Free Republic

JERUSALEM (AP) - President Bush, seeking to pull Israel and the Palestinians toward serious negotiations, said Wednesday that despite ongoing land squabbles and fears of violence he has high hopes that a Mideast peace pact can be achieved before he leaves office at the end of the year. "I come as an optimistic person and a realistic person - realistic in my understanding that it's vital for the world to fight terrorists, to confront those who would murder the innocent to achieve political objectives," Bush said as he began his first presidential visit to Israel. His first formal meeting was...

We're living in historic times that will change the dynamics of freedom and peace for generations to come. The dramatic events rippling across the globe are precipitated by men and women of incredible vision and a commitment to humanity. President George W. Bush is a man of such vision, and Sen. George Allen is proving to be another leader for peace. "‘The future is now,'" Allen quoted his late father, Hall of Fame Football Coach George Allen. "If you do the job well, the job at hand, then the future will take care of itself." Like President Bush, Sen. Allen...

It has been a good week for the veteran Israeli politician and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres. Last week it looked as if his career and vision of a new Middle East were both finally dead and buried. But as they say, a week in politics is a long time, and today Peres is once more centre stage. The resignation of Amram Mitzna as leader of the Israeli Labour Party -- after only nine months in the job -- and U.S. President George W. Bush's speech outlining his vision of free trade zones in the Mideast have moved the...