Time Not Right for Bush Mideast Speech, White House Says

Reuters ^ | June 19 2002

[xvb]

Time Not Right for Bush Mideast Speech, White House Says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday condemned a suicide bombing at a Jerusalem bus stop and said its immediate aftermath was not the right time for President Bush to lay out his ideas on Middle East peace.

The White House also said that Bush believes Palestinian President Yasser Arafat must do more to stop attacks like the suicide bombing that Israeli police said killed four people at a Jerusalem bus stop. A similar bombing on a crowded Jerusalem commuter bus killed 19 people on Tuesday.

"It's obvious that the immediate aftermath is not the right time," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer ( news - web sites) said when asked about when Bush would give a Middle East speech that was expected this week. "The president knows what he wants to say. The president will share it when ... it can do the most good."

The spokesman added, "I think the time will be soon ... It's hard to get people to focus on peace today when they're still suffering from the consequences of terrorism as we speak."

A suspected Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up at a bus stop in a northern Jerusalem neighborhood on Wednesday, killing four people, police said. Medics said that at least 25 people were wounded in the blast, eight of them seriously.

"The president condemns this latest attack," Fleischer told reporters at his daily briefing. "The president is determined still to find a way to help the parties to find peace."

"Whatever the source of the attacks, the president thinks that Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority can do more to stop them," Fleischer added. "They need to do more, they should do more and they should want to do more."

[BlessingInDisguise]

"The White House on Wednesday condemned a suicide bombing at a Jerusalem bus stop and said its immediate aftermath was not the right time for President Bush to lay out his ideas on Middle East peace."

In other words; When reality hits home, we can't put forth our flawed analysis of the situation because it would make us look even worse.

[tracer]

Well, duhhhhhh. Go figure.....

[A Navy Vet]

"The White House on Wednesday condemned a suicide bombing..."

"Bush believes Palestinian President Yasser Arafat must do more to stop attacks..."

"The president condemns this latest attack,"

"...the president thinks that Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority can do more to stop them," Fleischer added.

"They need to do more, they should do more and they should want to do more."

Yada, yada, yada...
Hey Israel, stop listening to our politicians and clean out that rats nest once and for all!

[meenie]

How many times does Arafat have to leave Bush in the lurch before GW gets wise?

[callisto]

In other words; When reality hits home, we can't put forth our flawed analysis of the situation because it would make us look even worse.

Maybe, because Israel launches missile strikes on Gaza

[BILL FROM TROUT CREEK PASS]

DOES " W " STAND FOR WIMP? I'M BEGINNING THINK SO

[callisto]

He's been asked,pushed,forceed,and prodded into becoming involved in this situation. If he is about to put forth a peace plan how is it prudent to attack one of the parties in the dispute?

[carton253]

No, not a whimp. Just trying to avoid WWIII. Are you ready to die?

[McLynnan]

No, it isn't time for Bush to wage war against Palestine. This is Israel's fight to handle as they see fit. There has been nothing wimpy about the President's language towards Arafat, he does support Israel, and the administration has consistently said Israel has the right to defend herself.

[Thebaddog]

Bush is thinking and doing the right thing by doing nothing at this time, in my opinion. Clinton would've been all over this for a photo op for no good reason. Trust the man and let him do his thing is my sense.

[maxwellp]

President Bush is starting to sound like a broken record when it comes to Israel's survival. I don't think any American president came up with a solution to the problems in the Middle East. It's about time we said to Israel "Do whatever you have to do in order to survive".

[A Navy Vet]

And who exactly is going to start WWIII?

[Wild Irish Rogue]

Not long ago,former PM Netenyahu said that Israel has never had a greater friend than President Bush.An American Rabbinical group that visited with GW, said the same thing. Fox News said tonight that GW had basically given the Israelis the green light to go ahead and do what they needed to do. I have given GW my support on most issues lately, as I could see the political reality involved in some of his decisions. But-to deliver any Palestinian statehood speech now, would be a huge mistake-no one has any stomach for it,there is nothing good to be gained by it. I hope GW listens to his heart and not some of his advisers on this one.

[Orion]

"It's obvious that the immediate aftermath is not the right time," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said when asked about when Bush would give a Middle East speech that was expected this week.

No, he needs to concentrate on his millions for African AIDS and billions for non-white home ownership programs in the USA. He even needed time to work out how to fund the "librarian crisis" in the nation's schools.

Glad we have a conservative. I'd hate to see what a liberal would be doing.

[Kryptonite]

In other words; When reality hits home, we can't put forth our flawed analysis of the situation because it would make us look even worse.

Exactly.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

Appeasement tastes very bad when washed down with blood.

[Valin]

Time Not Right for Bush Mideast Speech, White House Says

Boy NOTHING gets by these guys.

[flaglady47]

Yesterday I e-mailed this to the President; had to vent:

President Bush, let Ariel Sharon deal with the Palestinian terrorists. Please stop being a hindrance to any possibility of peace in the Mideast. Every time you send an envoy over to the Mideast, Jews get killed. Every time you have Sharon over here, Jews get killed. When you say you are going to make a big policy speech, Jews get killed. Stay out of the Mideast. Let Sharon do his job. Stop listening to Powell, and the liberal State Department bureacrats who think you can talk a solution into being. It's time for action on Israel's behalf, not more empty words. A Palestinian state? What a horrifying idea. You are just creating a terrorist state that will be bent on destroying Israel while using the privileges of a sovereign entity as a way to accomplish it. They would be able to form alliances with other terrorist states, import arms with impunity, and stockpile weapons of mass destruction while hiding the likes of Al Queda within their borders to wage war against Jews and the U.S. How could you possibly be contemplating imposing such a suicidal "settlement" upon Israel? Leave her alone. The hypocracy of your administration's approach to Israel, and I might add, India, another democracy, in its war against the terrorist state of Pakistan, holding both of them back while your administration went straight over to Afghanistan to bomb and use our military against the Al Queda after 9-11, astounds me. Your constant currying of favor to and making excuses for Saudi Arabia, no friend of the U.S., and a state harboring terrorists (15 out of 19 terrorists of 9-11 hijackings) is totally abhorent to me. How can you possibly justify your actions? Is it oil? Your dad and James Baker's advice and influence? I thought you were going to be different from your dad, but it appears otherwise. You are playing a moral relativism game of equating democracies with dictatorships. I just cannot stand the hypocracy of your administration anymore. And I haven't even touched upon the assorted betrayals of your alleged conservatism in domestic matters, such as agreeing to campaign finance reform, imposing steel tariffs, broadening the Americorps program, going along with Clinton's executive orders for environmental regulations, such as toploading washing machines, etc., the education program giveaway to Teddy Kennedy and you didn't even get vouchers out of it, your constant vacillation on domestic and foreign issues; it's like whoever talks to you last, you agree with. Where are your core principles? Even Rush Limbaugh is having difficulty defending you anymore. You are losing me. I'm not some radical rightwinger, but a commonsense conservative, Midwestern bred, and I was an ardent supporter of your candidacy. I have been in the past a Republican committeeman in Illinois, and a great supporter of the Republican party. You are betraying the conservative base of your party. If your advisors are telling you that your poll numbers are great and you don't need your conservative base, beware. What happened with your father was the Republican base not coming out to vote for him. I'd hate to have that happen to you the next time around, but believe me, I feel you are teetering on the edge of the same fate. Just a few more issues more compassionate than conservative will push this voter over the edge. I think this country has run out of good emperors of the republic, and the empire is declining rapidly. No men of backbone left, who stand on principle. Where are your core beliefs, Mr. President? I am so disappointed. Now you are waffling on Iraq too. Your response to 9-11 was great, but it's been downhill since then. I wish Israel the best in her fight for survival, in spite of the lack of help from your administration and it's appeasement policy toward the Arab states, none of them our friends. Appeasment never works (see Chamberlain, WWII). I vote for the obvious good guys, the democracy over there, surrounding by a sea of dictatorships. You appear to not be what I thought you were, a man of strong core beliefs and principles. Fooled again. I'm just one constituent with one vote, but I have a lot of friends and family who are thinking just like I am now. I suspect this e-mail is an exercise in futility, as you will never see it, but hopefully, my negative reaction to your Israeli policy will, along with hopefully many like e-mails being sent to you by those disgusted with your inability to be strongly on the side of Israel as you should be, collectively be presented to you, and perhaps that can make a difference. Hope springs eternal. Sincerely, an unhappy Republican.