Exclusive: U.S. vows to assign blame if Israel-PA talks fail

[Violet_Crumble]

The United States government has committed to playing a role in indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and promised that if the talks were to fail, the U.S. will assign blame and take action, according to a document sent by the U.S. to the Palestinian Authority, which Haaretz obtained on Friday.

The U.S. government sent the document to the Palestinians responding to their inquires regarding the U.S. initiative to launch indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

"We expect both parties to act seriously and in good faith. If one side, in our judgment, is not living up to our expectations, we will make our concerns clear and we will act accordingly to overcome that obstacle," it was written.

This commitment by the U.S. was a determining factor in the Palestinians' and the Arab League's decision to agree to the U.S. proposal on indirect talks.

The document also reveals that U.S. involvement will include "sharing messages between the parties and offering our own ideas and bridging proposals."

The U.S. also emphasized that their main concern is establishing a Palestinian state.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1154406.html

[3waygeek]

1. Gee, I wonder who we'll assign the blame to? n/t

[SlingBlade]

2. Yea, Mmmmm.

The U.S has no credibility in the region or have they forgotten that little fact

[Violet_Crumble]

3. I think the US hasn't realised its lost its credibility...

I posted a speech from Robert Malley of the International Crisis Group where he discusses the credibility issues of the US in the region. It's an interesting speech..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x304088

[SlingBlade]

7. Bookmarked, Thanks

[bemildred]

8. I think "hasn't admitted" is a better description than "hasn't realized".

It's rather like the situation in Latin America where we continue to pretend that the old situation persists even though everyone already knows that it does not. It's a stalling tactic, they have not really figured out what else they might try to do.

[IndianaGreen]

4. LMAO

Sorry VC, but any article that makes the claim that the Obama Administration is going to take a stand and act tough in regards to an already dead peace process surely takes the cake.

The only time the Obama Administration acted tough in foreign affairs was when it engineered that coup in Honduras to topple the democratically elected government, and then threw as many roadblocks as it could to prevent collective action by Latin American nations against the golpista regime.

[shaayecanaan]

5. I think the Armenians can vouch for that as well...

Obama campaigned on a promise that he would acknowledge the Armenian genocide as a genocide, however he has now pledged this week to do everything to block a house resolution doing exactly that.

Obama recently said that he would much rather be a good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president. Unfortunately, the way he is now headed he will end up being a mediocre one-term president.

[Violet_Crumble]

6. I'd just come from reading about the broken promise regarding the Armenian genocide...

And to Indy. Don't worry, I was snickering away when I read the stuff about getting tough. If the Palestinians are fooled by any of that promise of *tough talk* then they really deserve what they're going to get out of these talks...

[IndianaGreen]

9. K&R because it is relevant to today's events

:kick: