insisted that continuing rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip stand in the way of any hope for a peaceful, two-state existence.

And with President Bush promising to press Palestinian leaders on the next stop of his Middle East tour to gain control over security, Bush offered to lend whatever personal “pressure’’ may be necessary to expedite peace talks – yet said that he cannot “butt in and actually dictate the end result of the agreement.’’

As Bush prepares for a tour of several Arab nations in the Persian Gulf region, the president also issued a stern warning to Iran about averting any further provocations such as the reported threats which Iranian speed-boats posed to U.S. warships cruising international waters in the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.

“Iranian boats came out and were very provocative, and it was a dangerous gesture on their part,’’ Bush said at a joint press conference here with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. “There will be serious consequences if they attack our ships, pure and simple. My advice to them is, ‘Don’t do it.’’’

The dual discussion of an accord between Israelis and Palestinians – with yet new rocket attacks against Israel from Gaza today – and the continuing threat which Iran poses underscores the fragility of stability throughout the region as Bush undertakes an eight-day tour starting in Israel and carrying him through five Arab states, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

A soldier prays at the Western Wall, holiest of sites for Judaism, in a plaza guarded by sentries with metal and bomb detectors. Photos by Mark Silva.

by Mark Silva

JERUSALEM – Walking the Via Dolorosa and following the many Stations of the Cross leading to the site of the crucifixion of Jesus, pausing at the Western “Wailing” Wall of the temple destroyed at the site of the Dome of the Rock, and encircling the tiled mosque, one begins to appreciate the inexorable conflict of three great religions claiming the same sacred site.

On this high ground overlooking three valleys occupied since 5,000 years before the birth of Christ, conquered and lost many times over through the centuries, with the Israelites exiled and repatriated time and again, President Bush arrived today to meet, separately, with the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the hope of spurring peace talks.

Air Force One landed at a sunny and mild Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv just before noon local time, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rolled out a long red carpet to the big blue bird. Bush descended the stairs alone and greeted his hosts.

“Good to see you, sir,’’ Bush said. “Yessir, good to be here.’’

Bush, chuckling, strolled along the carpet flanked by his smiling hosts.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,’’ Bush said to one of the well-wishers who greeted him in the reception line at the end of the carpet.

The Western Wall of the temple destroyed in the year 70. The Dome of the Rock, built in 691, stands above the wall.

by Mark Silva, and updated at 10 pm

JERUSALEM – During a week-long sojourn through the Middle East, President Bush will see the mount where Jesus Christ delivered the sermon of sermons: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.’’

In pursuit of a long-elusive peace between Israelis and Palestinians, the president will arrive here Wednesday for meetings with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem and Palestinian leaders in the West Bank’s Ramallah and take a tour of what the born-again president hails as The Holy Land.

He will see the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Church of the Beatitudes in Galilee, and, as he crosses the Persian Gulf, he will dine with the crown prince of Abu Dhabi at a retreat where the sheikh hunts with falcons, and he will dine with the Saudi Arabian king at an expansive farm where the 83-year-old ruler maintains and races 150 Arabian stallions.

With little more than a year left in his presidency, Bush, making his first visit to Israel as president, is holding out hope that the “outlines’’ of an independent Palestinian state might be known before he leaves office.

Bush holds out this hope against the odds of a riven political landscape in which Palestinians themselves are divided, the scholarly leaders of the Palestinian Authority – including an economist-prime minister schooled in Texas and bred as a “Longhorns’’ fan – standing in stark contrast to militant leaders of Hamas who control Gaza and remain enemies of Israel.

Israelis and Palestinians alike remain skeptical about peace talks which Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pledged to initiate at a summit in Annapolis., Md., which Bush convened in November. Talks have not gone far since then,though Olmert today assured Jewish leaders in the United States that he too is optimistic.

“We have concluded on the patterns of the negotiations process,” Olmert said in a conference call with U.S. leaders, with the prime minister explaining that Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Ahmed Qureia, Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, will discuss the “core issues – including issues of borders, security, Jerusalem, refugees.'' He said: "Our goal is to reach an understanding on all of these issues during 2008.''

by Mark Silva

WASHINGTON - With an eight-day tour of the Middle East starting this week, President Bush hopes to spur negotiations among Israeli and Palestinian leaders vowing to make peace and lay the groundwork for two independent states by year's end.

Yet analysts say the president will arrive in the region with too little to promise and too late in the game during this -- his first visit to Israel as president -- to offer any real hope of securing a lasting peace.

Bush, also touring several Arab nations, will address more than the role they can play in encouraging reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. He also will explain his vision for democracy in Iraq and his concern about the potential security threat posed by Iran.

The president's departure Tuesday marks the start of a globe-trotting year for a leader who has ventured abroad relatively little.

Bush will travel to Africa this year to tout U.S. efforts against AIDS and malaria. He will travel to China for the summer Olympics and to Japan for an annual G-8 summit followed by another summit of Pacific Rim nations, and most likely will make other as-yet-unannounced stops.

Yet observers suggest he will not be able to lay claim to a new legacy in one final tour de force of international diplomacy.

"It's just a simple fact of life," said Anthony Cordesman, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "You can't, as president, leave a legacy in the form of an agenda for the next president. The only legacy you can leave is what you actually accomplished while you were in office. And at this point in time, with effectively a year to go, your legacy is what you've done, not what you would like to do."

See the rest of the story and the president's itinerary in today's Tribune, and read on this week as we follow Bush through the Middle East:

by Mark Silva

President Bush, preparing for his first trip to Israel as president, hopes to not only encourage peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, but also enlist Arab allies in the Gulf region in the support of a new, independent Palestinian state.

Yet analysts say the president will be hard-pressed to secure any progress with his eight-day tour of the region starting Tuesday, after years of maintaining a personal distance from the Middle East. They say the perils to peace have grown more daunting since Bush first articulated his vision of a "two-state solution'' early in his presidency.

"The Bush administration has been mugged by reality,'' says Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "After vowing to transform the Middle East, the administration is submitting to it, resorting to the sort of process-driven incremental diplomacy that previous administrations had pursued and that this administration had disdained.

"President Bush has come to realize that while he may yearn for a wholesale transformation in the politics and societies of the Middle East, his tools to promote that change are meager.,'' Alterman says. "Five years ago, there was a sense that things couldn’t get any worse in the Middle East and we should push for change whatever the consequences. Now, there is a keen appreciation of how many ways things could actually get much worse and how much better off we are working with people we know and with whom we share at least some interests.''

by Matthew Hay Brown

President Bush will follow up on last month’s Annapolis Conference in January with a visit to Israel and the West Bank, the White House said today. Bush is scheduled to meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The visit to Israel will be Bush’s first as president, and the first by a U.S. president since Bill Clinton visited in 1998. Bush also plans stops in Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt during the trip from Jan. 8 to 16.

“This visit will follow up on the progress made at Annapolis in helping Israelis and Palestinians to advance their efforts toward peace,” White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said this afternoon in a statement.

Perino said the trip would “also be an opportunity to reaffirm the enduring commitment of the United States to the security of our allies in the Middle East … The meetings with leaders will allow for discussions of developments in Iraq, the challenges presented by Iran, regional security, ecomomic ties, and relations between the United States and these close allies.”

Bush’s visit with Saudi King Abdullah will be the first since the ruler pardoned the gang-rape victim who was convicted of being alone with a man who was not related to her and sentenced to six months in prison and 200 lashes.

Before the pardon, Bush told reporters that he thought of his own daughters, and said “I’d be angry at a state that didn’t support the victim.” He added that Abdullah “knows our position loud and clear.”

by Matthew Hay Brown

Congressional Democrats might consider new war funding for Afghanistan before leaving Washington next week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today -- but the majority remains opposed to appropriating any more money for the war in Iraq this year.

Pelosi told reporters this morning that an omnibus appropriations package now being drawn up by House Democrats could include money for at least some defense expenditures.

“There will probably be some level of addressing Afghanistan; some of the domestic concerns about – you've seen the list that the DOD has come up with – we can address those concerns and certainly, perhaps, if more is needed to do something about Afghanistan,” the California Democrat said.

President Bush has asked for $200 billion in emergency war funding for Iraq and Afghanistan, with no strings attached. Pentagon officials, who say have enough money to fund operations into March, have threatened to lay off civilian employees if he doesn’t get it.

by Frank James, updated with RNC response at 2:08 pm

It's one of the most clichéd questions asked in Washington ever since Sen. Howard Baker, the Tennessee Republican, said during the Watergate hearings about President Richard Nixon: "What did the president know and when did he know it."

Today, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.,) the Senate Majority Leader, puts the question to the White House. He wants to know what President Bush and Vice President Cheney were told in August about the U.S. intelligence agency's revised view that Iran in 2003 essentially stopped its head-long pursuit of nuclear-weapons.

In a press release, Reid said:

“I am growing increasingly concerned about the White House’s inconsistent explanations of when the President was told about important new intelligence information regarding Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions. It appears the President and Vice President were briefed in August on this information, before both the President and Vice President began to ratchet up their increasingly-heated rhetoric on the threat of Iran.

"I urge the White House to fully and accurately explain what the President and Vice President knew and when they knew it, and why the Administration’s rhetoric was not adjusted when presented with new data this summer. I find it surprising the Administration did not learn the lessons of Iraq; it was exactly this type of misleading rhetoric that led us into a misguided, unilateral war.

“I also again urge the Administration to announce a top-to-bottom review of its Iran policy, including new steps to launch a major diplomatic surge to address the challenge of Iran.”

The White House likely won't be giving Reid what he asks for. But the National Intelligence Estimate released earlier this week provides Reid with another club to bash Bush on the question of credibility, to keep him on the defensive as he enters the last year of his presidency, and to try to win the public-relations war between the Democratic Congress and the White House.

by Mark Silva

ANNAPOLIS -- The presence of Arab leaders at The Annapolis Conference is taken by some as one of the more hopeful signs of this conference where the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority have pledged to begin negotiations toward a lasting peace.

"It is time to bring this conflict to an end,'' the Saudi Arabian foreign minister said here today, following public pronouncements of a commitment to Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Samuel Lewis, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Israel under Presidents Carter and Reagan and director of policy planning at the State Department during President Clinton's first term, calls the Arab participation at this summit "not insignificant, because without a lot of support from a lot of the Arab players, it is extremely difficult for (Palestinian President Mahmoud) Abbas to make any of the concessions that are going to be necessary to come out of these negotiations…

"The fact that the Arab League agreed to support the conference is a significant achievement… including the Saudi foreign minister,'' Lewis says. "Al of that is good, and it hasn’t happened before.''

by Matthew Hay Brown
Video by Sabrina Fang

Following is the statement agreed to by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and President Bush, as read by Bush this morning at the Annapolis Conference and released by the White House:

The representatives of the government of the state of Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization, represented respective [sic] by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and President Mahmoud Abbas in his capacity as Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee and President of the Palestinian Authority, have convened in Annapolis, Maryland, under the auspices of President George W. Bush of the United States of America, and with the support of the participants of this international conference, having concluded the following joint understanding.

We express our determination to bring an end to bloodshed, suffering and decades of conflict between our peoples; to usher in a new era of peace, based on freedom, security, justice, dignity, respect and mutual recognition; to propagate a culture of peace and nonviolence; to confront terrorism and incitement, whether committed by Palestinians or Israelis. In furtherance of the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, we agree to immediately launch good-faith bilateral negotiations in order to conclude a peace treaty, resolving all outstanding issues, including all core issues without exception, as specified in previous agreements.

We agree to engage in vigorous, ongoing and continuous negotiations, and shall make every effort to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008. For this purpose, a steering committee, led jointly by the head of the delegation of each party, will meet continuously, as agreed. The steering committee will develop a joint work plan and establish and oversee the work of negotiations teams to address all issues, to be headed by one lead representative from each party. The first session of the steering committee will be held on 12 December 2007.

President Bush, center, with Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas, right, and Israeli Ehud Olmert, in the U.S. Naval Academy's Memorial Hall heralding the promised start of Middle East peace talks. Photo by Mark Silva

by Mark Silva

ANNAPOLIS -- The time is “precisely… right’’ for negotiations which Israeli and Palestinian leaders will start after leaving the Annapolis Conference, President Bush said today, outlining a framework for Middle East talks that will start in December and lead to biweekly meetings of the Israeli prime minister and Palestinian president.

"The time has come,'' both Israel's Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas said in their own addresses to 42 nations and international organizations attending the conference.

Their work, Bush said will be aimed at achieving a peace agreement before the end of 2008.

“I give you my personal commitment to support your work,’’ Bush told the leaders, promising his own personal involvement in his final year as president.

“I believe now is precisely the right time to begin these negotiations,’’ Bush said. “Israelis and Palestinians have leaders who are determined to achieve peace.’’

A steering group will hold its first session on Dec. 12, Bush said, emerging from a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address a conference of 40 nations assembled at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Calling this “an extraordinary opportunity’’ for the creation of a Palestinian state that will exist side by side with Israel, Bush said: “We’re off to a strong start.’’

"Together we shall start,'' Olmert said. "Together we shall arrrive.''

by Mark Silva

ANNAPOLIS -- At the riverside U.S. Naval Academy, President Bush is meeting this morning with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas before addressing a conference on Middle East peace that is expected to lead the way toward negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.

"Today, Palestinians and Israelis each understand that helping the other to realize their aspirations is the key to realizing their own – and both require an independent, democratic, viable Palestinian state,'' Bush plans to say, in an address to the conference.

"Such a state will provide Palestinians with the chance to lead lives of freedom, purpose and dignity,'' the president will say. "And such a state will help provide Israelis with something they have been seeking for generations: to live in peace with their neighbors.

"Achieving this goal will not be easy,'' the president plans to add. "If it were easy, it would have happened a long time ago.''

Read more of his planned remarks here, and see the Tribune's story today:

by Mark Silva

After years of relative inaction, President Bush is stepping personally into the Middle East peace process today as he hosts a conference of regional leaders in Annapolis, Md., with ambitious talk of a peace accord before the end of his term colliding with widespread skepticism that an agreement is possible.

For the Bush administration, which ridiculed Bill Clinton's frenetic push for Mideast peace at the end of his presidency, the sudden turnaround appears to be a bid for a legacy-level contribution to world events at a time when Bush's domestic political capital is at a low. It is also an attempt to reshape the Middle East while the long-term impact of the Iraq war remains in doubt.

"We want there to be peace," Bush said Monday, at the start of a preliminary White House session with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. At a separate meeting, Bush told Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, "I'm optimistic. I know you're optimistic."

For many veterans of the Middle East, the prospects for securing a long-sought accord between Israelis and Palestinians in the year ahead seem as unrealistic as the newly fashioned peace-broker's role that Bush hopes to play near the conclusion of a tumultuous two terms occupied by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bush was the first American president to call for an independent Palestinian state, in 2002, when he announced his support of a "two-state solution" involving Israelis and Palestinians living side-by-side in peace. But many analysts say he invested too little in achieving that goal during the past five years to make success likely in his remaining year.

The White House, attempting to set expectations as low as possible for a conference of more than 40 nations and organizations at the U.S. Naval Academy on Tuesday, has cautioned that it is not Bush—but Israeli and Palestinian leaders—who hope to proceed quickly with formal negotiations following this conference. Aides say the presence of many Arab leaders in Annapolis is a hopeful sign that Israelis and Palestinians may find the support they need.

"If you put all those things together, it seems to be that the time is right," said Stephen Hadley, the president's national security adviser. "The notion of trying to do it in the next year, by the end of 2008, is an idea that the parties have articulated.''

See the rest of the story in today's Tribune:

by Mark Silva

Israeli and Palestinian leaders are expected to announce their intentions to open direct negotiations leading toward the potential creation of an independent Palestinian state and peace with Israel at a Middle East summit that President Bush will host in Annapolis, Md., this week, the White House said today.

“This is not a negotiating session. It is to launch negotiations,’’ Stephen Hadley, the president’s national security adviser, said of the Annapolis conference and meetings planned at the White House. “This is an opportunity… to showcase what is an opportunity to move into a negotiating phase between the Israelis and Palestinians.

“It will be an opportunity for the parties to indicate their intentions… and for the international community to show their support,’’ Hadley said in a conference call with reporters today. “What specifically is liable to come… from this meeting… First, the indication from the Palestinian and Israeli delegations that it is their intent to begin negotiations… These are negotiations that will follow the international meeting.’’

This includes a “parallel’’ commitment of stating their intentions to carry out elements of a “roadmap’’ to peace that includes contributions from both sides: For the Israelis, withdrawing from occupied territories, and for the Palestinians, ensuring greater security for both their own people and Israelis.

As optimistic as the Bush administration appears about the opening of negotiations following the Annapolis conference, however, chances of obtaining a final peace remain elusive. The Israelis and Palestinians remain divided over many issues, not the least of which is control of the Gaza Strip by the militant Hamas organization while the moderate Palestinian Authority controls the West Bank.

Yet both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders are voicing their own goals of reaching some peace agreement by the end of next year, according to Hadley – acknowledging that this is not “a formal timetable.’’ And the president also will state his commitment to focusing on the challenge during his final year as president.

"This conference will signal international support for the Israelis' and Palestinians' intention to commence negotiations on the establishment of a Palestinian state and the realization of peace between these two peoples," Bush said in a statement issued today.

"I remain personally committed to implementing my vision of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security," the president said. "The Israelis and Palestinians have waited a long time for this vision to be realized, and I call upon all those gathering in Annapolis this week to redouble their efforts to turn dreams of peace into reality."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy before a joint session of Congress, November 7, 2007, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Robert Byrd looking on approvingly. (ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images)

by Matthew Hay Brown

Thirty-seven hundred words, and not one of them the four-letter one that has divided France and the United States.

In his address to Congress this morning, French President Nicolas Sarkozy led lawmakers on a tour of the Greater Middle East that spanned from Afghanistan through Iran and Lebanon to Israel. But the unabashedly pro-American conservative tiptoed right past Iraq, where French officials and citizens alike have opposed the U.S. invasion and occupation.

“We may have differences, we may disagree on things, we may even have arguments, as in any family, but in times of difficulty, in times of hardship, one stands true to one’s friends, one stands shoulder to shoulder with them, one supports them, and one helps them,” Sarkozy told the joint session, as rendered in the official translation.

Thus dispensing with any allusion to the war – which Sarkozy also has opposed, although not as vocally as his predecessor, Jacques Chirac – he focused his remarks on the historical friendship between the two nations, and areas for future cooperation.

Among these, he named Afghanistan, where he said France would “remain engaged … for as long as it takes;” Iran, whose development of nuclear arms he called “unacceptable;” and the Holy Land, where he said France “wants security for Israel” and “demands that there be a state for the Palestinians.”

by Sonja Deaner

by Bay Fang

NEW YORK -- With NYPD helicopters circling overhead, a few thousand Columbia University students sat out under the hot sun waiting for President Ahmadinejad, taking pictures with their cellphones, picnicking and chatting, in what had become a holiday atmosphere.

A group of sophomores, political science majors, debated the merits of allowing Ahmadinejad on campus. "It makes me so proud to be a student here," said Anna Couturier, a 19-year-old with a pierced tongue and strong opinions. "It's all about letting us get direct access to him, without being filtered through the media."

"But where do you draw the line?" asked her roommate, Danielle Ash. "We didn't let the military on campus because of the don't-ask-don't-tell policy."

The crowd of thousands reserved their most raucous, almost disbelieving applause came when their president, Lee Bollinger, began the program with a scathing introduction of Ahmadinejad, saying this was a chance to "confront the mind of evil." "Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator," Bollinger said.

(See Ahmadinejad's full remarks at Columbia) and read on:

by Frank James

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) jumped on Columbia University again today for allowing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak on its campus today.

Here's his statement:

ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain today made the following statement on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaking at Columbia University:
"I still find it astonishing and astounding that Columbia University would welcome the president of a country that has not only dedicated itself to a policy of extinction of the state of Israel, but as he is speaking, most of the lethal and explosive devices are being exported from Iran into Iraq, endangering and taking the lives of brave Americans who are serving. Meanwhile, Columbia University's belief in free speech does not extend to Reserve Officers' Training Corps units being allowed on their campus to attract outstanding young men and women to serve in the military."

McCain appears to be the first presidential candidate to point out the irony of the university allowing the controversial Iranian leader on its grounds but preventing ROTC from returning to campus.

McCain actually has a least one personal connection which may make Ahmadinejad's visit rankle a little more. He has a daughter who recently was graduated from Columbia. My colleague Jill Zuckman says McCain has a photo of his daughter in a cap and gown as the screen saver on his cell phone and jokes on the campaign trail that the screen saver cost him $200,000.

by Mark Silva

In the realm of Washington press conferences, this one proved to be an exercise in disconnection: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, addressed questions from reporters assembled at the National Press Club, connected by a video link from United Nations headquarters in New York.

“At the outset, I would like to raise a fundamental question on a key issue,’’ Ahmadinejad said in a lengthy, sermon-like statement about insecurity in the world and the necessity of religion translated into English. “When we take a look around us, we are not happy with what we see.

“Security threats have affected everyone,’’ said Ahmadinejad, whose own government is accused of supplying insurgents inside Iraq with weaponry such as 240 mm rockets and fighters. “Continuous wars have, in fact, hurt the human spirit,…. I believe if we look at the root cause of some of these problems, we will think about how to build a better future.’’

“I believe we all believe strongly that it is possible to create a better world for humanity and to realize this beautiful and sublime goal,’’ said the Iranian leader, wearing an open shirt, sport jacket and eyeglasses. “In looking for the root causes of the world problems today, we first confront deviations on how mankind is viewed and how the world is viewed through the prism and the point of view in fact of some politicians and statesmen.’’

He went on to say that he does not recognize the Israeli ''regime.''

(See the entirety of his remarks at the National Press Club) and read on:

by Mark Silva, and updated

As President Bush prepares to address the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, First Lady Laura Bush will announce today that she will make a “public diplomacy’’ trip to the Middle East next month.

In New York today, the president plans to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as well as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the representative for the “quartet’’ of nations seeking a peaceful settlement of the conflicts in the Middle East.

“It really is an opportunity for discussions about efforts to help the Palestinian people… and moving towards a good partner that Palestine can be with Israel,’’ White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said today.

The first lady’s office plans to announce her Middle East October itinerary later today -- the trip will promote U.S. programs there.

"The U.S.-Middle East Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research will educate women in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan,'' Mrs. Bush said in New York today. "Through the partnership, women in these three countries will learn about the importance of early detection. I'll visit the Middle East in October, during Breast Cancer Awareness month. And I look forward to talking with women there about this important issue.''

At the U.N. tomorrow, the president will make a case for an international campaign against hunger, poverty, tyranny, violence, illiteracy and ignorance, disease and despair, the White House says.

“He will focus it on the responsibility for the United Nations to meet immediate human needs…’’ Perino said. “He will say that whatever differences U.N. members may have on other areas, these are issues on which we can all agree.’’

The president has no plans, however, to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who will address an audience at Columbia University today and also field questions from a video feed to the National Press Club in Washington. But the White House is voicing no objections to Ahmadinejad’s appearances: “The wonderful thing about America is it’s a free country,’’ Perino said, “and if people want to invite people like Ahmadinejad’’ to speak, they are welcome to do so.

(First Lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna Bush, shown above, traveling as U.S. ambassadors to Africa earlier this year. Photo by Mark Silva.)

Obama spelled out his strategy for going after terrorists in Pakistan in an address at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars yesterday. Today, he told the Associated Press, he draws the line at the use of nuclear weapons. AP photo by Charles Dharapak.

by Mike Dorning

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama told the Associated Press today that as president he would forswear use of nuclear weapons of any type against terrorist targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Obama made his comments a day after issuing a public threat to attack Al Qaeda operatives hiding in a remote region of Pakistan near the Afghanistan border if Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf did not act against the terrorists.

As of yet, there has not been any serious discussion of a nuclear strike in Afghanistan or Pakistan. But the U.S. government historically has maintained ambiguity about the circumstances under which it would use nuclear weapons.

There has been a spirited debate within military and foreign policy circles about the option of using tactical nuclear weapons in Iran to destroy suspected underground nuclear production facilities. Even tactical nuclear weapons can produce radioactive fallout that affect civilian health over a wide area, particularly if they are detonated close to the ground, as they would need to be for maximum effectiveness against hardened targets.

In his comments, Obama specifically cited a reluctance to use nuclear armaments in a strike "involving civilians"--a criteria for use of nuclear weapons that potentially could have far-reaching consequences for military policy. Still, the comments reported by the Associated Press were based on a brief exchange as Obama was leaving an event and did not include much elaboration from the senator.

The Associated Press report follows:

by Mike Dorning

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said last night that fears of widespread sectarian and ethnic conflict in Iraq following a U.S. troop drawdown are not sufficient reason to justify the continued deployment of a large U.S. millitary force there.

The Illinois senator argued that logic, used by some supporters of the war in Iraq, was inconsistent with the U.S. military posture toward countries in the midst of genodical conflict, such as Congo and Sudan.

"Well, look, if that’s the criteria by which we are making decisions on the deployment of U.S. forces, then by that argument you would have 300,000 troops in the Congo right now — where millions have been slaughtered as a consequence of ethnic strife — which we haven’t done,” Obama said in an interview with The Associated Press.

“We would be deploying unilaterally and occupying the Sudan, which we haven’t done. Those of us who care about Darfur don’t think it would be a good idea,” he said.

by Mark Silva

President Bush, pledging today to redouble U.S. efforts in support of a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said he will call for a fall summit of nations in the region committed to “a two-state solution.’’

The prospects for that two-state vision of Israel and an independent Palestinian state living in peace, which Bush first annunciated five years ago, have been strained by escalating violence. Bush said Monday that he will make his commitment to a peaceful Palestinian state clear with increasing financial and diplomatic support for the government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad.

This will include $80 million in U.S. aid announced on Monday to support the renewal of Palestinian security forces, with Bush attempting to reward the government of Palestinian Prime Minister Fayyad while harshly chiding Hamas for the violence it has incited in taking control of the Gaza Strip.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will chair the fall meeting in the region that Bush plans to summon.

by David Lightman of the Hartford Courant

Connecticut Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman today said that "the Iranian government has by its actions declared war on us," after a top U. S. military spokesman said Tehran's senior officials were aware of efforts to encourage violence against Americans in Iraq.

As a result, said the senator, "The United States government has a responsibility to use all instruments at its disposal to stop these terrorist attacks against our soldiers and allies in Iraq, including keeping open the possibility of using military force against the terrorist infrastructure inside Iran."

And, he said, withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq at this time "will give Iranians exactly what they want most," an "epic victory" for forces of terrorism.

by David Lightman

Joe Lieberman this week triggered the debate Washington really doesn't want: what to do about Iran, suggesting the U.S. and its allies may need to take military action if diplomacy fails. I write about it in today's Hartford Courant.

Here's the top of my story:

Attack Iran? Joe Stirs Debate

Senator: The Threat Boosts Diplomacy

By DAVID LIGHTMAN

Washington Bureau Chief

June 13 2007

WASHINGTON -- Joe Lieberman this week triggered the debate Washington really doesn't want: what to do about Iran.

For nearly three decades, Iran has been the foreign policy irritant no American president or Congress has been able to contain.

Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats, has been suggesting all week that the United States and its allies should be prepared to take military action against Iran if the country continues helping extremists who are killing American soldiers in Iraq.

He is not urging such a strike at the moment, but Connecticut's junior senator argued Tuesday that "diplomacy is only likely to succeed if it is backed by a credible threat of consequences."

While stressing that any specific military action would be up to the generals, Lieberman said he foresaw not a massive invasion, but knocking out camps where Iranians are training and equipping terrorists who then try to kill American soldiers...

Posted by David Lerman, Daily Press, at 4:30 CDT

Sen. John Warner of Virginia, a respected voice in Congress on military matters, failed Wednesday in a bid to steer the Senate toward a middle ground on Iraq policy as President Bush threatens to veto war-funding legislation.

Warner, a Republican centrist, offered a plan that would impose restrictions on future economic aid for Iraq while avoiding Democratic calls for a troop pull-out that Bush vowed to veto.

But in a key test vote that underscored the ongoing stalemate over how to fund the Iraq war, the Senate narrowly rejected Warner’s proposal on a 52-44 vote. The measure fell 8 votes shy of the 60 required to proceed.

Warner had spent weeks drafting what he hoped would be compromise legislation that would clear the way for funding the Iraq war for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30.

Posted by Frank James at 9:17 am CDT

For President Bush, being in the politically weakened position he found himself in after last year's congressional elections, on top of being a lame duck, means being challenged seemingly at every turn.

He finds himself now in a vicious loop that just reinforces perceptions of his weakness.

The cycle goes like this: Because of his dwindling power, lawmakers, and not just Democrats but especially Democrats, are willing to take him on.

This causes the president to try to publicly assert his influence or what's left of it.

When lawmakers blow him off, that just adds to the increasing perception of Bush's growing impotence. Which then leads to more challenges.

The latest example of this is the situation surrounding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against Bush's wishes.

Posted by Mark Silva at 12:05 pm CST

The White House wants to make one thing perfectly clear: The U.S. is not preparing for war in Iran or Syria.

Tony Snow, the president’s spokesman, opened his press briefing today by addressing what he called “an urban legend’’ that has been spawned by the president’s televised speech this week – when Bush warned Iran and Syria that the U.S. will block any attempts to aid insurgents and terrorists in Iraq. This has led to speculation that “there are war preparations under way,’’ Snow allowed. “There are not.’’

Posted by Mark Silva at 8:20 am and updated at 9:48 am CST

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today that he is ordering new policies which immediately will relieve pressure on active duty and reserve soldiers serving in Iraq while pursuing an overall increase in the size of the Army and Marines. Gates plans to boost the size of the armed forces by 92,000 over the next five years – with a 65,000-soldier increase in the Army and 27,000-increase in the Marines.

“It is important that our men and women in uniform know that additional manpower and resources are on the way,’’ Gates said today.

And the fight against Iranian-supplied and Syrian-backed terrorists inside Iraq will be waged within Iraq, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said today -- not within Iraq's neighboring nations. To keep this clear, the new Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today laid down "a marker'' that the congressional authorization for force in Iraq did not cover Iran and Syria.

Posted by David Lightman at 1:55 p.m. CST

Despite all the talk about just what kind of troop levels the U.S. should maintain, it's not clear anyone knows the size of the Iraqi force, Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) said today in his report to the White House and Pentagon on findings from his trip to Iraq.

Shays, chairman of the House national security subcommittee, earlier this month made his 15th trip to Iraq since the war began in March 2003, and wrote a five-page letter detailing his findings.

He noted that American military commanders say there are 112 Iraqi Army battalions of 757 soldiers each, or a total of 84,784 soldiers on duty in combat units. But on any given day, he said, absences--authorized and unauthorized--can reduce this number by about 20 percent.

That would leave about 67,000 Iraqi soldiers on duty in combat situations--or about half the size of the often-quoted number of 137,500 trained and equipped Iraqis.

Posted by David Lightman at 1:55 pm CST

The White House today called the visits of Sen. Christopher J. Dodd and other senators to Syria "inappropriate," saying the visits mean the Syrians have won a public-relations victory.

Dodd, (D-Conn.), who plans to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad on a Middle East trip that begins later this week, quickly fired back.

“Congress is a separate and co-equal branch of government, and as a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee, where oversight is a critical component, members need to go to hotspots not just garden spots," he said.

Posted by David Lightman at 8:15 am CST

Looks like two potential 2008 Democratic presidential candidates, senators John Kerry (Mass.) and Chris Dodd (Conn.,) are trying to boost their own diplomatic credentials with a big trip to the Middle East. The Hartford Courant reports...

Posted by Andrew Zajac at 4:58 p.m. CST

President Jimmy Carter has easily reached his stated goal of provoking discussion with his calculated selection of the term "apartheid" in the title of his latest book, on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The former President and his detractors are doing their best to fill cable news' ravenous, 24/7 appetite for controversy, beginning with back-and-forth over whether the word is too loaded to apply to circumstances in the occupied territories.

Carter probably didn't count on his book also becoming the hook for a fundraiser by the Anti-Defamation League, which just sent out the following appeal:

Dear xxxxx,

President Carter's new book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid is fundamentally biased and seeks to inject dangerous, inflammatory and inaccurate views into the complicated Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Posted by Frank James at 2:01 pm CST

Rep. Silvestre Reyes, the Texas Democrat who has been named to chair the House Intelligence Committee, has taken a drubbing lately after a reporter wrote that Reyes, in an interview, didn't know that al Qaeda is a Sunni Muslim organization and drew a blank on Hezbollah.

The interview was done by Jeff Stein of CQ Homeland Security. What's odd about Reyes lack of knowledge is that Stein had asked other federal officials similar questions earlier and publicized the results.

Posted by Mark Silva at 9:43 am CST

WASHINGTON – As President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki head for a summit in Jordan this week gaining added urgency with the escalation of violence in Iraq, their Jordanian host said today that only a much broader approach toward conflict in the Middle East can offer peace in the region.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict primarily, but also strife within Lebanon and Iraq, must be confronted by leaders throughout the region and the United States – and addressed quickly – if full-scale civil war throughout the region is to be averted in the year ahead, King Abdullah II of Jordan said today.

Posted by William Neikirk at 12:05 p.m. CST

And where are the necons now? Donald Rumsfeld is out as defense secretary and President Bush is hinting at some sort of accommodation in Iraq. The administration is willing to concede that mistakes have been made. And so it seems that the influence of the neoconservative movement on the president's foreign policy could be waning.

Such a conclusion may be a bit premature. The president is not talking about disengaging from Iraq anytime soon and has not backed away from his goal of making the country secure and self-sustaining. And some neocons said they have also learned from their mistakes. And there are new challenges. One neocon in particular, Joshua Muravchik of the American Enterprise Institute, says that Bush will "need" to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities before he leaves office.

Posted by Frank James at 1:14 pm CDT

Who do you blame, President Bush or former President Clinton for Osama bin Laden not being captured?

It’s a question that’s all of sudden become relevant with the controversy over the recent television docudrama, “The Path to 9/11;” Clinton’s memorable appearance on Fox News Sunday, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s effort earlier in the week to shift the blame on the Clinton administration.

Posted by Frank James at 10:35 am CDT

Republicans are noting with some satisfaction that gas prices are falling. The specter of gas costing significantly more than $3 a gallon this fall had worried Republicans who feared that voters would take it out on their party in November.

But prices are well south of $3 and dropping. The Energy Information Agency indicates that gas prices in the Chicago area are now averaging about $2.86 a gallon, down from $3.27 a gallon a little over a month ago.

Posted by Mark Silva at 8:05 am, updated at 9:24 am and 1:27 pm CDT

With his prime-time televised address from the Oval Office last night, President Bush used the hijackings of American airliners that became missiles in the hands of terrorists five years ago to make his case for a broad war against terrorism which he maintains is playing out in Iraq.

But the president's critics say the only thing hijacked last night was 16 minutes of prime-time television, taken hostage in a political act. This is what Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D, Mass.) had to say last night about the president's speech: "The president should be ashamed of using a national day of mourning to commandeer the airwaves to give a speech that was designed not to unite the country and commemorate the fallen but to seek support for a war in Iraq that he has admitted had “nothing” to do with 9/11. There will be time to debate this president’s policies in Iraq. September 11th is not that time.”

Posted by William Neikirk at 7:10 p.m. CDT

In Salt Lake City today, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld implicitly accused critics of the Iraqi war of appeasing "the rising threat of a new kind of fascism."

Defending the Bush administration in a speech before the American Legion, Rumsfeld said, "It seems that in some quarters there is more of a focus on dividing the country, than acting with unity against the gathering threats."

Posted by Frank James at 3:40 pm CDT

The answer to the question: who won the short war between Israel and Hezbollah? depends on who’s asked. On a British Broadcasting Corp. program today I heard an Israel supporter from Miami say the Jewish state had won while callers from Lebanon said Hezbollah.

For a more clear-eyed view however, Anthony Cordesman seems like a good bet. He’s one of Washington’s most respected military analysts who’s at one of the city’s best-known think tanks, the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Posted by Mike Dorning at 10:20 am CDT.

An advertising campaign that has been airing on Fox News for several weeks offers an intriguing glimpse of the bond between American evangelicals and Israel and an example of how some supporters of Israel have been using public attention to the conflict in Lebanon as a way to strengthen backing from evangelicals.

The ad campaign, described in greater detail in the story below, relies on Biblical passages as well as vivid imagery to solicit donations in support of Israel.

Ad pitch for Israel aimed at Christians
Evangelicals provide deep well of support

WASHINGTON -- The portraits of suffering on the television commercials follow the familiar imagery of fundraising appeals after major disasters: video of collapsed buildings, the injured being carried away on stretchers and women wailing for the dead.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Monday, August 14, as compiled by the Associated Press.

First Lady Laura Bush is campaigning for congressional candidate Peter Roskam at a luncheon in Chicago.

3:30 p.m. YAALON-LEBANON — Former Israeli Defense Force Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon holds a briefing for congressional staffers, administration advisors and policy insiders on the crisis in Lebanon.
Location: Room 188, Russell Senate Office Building.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Thursday, August 3, as collected by the Associated Press.

The Senate Armed Services Committee has a hearing on Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war on terrorism, with Gen. Peter Pace, chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff and General John Abizaid, Commander, United States Central Command. 8:30 a.m. Room 216 Hart Senate Office Building.

President Bush is touring the Rio Grande Valley border patrol sector at Anzalduas Park, Mission, Texas, this afternoon and shortly after speaking on immigration reform.

Posted by Frank James at 3:47 pm CDT

The Brookings Institution hosted a panel discussion Monday titled "How the Fighting Stops: Achieving a Sustainable Ceasefire in Lebanon." For those interested in the advancement of peace and moderate political forces in the Middle East, there was little comfort to be drawn from the lengthy discussion.

There was little comfort, period. The think tank's air conditioning was malfunctioning during some of the worst heat the nation's capital has experienced this summer.

Posted by Frank James at 10:33 am CDT

Anthony Cordesman, the noted defense and security analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, has some thoughts today about what the Israel Defense Force's killing of civilians in Qana, Lebanon means for military planners and policymakers. In his new analysis he is a man exasperated by what he's heard from Israeli officials over the past 24 hours.

Israeli officials have blamed Hezbollah for Qana, saying that the Islamist militia places its rocket launchers in civilian areas, endangering the lives of innocent people.

Cordesman writes:

The officer or official who responds by accusing such enemies of being cowards or endangering their own people is simply stupid, incompetent, and obsolete. Quite aside from the fact that the US and UK found no problem in using the same tactics against Nazi Germany, and democratic resistance fighters have used them in many wars, such talk is based on the fundamental strategic and tactical fallacy that wars have rules based on the past. Enemies always seek to fight on advantageous terms and modern enemies will seek to fight below our level of conventional military advantage at the tactical level and above it at the ideological level.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Monday, July 31, as collected by the Associated Press.

President Bush is talking about the economy in a Miami speech and later attending a Republican National Committee reception.

July 31 - Aug. 4. CONSERVATIVE STUDENTS CONFERENCE — Young America's Foundation will host its 28th annual National Conservative Student Conference. More than 400 participants from 39 states and 179 colleges and universities will convene to learn about conservative ideas and how to advance them

9 a.m. Patrick Coyle and Roger Custer, Young America's Foundation, speaks on ``How to Start a Revolution on Your Campus.’’

11 a.m. Dr. Burt Folsom, Hillsdale College, speaks on ``Myth of the Robber Barons.’’

1 p.m. Address by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

3 p.m. National Journalism Center Panel - ``Young Leaders of the Media, with Amanda Carpenter, Human Events; Ramesh Ponnuru, National Review’ and Elisha Blakenship of the ``Sean Hannity Show.

7 p.m. Dinner Banquet featuring John Stossel, co-anchor of 20/20 and author of ``Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel--Why Everything You Know is Wrong.’’
Location: George Washington University, Marvin Center, 800 21st St. NW.

Posted by Frank James at 6:32 pm CDT

As could be expected, the killing of the civilians in Qana, Lebanon by an Israeli air strike dominated the Sunday Washington talk shows.

Fox News Sunday with Britt Hume had perhaps the most interesting piece of color. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was meeting with the Israeli defense minister at the very moment when word came of the tragic bombing that killed at least 60 people, many of them children.

Posted by Cam Simpson at 5:06 pm CDT

(Swamp note: Cam is traveling with Sectary of State Condoleezza Rice in the Middle East.)

The following is a statement from Adam Ereli, the deputy State Department spokesman, issued in Jerusalem at about midnight:

"Israel has agreed to a 48-hour suspension of aerial activity in southern Lebanon while it investigates today's tragic incident in Qana. Israel has of course preserved the right to take action against targets preparing attacks against them. During this time Israel will coordinate with the UN to allow a 24-hour period of safe passage for all residents of Southern Lebanon who wish to leave. Humanitarian convoys remain in effect. We expect that Israel will implement these decisions so as to significantly speed and improve the flow of humanitarian aide. The US welcomes this decision and hopes that it will help relieve the suffering of children and families of Southern Lebanon."

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Friday, July 28, as collected by the Associated Press.

President Bush is meeting with British prime minister Tony Blair.

The Commerce Department is releasing the report on the Gross Domestic Product for the 2nd quarter at 7:30 a.m.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Thursday, July 27, as compiled by the Associated Press.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding a confirmation hearing at 8:30 a.m. on the nomination of John Bolton to be UN Ambassador, a position he already holds by presidential appointment

President Bush is signing a 25-year extension of the Voting Rights Act.

The Senate Aging Committee is meeting to release results of its investigation into laboratories and companies involved in selling at-home DNA tests to consumers. Location: Room 106 Dirksen at 9 a.m.

Posted by Frank James at 4:13 pm CDT

After the bombing of the United Nations observation post in southern Lebanon yesterday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan issued a statement from which many construed he was accusing the Israelis of intentionally bombing the UN observers.

He did after all say he was “shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defense Forces of a United Nations observer post in southern Lebanon that has killed two United Nations military observers, with two more feared dead.”

Posted by Frank James at 2:40 pm CDT

We had an earlier posting on The Swamp about some harried U.S. citizens and permanent residents who were evacuated from Lebanon only to find themselves stranded at the Shannon, Ireland airport because of an air charter flight from hell.

This prompted some commenters to essentially call the rescued Americans ingrates because the weary travelers had expressed some unhappiness at their plight.