DUBAI: The visit of U.S. President George Bush to West Asia has been met with scepticism, with influential players in the region expressing doubts about his road map for resolving the Israel-Palestine dispute.
During his visit to Israel, Mr. Bush had declared that he was confident that an independent and sovereign Palestinian state would emerge before the end of his Presidency in January 2009.
However, an editorial in the influential Saudi Arabian daily did not share Mr. Bush’s optimism. “It is impossible to feel any excitement about [Mr.[ Bush’s words because no Palestinian, no Arab believes he will, or can, deliver. Call it scepticism; call it cynicism. But there are good reasons, the most powerful being that we have been here, heard it all, too many times before, and to no effect,” it said.
Elaborating, the daily said that there were two reasons why Mr. Bush’s words could not be taken at their face value. The first is Washington’s historic alliance with Israel, which despite the ringing words about a Palestinian state, Mr. Bush himself fully re-endorsed during his visit this week. “We can be absolutely certain that Washington is not going to exert the pressure needed to force the Israelis into making the necessary concessions for there to be a fully sovereign Palestinian state. Even if [Mr.[ Bush wanted to [which has to be seriously questioned], Congress would not let him; certainly not in the limited time available. “The second is the man himself. He has proved a disaster of a President for the U.S., for West Asia, for the world. Everything he touches turns to dust and ashes. Iraq, Afghanistan, maybe now even Iran.”
Media criticismThe daily observed “He [Mr. Bush] will surely go down in American history as the most incompetent President ever and the deathly Bush Touch will go into the English language as his only lasting legacy to the world.”
Mr. Bush, during his visit, has also been seeking Arab support to rein in Iran. However, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Saud Al Faisal, said on Thursday that Riyadh would continue to engage Tehran.
“We have relations with Iran and we talk to them, and if we feel there is any danger [in the region] we will talk to them about it.”
In Bahrain, opposition to Mr. Bush’s visit is building up. In a joint statement, Bahrain’s Democratic National Assembly Society, Al Wasat Al Arabi Society, and Al Alamaee Council — a powerful Shia organisation, has opposed the visit.
“The [Bahraini] nation does not share in welcoming this visit, which will do nothing but perpetuate the accomplished fact of [U.S.] tyranny and arrogant hegemony in the region,” said the Islamic Ulema Council, the highest Shia clerical body.
Lebanon’s Hizbollah on Thursday also lashed out against Mr. Bush’s visit. “The aim of the visit is to put an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict at the expense of the historic rights of the Palestinians and to pit Arab states against each other or against their Muslim neighbours [Iran],” the group said in a statement.
The UAE daily Gulf News was also lukewarm to Mr. Bush’s visit.
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