On Monday night, a Shi’i family waited frantically for news of the whereabouts of 12-year-old Hani Saadoun. They were to discover he’d been kidnapped at a checkpoint by gunmen in three Opel cars, who’d whipped him with cables, mutilated him with electric drills, shot him in the head, and dragged him by a rope behind a car through the streets before dumping his body in the Sunni district of Dora.
As this charade between the U.S. and Israeli governments unfolds it’s as if the kidnapped American citizenry, lying in a ditch with a black bag thrown over its head, has finally been delivered a fatal blow. Ehud Olmert delivered to Congress a speech written by Elie Wiesel. Holocaust reminiscing by those who drag Palestinian corpses behind their Greater Israel sedan, perpetrators of ethnic cleansing and exploiters of past misery, will go down in history as despicable characters. The U.S. Congress is the most deliberative body in the world? Olmert is a clown and the United States believes the world is its personal big top.
Israeli advice on the Mexico fence: be ruthless.
Danger: You mean they have to shoot the smugglers? “No, they have to stop them. But if they run away they have to chase them, and if they resist they need to use force. Eventually, they’ll end up doing things you don’t want people to watch on television. I’m not sure if they have the resolve and the stomach to do it. Maybe it’s not as important for them as they claim it is.”
Hitler had nothing on these people.
Despite the US pressure to shelve his withdrawal plans for now, Mr Olmert was buoyed by a display of support by Mr Bush for “bold ideas”.
Although the president said Washington remained committed to a negotiated final settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, he added: “These ideas could lead to a two-state solution if a pathway to progress on the road map is not opened in the period ahead.”
– Chris McGreal
24 May 2006 The Guardian
Exchange of letters between PM Sharon and President Bush | 14 April 2004
“First, the United States remains committed to my vision and to its implementation as described in the roadmap. The United States will do its utmost to prevent any attempt by anyone to impose any other plan.” – George Bush
Sharon repudiates peace ‘road map’
By Inigo Gilmore
16.09.2004
Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, has admitted for the first time that his government does not intend to honour the American-backed “road map” to peace.
[…]
Asked about a proposal by the opposition Labour Party that evacuation of the settlements should take place in tandem with the road map, Mr Sharon said he viewed the road map as dead.
“This would have brought Israel to a most difficult situation. I didn’t agree to this,” he said. “Today, we are also not following the road map.’
Olmert was quoted by Israel Radio on Tuesday as saying that he would be “willing to devote six to nine months to find a Palestinian partner” before turning to his unilateral plan.
On Monday night, Olmert met for dinner with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley to prepare for his talks with Bush. Earlier Tuesday he held talks with U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
A series of secret talks between the U.S. and Israel is expected to follow Olmert’s visit. During these talks, elements of the convergence plan will likely be honed and translated into a practical program.
U.S. State Department envoys David Welch and Elliott Abrams are to visit Israel at the beginning of June. Rice is also expected to travel to the region, and an additional meeting between Bush and Olmert is likely as well.