I agreed with you till I read the following --
"Bush Promises Pressure on… Arafat: 24 October: For days the media have reported the US and Israel at loggerheads over the presence of Israeli troops in seven Palestinian towns, since the day after
the murder of cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevion October 17. According to DEBKAfile ’s Washington sources, no hint of this was reflected in the conversation President George W. Bush had with
Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres Tuesday, when he dropped in on a meeting between Peres and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.
Later, Peres quoted the president as telling him that Middle East violence was making it more difficult to keep the US-led anti-terror coalition together. However, he denied hearing any sort of
threats to the strong US-Israel friendship (Labor’s almost-elected leader, Avraham Burg, and other members of his party, together with a long line of politicians, warned that the friendship was in
dire peril.) or demands that Israeli troops pull out of Palestinian territory forthwith. Bush, in fact, is quoted by the White House spokesman as promising Peres he would keep “firm pressure” on the
Palestinian Authority to stop violence and terror. He also stressed once again that the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat “must make 100-percent efforts to end the violence, arrest terrorists and work
against terrorist groups.”
Now, he said, is not the time for the US to deal with Arafat, but it would be done at a later stage in the war on terror. The president also took the opportunity of inviting Sharon to Washington next
month.
After his previous meetings with vice president Richard Cheney and defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Peres said in answer to press questions: “I didn’t hear a word of criticism. I heard a good
deal of understanding.”
--"Prophecy Update" <rthomas@bak.rr.com> |
