Is Assad next?
Bashar Assad must have felt a chill when he saw the pictures of Muamar Gadhafi’s final moments and knowing that Syrian crowds were chanting, “Assad is next.”
Bashar Assad must have felt a chill when he saw the pictures of Muamar Gadhafi’s final moments and knowing that Syrian crowds were chanting, “Assad is next.”
Leaks from unnamed aides to Benjamin Netanyahu claim he has shifted positions on another critical peace process issue –borders — but so far there’s no official confirmation.
Map making seems to be an increasingly popular pastime in the Middle East these days. The Palestinians claim they prepared their mapped vision of the two-state solution but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to look at it. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is reportedly preparing maps that will give Palestinians an interim state on land they already control but no more. Now a leading Washington think tank has unveiled a series of maps detailing proposals for drawing Israeli-Palestinian borders.
With less than 100 days until the Congressional elections, Republican dreams of taking control of both the House and Senate are giving nightmares not only to Democrats but also to those who want to see the Israelis and Palestinians make peace.
If there is one thing the Bush White House excels at it is lowering expectations, and the administration spin machine was operating at full speed in the days leading up to President Bush\’s Middle East trip, which at press time on Tuesday was expected to begin on Wednesday.
Are the two most powerful Republicans in Washington playing a version of the old good-cop, bad-cop game with Israel and its friends in this country?
Yasser Arafat has a dilemma. He can\’t decide whether he wants to be the father of his country or the godfather of terrorism.
President George W. Bush gave Arafat a chance to answer that question before the whole world last weekend at the United Nations, and the Palestinian leader blew it.
If you want to know how things have changed in the Middle East, try this one: even State Department Arabists are saying nice things about Ariel Sharon. And they\’re taking the name of Yasser Arafat in vain,
The danger for Bush is that if either the Florida legislature or the DeLay formula is pursued, his presidency could be permanently tainted as illegitimate for having lost the popular vote and won the electoral vote by chicanery.
America\’s failure to quickly and publicly condemn Arafat\’s tactics may have encouraged further Palestinian violence and convinced Arafat his dangerous gambit could succeed.