Mideast allies near a state of panic (devastating for Bushco)

[BadGimp]

Mideast allies near a state of panic

U.S. leaders' visits to the region reap only warnings and worry.
By Paul Richter, Times Staff Writer
December 3, 2006

WASHINGTON — President Bush and his top advisors fanned out across the troubled Middle East ...

But instead of flaunting stronger ties and steadfast American influence, the president's journey found friends both old and new near a state of panic. Mideast leaders expressed soaring concern over upheavals across the region that the United States helped ignite through its invasion of Iraq and push for democracy — and fear that the Bush administration may make things worse.

President Bush's summit in Jordan with the Iraqi prime minister proved an awkward encounter that deepened doubts about the relationship. Vice President Dick Cheney's stop in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, yielded a blunt warning from the kingdom's leaders. And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's swing through the West Bank and Israel, intended to build Arab support by showing a new U.S. push for peace, found little to work with.

In all, visits designed to show the American team in charge ended instead in diplomatic embarrassment and disappointment, with U.S. leaders rebuked and lectured by Arab counterparts. The trips demonstrated that U.S. allies in the region were struggling to understand what to make of the difficult relationship, and to figure whether, with a new Democratic majority taking over Congress, Bush even had control over his nation's Mideast policy.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-usmideast3dec03,0,7181716.story?coll=la-home-headlines
CONDT...............................

What a davasting piece for the Bushistas. they have been fileted and their failures are now laid bare for all to see and heckle them over.

What a cluster f&$@ this administration is.

[Cha]

1. And when the US media reports

bad news about the bushites they don't have to spin..you can bet it's the truth.

[Heewack]

2. I take that a bit different.

Sure they recognize the obvious that Bush is a lame duck, but it outlines the fears and greater issue of us pulling out too quickly and drawing the entire region into civil wars.

[gulfcoastliberal]

3. K&R - what a disaster the bushjunta is!

You know the house of saud is on a foundation as solid as quicksand... poppy knew it but junior couldn't wrap his pea-brain around the concept!

[happydreams]

4. All we have to do in the US is have a "First to the Moon"

race to develop alternatives to oil and let the Mid-East stew in its own juices. FUCK EM'ALL!!

[seafan]

5. 'Stay the curse,' shouted the awol chimpanzee.

High stakes conference: U.S. President George W. Bush, left, walks in with King Abdullah II, right, of Jordan during his arrival at Radhadan Palace, Nov. 29, 2006 .
(AP)


Mideast allies near a state of panic

By Paul Richter, Times Staff Writer
December 3, 2006

WASHINGTON — President Bush and his top advisors fanned out across the troubled Middle East over the last week to showcase their diplomatic initiatives to restore strained relationships with traditional allies and forge new ones with leaders in Iraq.
But instead of flaunting stronger ties and steadfast American influence, the president's journey found friends both old and new near a state of panic. Mideast leaders expressed soaring concern over upheavals across the region that the United States helped ignite through its invasion of Iraq and push for democracy — and fear that the Bush administration may make things worse.

snip

To Middle East observers, Bush can no longer speak for the United States as he did before because of the domestic pressure for a change of course in Iraq, said Nathan Brown, a specialist on Arab politics at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"He can talk all he wants about 'staying until the job is done,' but these leaders can read about the American political scene and see that he may not be able to deliver that," Brown said.

snip

During the trip, Bush was unable to distance himself from the fierce debate about Iraq policy back home. The president felt the need to respond to news accounts saying that an advisory panel on Iraq would urge a gradual withdrawal of combat troops from the region. He insisted that suggestions for such a "graceful exit" were not realistic.

snip

Cheney's trip to talk to Saudi King Abdullah was far less visible than Bush's mission, but helped to make painfully clear the gap between U.S. goals and those of its Arab allies.
U.S. officials said Cheney initiated the trip. But foreign diplomats said that Saudi leaders sought the visit to express their concern about the region, including fears of a U.S. departure and what they see as excessive American support for the Shiite faction in Iraq.
After the meeting with Cheney, Saudi officials released an unusual statement pointedly highlighting American responsibility for deterioration of stability in the region.

snip

Expressing deeper unhappiness with the United States, leaders from Jordan, Egypt and Persian Gulf countries told Rice during her trip to an economic development conference in Jordan on Friday that the U.S. had a responsibility to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which they and many analysts viewed as the key to regional stability.
Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab League, urged greater U.S. action, warning that the Middle East was becoming "an abyss…. The region is facing real failure."