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China has offered itself several times in the past as an alternative to the United States when it comes to mediating between Israelis and Palestinians, coming up with proposals to end their decades-old conflict. "We will invite Palestinian and Israeli public figures to have talks in China," al-Arabiya quoted Wang as saying. He did not elaborate, and it was not immediately clear whether he had government representatives in mind. On Yemen, Wang said: "We call for implementing the Saudi initiative for a settlement in Yemen as soon as possible." The Saudi peace initiative includes a nationwide ceasefire and the reopening...

The Obama administration has just proven its utter failure in foreign policy. It had negotiated an agreement with the North Korea that in exchange for food it would give up its uranium enrichment program, allow IAEA inspectors into the Yongbyong facilities, halt missile tests and cease nuclear weapons tests. It is now 43 days since the agreement was inked and in that short period of time North Korea has announced plans to launch a satellite with missile based technology (a lightly veiled test of its long range Taepodong-2) and begun preparations for an underground nuclear detonation. This sets the record...

Military action against Iran is inconceivable and diplomacy could still end the international standoff over Tehran's nuclear program, said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, whose country plays a key role in negotiations. Iran insists its nuclear program is designed for generating electricity, but the Bush administration believes Tehran intends to produce atomic weapons and has refused to rule out military strikes. "All United States presidents always say all options are open. But it is not on the table, it is not on the agenda. I happen to think that it is inconceivable," Straw told British Broadcasting Corp. radio on Wednesday....

Ritter Off the Deep End Expert on children, not weapons Former UN Inspector Scott Ritter came to Cornell to speak yesterday regarding the failed diplomacy and, as he dubs it, the failed war in Iraq. His message was based in waging peace, not war, and as a former marine, he claimed he was no peacenik. Having spoken eloquently and convincingly, this writer wishes that the audience had taken a step back and thought about what Ritter was talking about. His first point was that an effects-based strategy (based on psychological warfare like shock and awe) involved a completely brand new...

<p>Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle says his criticism of President Bush's war policies toward Iraq 48 hours before U.S. troops went into combat was "ill-timed," but he did not retract them.</p> <p>Republican leaders yesterday demanded he apologize to Mr. Bush, U.S. servicemen and women and to his constituents.</p>

There they go again. Despite a mountain of clear polling data, The New York Times still refuses to admit that the vast majority of Americans support President Bush's war to topple the dangerous regime of Saddam Hussein and liberate the people of Iraq. In a front-page story on Saturday, reporters Adam Nagourney and Janet Elder unveil a Times/CBS News poll that finds 70 percent of Americans approve of Bush's handling of Iraq -- an increase of 19 percentage points in only 10 days. But the paper of record won't let it rest there. Most of the story talks about "deep...

<p>Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said yesterday the United States is now seeing an international coalition growing in the war to disarm Iraq and to rebuild it after the conflict ends.</p> <p>"I think that there is growing support and a growing recognition that this will be an international effort," Mr. Daschle, South Dakota Democrat, told reporters yesterday. "As we progress, I think we can expect that we'll see greater support, especially from those who have worked with us in the past, and this is no exception."</p>

Now that the shooting has started in Iraq, it is only a matter of time - not much time - before Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is out. But the question of how this man stayed in power for so long will continue to perplex historians for a long time to come. The answer is, he had a lot of help. We might be in a very different situation had not the first President George Bush and his team not won a war and then fumbled the peace with such buttery fingers that they missed how shrewdly they were being manipulated...

"I'm saddened, saddened that this president failed so miserably at diplomacy that we're now forced to war. Saddened that we have to give up one life because this president couldn't create the kind of diplomatic effort that was so critical for our country." Those were the words of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle speaking to a union audience on Monday, March 17, after it was announced that President George W. Bush would speak to the nation that evening. These are startlingly harsh words from an opposition leader as the nation is on the brink of war. They are a vivid...

OTTAWA (Reuters) - In the latest barb from a member of Canada's ruling Liberal Party against President Bush as he gears up for war with Iraq, a minister said on Wednesday that Bush had failed to act as a statesman. "The world expects someone who is the president of a superpower to be a statesman," Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal told reporters, insisting that war against Iraq is premature. "I think he has let not only Americans but the world down by not being a statesman as people expect of someone who is president of a superpower." Dhaliwal's comments may...

Republicans are for a change fighting back at obstructionist Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, who didn't fret over Bill Clinton's wag-the-dog wars but claims "this president failed so miserably at diplomacy that we're now forced to war." But it's Little Tommy who's the miserable failure, according to Republican National Chairman Marc Racicot, who denounced the South Dakota leftist's "divisive and brazen political posturing." White House spokesman Ari Fleischer today noted the hypocrisy of Daschle, who said in September, after President Bush pointed out that Democrats were putting politics ahead of national security, that "we ought not politicize this war."...

<p>Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno speaks at Brown By Associated Press, 3/17/2003 22:41 PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) In the war against terrorism, the Bush administration has failed to balance the scales of liberty and security, former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno told a packed audience Monday night at Brown University.</p>

RNC Research -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BLAME AMERICA FIRST? ON THE EVE OF WAR, DASCHLE TRIES TO GAIN PARTISAN ADVANTAGE With American Troops Poised To Fight, Daschle Blames Potential War Casualties On President Bush __________________________________________________________________________________________________ SENATOR TOM DASCHLE: “I’m Saddened, Saddened That This President Failed So Miserably At Diplomacy That We’re Now Forced To War. Saddened That We Have To Give Up One Life Because This President Couldn’t Create The Kind Of Diplomatic Effort That Was So Critical For Our Country.” (Senator Tom Daschle, Remarks At International Association Of Firefighters Conference, 3/17/03) __________________________________________________________________________________________________ BEFORE LAST NOVEMBER’S ELECTION, DASCHLE SUPPORTED USE OF FORCE IN...

Fox News just showed a clip of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle saying that he regrets that President Bush's utter failure at diplomacy has resulted in our having to go to war.

<p>Daschle lashes out at Bush for 'failed' diplomacy DeLay urges America to speak with 'one voice'</p> <p>WASHINGTON (CNN) --Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle lashed out at President Bush on Monday, saying he had "failed so miserably" at diplomacy in the crisis with Iraq that the United States now stands on the brink of war.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) --  Democratic lawmakers Monday lamented President Bush's failure to win a new U.N. Security Council resolution on Iraq, but said now is the time to unite as war appears inevitable.</p> <p>"Those of us who have questioned the administration's approach, including this senator, will now be rallying behind the men and women of our armed forces to give them the full support that they deserve as it now seems certain we will soon be at war," Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said on the Senate floor.</p>

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites)'s insistence on traditional diplomacy while confronting Iraq (news - web sites) prevailed against hard-liners in the Bush administration, but it failed in the end to win U.N. support for force to disarm Saddam Hussein (news - web sites). As a result, the United States stands ready to go to war without the backing of a new resolution, and Powell's commitment to moderation in the administration has sustained a blow. While Bush administration strategists are convinced the United States will win the war with its "coalition of the willing," the...

-Snip!- The decision by Turkey's parliament to reject a U.S. request to station troops in the country is another example in which the current administration has asked for more and expended less effort. In 1990, Baker made three trips to Turkey in five months. Bush's father called the Turkish leader 55 to 60 times after Turkey agreed to shut down an oil pipeline to Iraq before the Persian Gulf War began, said Morton Abramowitz, then U.S. ambassador to Turkey. The Turkish parliament was asked to open its bases to the United States after the bombs began to fall. This time,...