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Analysis: Intensifying Israeli and Palestinians Clashes Pose Great Challenges for President Bush and his Road Map for Peace
All Things Considered: June 12, 2003
Analysts: Bush Must Push to Keep Peace Road Map Alive
MICHELE NORRIS, host:
This week's violence in the Middle East has put the White House-backed road map for peace in jeopardy. Just last week, President Bush launched the initiative at a summit in Aqaba, Jordan, posing for pictures with the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers. The bloodshed of recent days has underscored once again the difficulty of ending the violence. It also provides the first major test of President Bush's effort at peacemaking. NPR's Don Gonyea reports from the White House.
DON GONYEA reporting:
Bush administration officials say no one should be surprised that a week of hope for the Middle East has been replaced by swiftly escalating violence. The president's words and reaction have been carefully measured. One day, he criticized Israel for a helicopter gun ship attack on a vehicle carrying a militant Hamas leader; the next day, he spoke out against Palestinian extremists.
President GEORGE W. BUSH: I strongly condemn the killings, and I urge and call up on all the Free World, nations which love peace, to not only condemn the killings, but to use every ounce of their power to prevent them from happening in the future.
GONYEA: The question now is this: How does an administration newly committed to active involvement in the region respond? The president himself said last week that he would, quote, "ride herd" to make sure the leaders on each side keep their promises to work for peace. But amid the escalating violence, he has not made any personal phone calls to Israeli or Palestinian leaders, leaving that, so far, to Secretary of State Colin Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. Aaron Miller is the president of an organization called Seeds of Peace, and one who advised presidents on the Middle East for more than a decade.
Mr. AARON MILLER (President, Seeds of Peace): I don't doubt the president's commitment. I'm not entirely sure that the administration has discovered the pathway to actually do this. And I think that pathway is going to have to involve a 24/7 operation with the important but episodic involvement of the president. He cannot become the Middle East envoy.
GONYEA: That's a sound strategy according to Rice University's Edward Djerejian, a former assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs and an adviser to President Clinton and the first President Bush.
Mr. EDWARD DJEREJIAN (Rice University): What they want to do is to put a little distance so that the president can be used for the really important issues. And that's why I think he has specifically asked Condi Rice and Colin Powell to be his top people interacting with the parties and, of course, the tough and big decisions will be referred to him. So that's the formula, and we'll have to see if it works.
GONYEA: Additionally, starting next week, John Wolf, the veteran diplomat President Bush has named to monitor progress on the road map, will be in Jerusalem. It's a long-term appointment, and Wolf will be available if needed for round-the-clock contact with the principals in the region. Again, Edward Djerejian.
Mr. DJEREJIAN: Let's face it, the two sides need some adult supervision here, in terms of carrying out their parallel and reciprocal obligations on the road map, and I think that the guiding hand on the ground by these monitors is important. They have to be totally empowered by Washington to do their work. When they are there, there should be no ambiguity that they are speaking for the United States administration.
GONYEA: But Aaron Miller stresses there are things the president must himself do. There will be times during the process when the parties need to hear from him directly because of the risks involved for them as they're asked to make the kind of difficult and politically unpopular compromises that will be required of them along the way.
Mr. MILLER: And that means, `Well, if I go first, is the other guy going to reciprocate?' And with the level of suspicion and mistrust, the only party that can break this chicken-and-egg issue and create an alternative to it--the only party that can do that is the United States.
GONYEA: The White House stresses that this process, if it is to be successful, will take a long time. That's one message in this difficult week. The other is that the summit in Aqaba last week was only a beginning. As Secretary of State Powell put it this morning, quote, "We have to keep moving forward. It would be a disaster if we lost this opportunity." Don Gonyea, NPR News, the White House.
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