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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MSI who wrote (245625)	4/5/2002 2:24:48 AM
From: calgal	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Poll: Mideast Solution Crucial to War on Terror Thursday, April 04, 2002 By Dana Blanton A majority of Americans see resolving the Mideast conflict as a necessary part of winning the larger war on terrorism. And, despite grumbling from some pundits, a similar number think President Bush is doing everything he can to bring peace to the region. The latest FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll shows 54 percent think the U.S. needs to find a solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians as part of winning the war on terror. However, Americans are divided on whether talks or tanks will achieve peace. Overall, slightly more believe peace can be attained only by a clear military victory (39 percent) than believe negotiating alone can bring peace (31 percent). Republicans are more inclined than Democrats to believe military action is needed. Almost half of Republicans (48 percent) think a military victory is needed compared to 32 percent of Democrats and 33 percent of Independents. More Americans think the situation will lead to an Arab oil embargo than think it will escalate into World War III. Almost two-thirds think an embargo is likely, and 26 percent think it is "very likely." Half of the country thinks the decades-long conflict will eventually start another world war, with one in five thinking escalation to WWIII is "very likely." "There is substantial concern that the whole crisis will have some spillover onto daily lives in the U.S.," comments Opinion Dynamics President John Gorman. "The gasoline lines of the 1970s are only a dim memory for most Americans, but there is certainly worry about them returning." While a majority thinks President Bush is doing everything he can on the Middle East, a third think he could be doing more to help bring peace. As one might expect, Republicans are much more likely than either Democrats or Independents to say Bush is doing all he can. Sixty-five percent of GOPers think Bush is doing enough, compared to only 43 percent of Democrats and 50 percent of Independents. Bush's overall ratings remain strong, although there has been a gradual decline over the last few months. Today, 79 percent of the public approves of the job he is doing as president (13 percent disapprove), down from a high point of 88 percent approval in November. While there is the usual stronger approval among Republicans, Bush receives equally strong approval from men and women. Seventy-nine percent of Americans also have a favorable opinion of Bush, which far outshines the favorable ratings of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat. Only 8 percent say they have a favorable opinion of Arafat and 69 percent say they are unfavorable, while 23 percent either have no opinion or have never heard of him. Sharon's ratings are more evenly split (21 percent favorable to 25 percent unfavorable), but fully 54 percent of Americans either can't say or have never heard of him. Another leader, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, does not have the name recognition problem the Mideast leaders have. He does, however, have an extremely high unfavorable rating of 92 percent. Polling was conducted by telephone April 2-3, 2002 in the evenings. The sample is 900 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of ± 3 percentage points. foxnews.com

To: MSI who wrote (245625)	4/5/2002 2:27:20 AM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Where Bush Stands Robert Novak April 4, 2002 WASHINGTON -- George W. Bush was spending an Easter holiday at his Texas ranch last Saturday, with no intention of saying a word publicly about anything. Rising Israeli-Palestinian violence, however, impelled him to speak. That was unfortunate from the standpoint of presenting a coherent U.S. policy to the world, but it did show more clearly where President Bush really stands. U.S. Foreign Service professionals were bewildered. Hours before, the Bush administration supported a United Nations Security Council resolution (adopted 14 to 0, with Syria abstaining) calling for Israel's military withdrawal from "Palestinian cities." President Bush, far from advocating Israeli forces to pull back, came close to fully condoning Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's aggressive activity. What's more, almost off-hand, he widened the circle of potential American enemies by linking Iran and Syria to the crisis. Bush's remarks seemed so far off from a rational U.S. strategy that they suggest no president should discuss delicate foreign policy issues without a script or, at least, careful briefing. The president appeared to be picking sides in a debate of vast importance mostly fought below the surface in an administration that is particularly loath to admit internal disagreement. One point of view has been most articulately raised by a private citizen: Richard Perle, an intrepid anti-Communist Cold Warrior aide to Sen. Henry M. Jackson and, later, President Reagan. Perle has been out of office for 15 years but heads the Defense Department's part-time advisory board and has close associates in the Pentagon. Immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, he opposed Secretary of State Colin Powell's policy of building a global coalition to fight terrorism. Apart from long urging removal of Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Perle publicly advocated a quick air strike in the days following Sept. 11 to take out Syria's air force. The consequences would be the U.S. virtually standing alone with Israel as its only ally, an isolation desperately avoided by Powell. This has become a central issue of foreign policy since the escalation of violence by Palestinian suicide bombings and Israel's military assault on Palestinian strongholds. Powell, working with U.N. Ambassador John Negroponte, has tried to position the U.S. as condemning not only Palestinian suicide killers but Israeli militarism as well. The State Department policy is that Yasser Arafat, warts and all, is the only Palestinian available for peacemaking. That position encounters severe backstage opposition in both the Pentagon and the White House. Influential officials agree with the Israeli hard-liners that Arafat, as a major part of the problem, has brought chaos wherever he has gone -- including Ramallah on the West Bank. They are sympathetic with the hardest line Israeli view that forms the basis for Sharon's tactics: the Oslo agreement setting up Arafat's Palestinian Authority was a mistake. This is a dispute that George W. Bush has tried to avoid, attempting until now to decouple the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the global war against terrorism. But last Saturday, dressed casually in a sport shirt and speaking off the cuff, he did connect Palestinian suicide bombers with the global terrorist menace, just as the Sharon regime desired. "The Iranians must step up and stop sponsoring terrorism," Bush added. "The Syrians must participate." Do you have evidence that these countries, he was asked, are involved in the anti-Israeli bombing? "No," he replied, "I do not have evidence." The disconnect from how the country voted at the U.N. to what the president said a few hours later was described privately by a State Department official as "not an accident, not a small thing." As Israeli military force intensified, the president (who once called Sharon's conduct "not helpful") became less critical. Popular outrage against Israel and the U.S. has spread from the Arab world to Europe. The deep concern among former senior foreign policy officials, Republicans and Democrats, is that Sharon's offensive -- however unintentionally -- can result in Yasser Arafat's death. Sharon's iron fist transformed Arafat from a fading force in Islam to a hero, and his death would make him a martyr. The scope of this disaster has not been visualized by the president, to judge from his Easter Saturday remarks. ©2002 Creators Syndicate, Inc. townhall.com