November 13, 2004

NO DEMOCRACY, NO PARTNER:

U.S. Puts Onus on Palestinians: Bush is lukewarm to Blair's call for a Mideast summit, instead urging democratic reforms. (Paul Richter and Warren Vieth, November 13, 2004, LA Times)

President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged Friday to use the transition to a new Palestinian leadership to push for peace in the Middle East, but bluntly warned the Palestinians to build their state on reforms favored by the Western allies.

Appearing with Blair at the White House just hours after the burial of Yasser Arafat, Bush said his death offered a "great chance to establish a Palestinian state" and a broader peace in the region.

Yet, though promising to mobilize international support on the Palestinians' behalf, Bush made it clear that the burden was on the new leadership to undertake political and economic reforms and overhaul security services.

A Palestinian state and a secure Israel could be reached "only by one path: the path of democracy, reform, and the rule of law," Bush said.

"We'll hold their feet to the fire to make sure that democracy prevails," he vowed.


Too little is being written about how the main reason a new Palestinian leadership was available and reasonably prepared for this transition is because the President forced reform down Arafat's unwilling gullet. And too few recognize that the President does not believe Palestinian participation is a necessary ingredient to creation of a Palestinian state.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 13, 2004 8:21 AM
Comments

The administration isn't going to show any extra effort to aid the Palestinians until they demonstrate some sort of effort to help themseleves; in this case by supporting a responsible leadership instead of showing support -- or at best an indifference -- to allowing the terrorists and militants to be the face of their movement, which has been the case for the past 35 years.

What will be interesting to see is how the Bush people handle dealing with the Palestinians' bankers to the southeast if they show a contined desire to finance the wrong sort of leaders (Iran will try to do the same, but internal uprisings could take care of that problem in the same way it could curb their meddling in Iraq).

Posted by: John at November 13, 2004 9:22 AM

John,

Very trenchant analysis.

The Gaza pullout is a truly brilliant piece of strategizing. It forces the so-called Palestinians to actually govern themselves somehow, to take some minimal responsibility for their own affairs instead of blaming everything from their grinding poverty to the heartbreak of psoriasis on those big bad mean Israelis. The so-called Palestinians are going to have to form some kind of self-government that actually governs. Whether that is a democratic state or whether it is some caudillo successfully shooting his way into power is of no moment, because in Gaza somebody is going to have to clean the streets, maintain the water supply, etc. This new reality definitely should be a cold slap in the face to any politico who still lives in his 'Dream Palace.'

Posted by: Bart at November 13, 2004 11:24 AM
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