couldn’t i have done this from that video-phone thing at camp david?
by Shane Nicholson
Published: January 14, 2008
The president’s current trip has been to the Middle East has been, well, anything but monumental.
President Bush has taken time out of his busy post-holiday schedule to make only his fourth visit the region, which has been caught in an enhanced state of turmoil since Bush’s administration began seven years ago.
Bush’s new poodle, (The man who had to replace Blair because Sarkozy just wasn’t quite up to the task.) Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, made some bold statements during the press conference following the “historic” meeting.
Olmert said Israel was looking forward to finally realizing the two-state solution Palestinian leadership has advocated for years, finally bringing a close to the decades of vicious fighting that has gripped the region.
“There will be no peace until terror is stopped,” he claimed, just hours after Israeli troops killed three people in Gaza.
President Bush continued to tout his power throughout the region, claiming, “If there needs to be a little pressure,” he will be happy to oblige. Middle East peace groups thanked the president for reassuring their worst fears.
In conversations prior to Friday’s press conference, Bush mentioned to the Israeli leader that he could not control what the US intelligence on Iran had to say, but that last month’s National Intelligence Estimate on Iran did not match his own views on the country’s nuclear capabilities.
He then proceeded to a dry erase board and produced a sketch of the Earth with a giant mushroom cloud towering above the entire planet with only Iran’s borders left visible. Olmert was reportedly overwhelmed by the visual and promised Israel’s full support in any actions against Iran.
Bush’s stop in UAE over the weekend also allowed for some classic 2003-era rhetoric to be dusted off. General threats and overtly vague accusations against Iran followed suit as Bush continued his verbal campaign against Ahmadinejad’s regime.
The Iranian problem should be confronted “before it’s too late,” Bush claimed, echoing statements made in the days following the release of the Iran NIE back in December.
In the carefully worded statement (insomuch as no words were over four syllables), the president also attempted to reach out to Iranians, saying, “The day will come when the people of Iran have a government that embraces liberty and justice… when that good day comes, you will have no better friend than the United States of America.”
Bush continued to levy pressure against Iran’s nuclear program, pulling out “the old standby” by calling Iran, “the world’s leading state sponsor of terror.” He also questioned Iran’s human rights record.
The president will continue his trip through the Middle East, visiting Saudi Arabia on Monday, a country that, according the Bush’s own extra-special intelligence, is a pinnacle of human rights with absolutely no ties to terrorist organizations.
Meanwhile, Iran is set to allow UN weapons inspectors to investigate its ongoing nuclear program within the next month. Mohamed ElBaradei, the IEAE’s head, confirmed reports over the weekend that Iran had agreed to disclose information about its efforts to enrich uranium for civilian purposes.
Mohammed Saeedi, the head of Iran’s atomic energy agency, said that he is happy to comply with UN inspectors as his country has “nothing to hide,” and that he is hopeful that this disclosure of information will finally put to rest any doubts about Iran’s nuclear program.
Despite no physical or anecdotal evidence being attained by any number of UN inspections indicating that Iran is attempting to stockpile weapons-grade uranium, the US has called for another round of sanctions against the nation.
A White House spokesman made a statement following the announcement saying that while, “[a]nswering questions about their past nuclear activities is a step,” that Iran still needs to suspend all enrichment activities.
In other news, the US is continuing with plans to bring three new nuclear reactors online by 2014 - one in Tennessee and two in Texas. Iran has announced no intentions to pursue diplomatic sanctions against the US.
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