Rice Thought Palestinian Leader Weak

AP via CBS News ^ | September 2, 2007 | AP

[CutePuppy]

Rice Thought Palestinian Leader Weak

WASHINGTON, Sep. 2, 2007

AP) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice thought Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a weak disappointment, and she once judged President Bush's signature Mideast peace program unworkable, according to a new biography.

Months into her term as secretary of state in 2005, Rice considered Abbas "a nice man but ineffective," and she worried Abbas was unworthy of the investment in trust and money the U.S. had placed in him, the book says.

At the time, Bush and Rice were publicly trying to bolster Abbas as the more palatable alternative to the late Yasser Arafat. Despite qualms about Abbas, the administration hoped that Bush's second term might see gains in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"The Confidante: Condoleezza Rice and the Creation of the Bush Legacy" attributes Rice's judgments on Abbas to interviews with anonymous administration officials, but her reported views closely track those of outside observers at the time.

The book, by Washington Post reporter Glenn Kessler, covers Rice's tenures as the first black woman to hold the titles of national security adviser and secretary of state. It concludes that Rice the diplomat is aided by her clout with Bush, but hindered by decisions she and the president made during his first term in office.

Bush's 2003 Mideast peace initiative, called the "road map," envisioned an independent Palestinian state as the culmination of a staged process with benchmarks for both Israel and the Palestinians.

The effort largely crumbled within months of its launch, although the Bush administration continues to use it as a guideline and motivator for both sides. As secretary of state, Rice often holds it up as the only peace document agreed to by all the players _ including the Palestinians, Israelis and the United States.

The book quotes her, however, as assessing the roadmap plan very harshly in 2003 when she was Bush's national security adviser.

"The road map is at best a marginal plan. It doesn't work," the book quotes Rice as telling an Israeli counterpart.

The book quotes Bush as calling Abbas predecessor, Yasser Arafat, "a loser" on whom Bush was unwilling to waste political capital.

European diplomats, and many in the State Department, viewed Arafat as the only Palestinian leader with the street credibility and acumen to strike a lasting deal for peace. Arafat had walked away from a possible U.S.-sponsored deal in 2000, but there were few or no figures of comparable stature in Palestinian politics when Bush and Rice inherited the portfolio the following year.

[CutePuppy]

Pretty much nothing really changed, except role-playing. As a SoS, Condi has to show that we are trying to broker peace between different factions (that would be Fatah and Hamas now) and if possible, between two states (Fatahstan and Hamastan [aka Gazastan]).

Despite what author of the article says, Bush and Condi refused to deal with the "figures of comparable stature" to Arafat - because they correctly refused to deal with Arafat himself. Right now they simply keep playing "Deal or no Deal" with the weaklings who are in no position to demand anything of US or Israel (and trying to run out a clock on and save Israel from another weakling - Olmert - who apparently wants any "Deal" for "legacy" reasons).

Separation of "Palestine" into two "states" is a great achievement of Condi foreign policy, and a great departure from Colin Powell's style and sincere dislike of Israel.

[fight_truth_decay]

Lebanon Takes Over Palestinian Terrorists Camp

Lebanon army takes control of camp after battle
By Nazih Siddiq

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (Reuters) - Lebanese troops on Sunday seized control of a Palestinian refugee camp where they had been battling militants for more than three months, killing at least 31 fleeing fighters, security sources said.

Thirty-four more fighters from the Fatah al-Islam group were captured, 23 inside the Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon. Most were wounded, a security source said.

“The battle is over. The Lebanese army has seized the last positions of Fatah al-Islam in the camp,” a senior security source told Reuters.

“Most of the terrorists were killed today. The others have been captured. A few might have escaped but the army is hunting them down,” the source added.

The fate of Shaker al-Abssi, the group’s Palestinian leader, was unclear…

Five soldiers were killed on Sunday, raising the army death toll to 157. At least 131 militants and 42 civilians have been killed…

An army statement said the militants had tried to escape from the camp in the early hours of the morning…

Fatah al-Islam split from a Syrian-backed Palestinian faction last year. The hardline Sunni Islamist group includes Lebanese, Saudi and Syrian fighters. It shares al Qaeda’s ideology but has no organizational ties to the network…

The army said it would not allow anyone to enter the camp and called on Palestinians not to return for the time being… Source

[fight_truth_decay]

September 2nd, 2007

[GovernmentIsTheProblem]

“Separation of “Palestine” into two “states” is a great achievement of Condi foreign policy, and a great departure from Colin Powell’s style and sincere dislike of Israel.”

Whaaaat - nobody in Washington in the admin. expected it.

[what's up]

European diplomats, and many in the State Department, viewed Arafat as the only Palestinian leader with the street credibility and acumen

The author showing an apologist stance toward Arafat.

This quote shows that everything else in the article is suspect.

[CutePuppy]

Well, it's AP (I couldn't find the author's name), and they (European diplomats and many in the State Department) really do hold these views and biases (for realpolitik, antisemitic or other reasons), so insofar as that goes, that part is accurate.

To expect AP (and other al-Media) not to be biased would be like expecting a blind person to have a 20/20 vision.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]

----------------------------

[familyop]

Bush and Sharon disagree over Israel's future
Wednesday June 27, 2001
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,513410,00.html



Rice: Better to have Hamas in power than in streets
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1733397/posts

Rice: Palestinians deserve to live free of ‘occupation’[at an event of pro-Palestinian group]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1717847/posts

US Supplies Fatah With Arms, Rice Decries “Occupation”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1718348/posts

Rice: Israel Must Withdraw from More than Gaza and Samaria
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1333354/posts


Commencement Address at Boston College (Secretary Condoleezza Rice, Boston, Massachusetts, May 22, 2006. US Department of State)

Excerpts:

As a student of a Catholic high school, the Sisters of Loretta taught me, I am pleased to be at an institution of higher education with such strong and celebrated Catholic and Jesuit traditions . . . You see, I got my Master's Degree at Notre Dame. (Boos.) I acquired a passion for the fighting Irish . . . and my family has been college educated and Presbyterian ever since. (Laughter and applause.) . . . I wandered into a course on international politics taught by a Czech refugee who specialized in Soviet studies, a man who had a daughter by the name of Madeleine Albright. With that one class, I was hooked. I discovered that my passion was Russia and all things Russian.

[familyop]

Cross purposes-Not all Lebanese Christians think Hizbullah alliance is the best way
Jerusalem Post ^ | 8-2-07 | MALCOLM GUNN

Excerpt:
" . . . however the Christians, who comprise approximately 40% of Lebanon's population, are split in their allegiances. Once the most powerful sect in Lebanese politics, the Christian Maronites have been forced by their failures in the civil war of 1975-90 and their relative demographic decline to become junior partners in alliances with their Muslim brethren . . . The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), led by ex-civil war general Michel Aoun, had the most support among Christians at the last general elections in 2005. It was the lone opposition until November, but has now become allies with Hizbullah."

CIA World Factbook:

Religions:
Muslim 59.7% (Shi'a, Sunni, Druze, Isma'ilite, Alawite or Nusayri), Christian 39% (Maronite Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Melkite Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Syrian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Chaldean, Assyrian, Copt, Protestant), other 1.3%


Lebanese leaders call for unity
CNN International ^ | 20JUL06 | CNN
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1668991/posts
Excerpt:

"The ship is sinking and all of us, the Lebanese, should stick together and work together to stop the Israeli aggression," Amin Gemayel, a Maronite Christian who served as president from 1982 to 1988, told the Arabic-language TV station Al-Jazeera . . . Michel Aoun, a one-time commander in Lebanon's 15-year civil war who now serves in parliament, said . . . "I don't think that Israel has the capability to destroy Hezbollah militarily because Hezbollah is not a group of armed men," Aoun said. "Hezbollah is a major part of the Lebanese social fabric."

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Aoun is also a Maronite. And here's a photo from AFP/Getty (another news company).

"From left, Prime Minister Faoud
Siniora, Saad Hariri and ex-President Amin
Gemayel pose with Hezbollah leader Sheik
Hassan Nasrallah in June. - AFP/Getty
images"

FRiends, we should have been a little more cautious before believing that we were receiving the truth from the MSM about Lebanon a few months ago. Most of it was Lebanese advocacy speech (propaganda).

There's also a quote from Hariri's son in the CNN piece behind the link. I urge you all to follow the link and read the rest of it.

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And a little about our own government...

Lebanon Turns to the Vatican to Halt Israeli Offensive
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1668754/posts

Vatican Condemns Israel for Attacks on Lebanon
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1665678/posts


2004 Republican Party Platform (see "Road Map")

US pressure prompts delay of [Israel’s] offensive (”We do not want escalations” - White House)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1680983/posts

Israel Asks U.S. to Ship Rockets With Wide Blast-State Department seeks to delay supply
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1681771/posts

[CutePuppy]

I wandered into a course on international politics taught by a Czech refugee who specialized in Soviet studies, a man who had a daughter by the name of Madeleine Albright. With that one class, I was hooked. I discovered that my passion was Russia and all things Russian.

Re Condi's "connection" with Madeleine Albright, I think you and others could benefit from seeing this reference and linked article in post #25 on this FR thread:
Rice helped unfreeze N Korean funds (Condi=Maddie)

More threads and references on the subject are in in links in my post #20 here :
Strains grow over strategy to rein in Iran (Cheney vs Condi+Euros)

Hope you'll give these just as serious read and consideration as the material you provide in your links.

Also, if you read much more elucidating article on author's view of Condi as a "failure" from his interview with AFP in this thread, you'll likely find out that while you may agree on the grade, your reasons for it would be 180 degrees opposite :
Book details Rice's struggle with diplomatic setbacks