A Map to put in in better perspective
Posted on 09/23/2007 4:09:23 PM PDT by nuconvert
U.S. to invite Syria, Saudi Arabia to peace meeting
By Arshad Mohammed
The United States will invite the members of an Arab League panel that includes Syria and Saudi Arabia to a Middle East peace conference it plans to hold this year, a senior U.S. official said on Sunday.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice fleshed out her ideas for the conference in talks on Sunday with the Quartet of Middle East peace mediators, including her decision to invite the Arab League committee grouping the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt.
Only the last two have full relations with Israel, while Syria and Lebanon are deeply estranged from the Jewish state.
There has been deep skepticism among Arab diplomats about the U.S. effort this year to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace after six years of what critics regard as relative neglect.
There has also been relatively little detail about the international peace meeting that the United States is expected to host in November, including exactly when and where it would be held and who would be invited.
"At an appropriate time, the United States is going to invite the potential participants to this meeting. That would include the parties, their neighbors in the region, the Quartet, the members of the Arab League follow-up committee, and other key international players," the U.S. official, who spoke on condition that he not be named, told reporters.
The Quartet, which includes the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, issued a statement after its meeting saying it hoped by the end of the year to find a way to resume direct funding to the government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The group also called on Israel to maintain "essential services" to Gaza, the coastal strip ruled by Hamas, after the Israelis earlier this week declared the area an "enemy entity" and said it would reduce fuel and power supplies in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian militants on Israel.
The group also said it endorsed U.S. President George W. Bush's plans to hold the international meeting on Middle East peace this year and stressed that it should be "substantive and serious," providing support to the Israelis and Palestinians in moving toward a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.
Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, took control of Gaza in June, leaving the West Bank under the control of Abbas and his Fatah movement.
ATTENDANCE UNCERTAIN
It is not clear which of the countries invited would actually attend. Asked about his nation's plans, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal declined comment, saying Arab League members would meet with the Quartet on Sunday night and if he had anything to say it would be after those talks.
The United States wants other Arab states to take part in the conference as a way to build support for a broader peace between Israel and its neighbors.
"The goal here is to take this as a step to end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians and help to bring about comprehensive peace in the Middle East," the U.S. official said of the U.S.-sponsored meeting this autumn.
The official said the United States wanted the meeting to address core issues -- widely understood to be borders, Jerusalem, the fate of Palestinian refugees and security arrangements.
"Our intention is to provide support for the bilateral discussions and negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis so that they can get at ... their vision of a two-state solution," he added.
We invite the Syrians and Saudi’s to ‘peace talks’. What’s next? Do we send the Iranians some nuclear weapons? How about we build a bioweapons facility for the Syrians?
Naked, raw, stupidity.
Big November Pow-Wow, eh. Is Condi bringing a peace pipe?
Good title.... it it were a piece from the Onion or Scrappleface.
“Naked, raw, stupidity.”
Seems to be about all we get these days.
More like she is smoking the crack pipe.
This administration becomes more like the Carter administration every day....blatant politically-driven, legacy-chasing, stupidity that even a moron can see. We have all been duped by this “conservative” administration.
Shafted is more like it.....
While I question the value of such a meeting, there could be a valid reason to try and set a course for civility in the Middle East.
Trying to isolate the Iranians.
The vast majority of Arab league nations are Sunni sect, Condi is going to remind them that a Shite sect dominated Middle East, lead by Iran is not in their best interest.
Bottom line: you have a bigger problem than Israel, it's that nut in Iran.
"In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence."
Our only hope is that she doesn't do any more significant damage to the nation in the next 16 months.
Now that Syria has lost its nuke materials and one of its jets, they might be willing to discuss things. They know their anti-air system was a total waste. Not a lot of choice, really.
A Map to put in in better perspective
Distribution of Islam per country. Green represents a Sunni majority and blue represents a Shia majority.
See post #14 and # 15
Bush is not a conservative, and never has been. I doubt anyone who has a critical brain cell can still, even at this late date, believe Bush is a conservative.
I voted for the guy, twice (2000 and 2004), and I never thought of him as a conservative (but he alligned himself with a true conservative as his VP, which, considering the Dem opponent in each race, was as good as we were going to get with those two elections, and my decision to vote for him was thus made easy).
As the democrats take the blacks for granted, so do the republicans take conservatives for granted.
But, while the democrats know they could lose some of the black vote, republicans believe conservatives have no place else to go - that is why they spend most of their time pandering to others and ignoring their conservative base.
We definately need 4 or more viable political parties instead of just Democrats and Republicans but sad to say there isn’t much chance of a change any time soon.
Gads. Whose idea was this? Chamberlain school of ostrich behavior?
“This meeting is to remind the Arab league they have a bigger problem they need to address, that is (non Arab) Iran and it’s nuclear ambition.”
“Trying to isolate the Iranians.”
Adm. Fallon just made the rounds last week to all the Persian Gulf states.(excluding Iran)
I think it remains to be seen if the Syrians are actually invited or are disinvited as the time draws nearer to when they’re planning on having this meeting.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.