*Posted by Tim on behalf of Alex Deane*
George Bush is the first American president to call for a two state solution.
This surprises many people. The way that they boast about their achievements in the Middle East, many presume that Carter or Clinton did so. Nope.
It may be a case of "only Nixon could go to China" - that if someone of the left tried it, they'd get savaged by the right. Maybe. Nevertheless, let's acknowledge that if Clinton had advocated this policy, it would be yet another ring of posies flung around his neck by the dancing conga line of sycophants Bubba attracts wherever he goes.
Instead, when Dubya does it, po-faced silence results.
Not from the players who actually matter of course - Abdullah of Jordan, for example, has openly praised Bush for his brave, near-revolutionary position - but the journos and the commentators simply ignore his groundbreaking acknowledgment of the vital need for a viable Palestinian State - an acknowledgment that has cost him dearly in many quarters traditionally supportive of the Republican movement. Why do I bring it up? Because Bush has today pressed Israel to give up occupied land. Again, this is remarkable and groundbreaking stuff. If Bubba did it, we'd be seeing Washington Post special supplements on his magnificence. Instead, prepare for a Simon and Garfunkel approach - the sound of silence... I am a proud supporter of the State of Israel. Going to Israel changed my life, as it does for many people. And I believe that, broadly speaking, Israel is in the right and her enemies are in the wrong in conflict in the Middle East. But friends must point out where Israel must stop in occasionally going to far, if peace is to be reached. And that's what Bush does. We should say so.
