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Posted by Alex Dominguez,
JNS Special Correspondent
on Saturday August 25, @02:08PM
from the Who Cares If It's a Pipedream dept.
WACO, Texas (JNS) _ Realizing a sufficient ceasefire to implement the Mitchell Plan will never occur, President Bush called Saturday for a ``good fences/good neighbors’’ approach to the Middle East war process.
``Just like in boxing, we have to break this clinch, separate these two fighters before we move on to the next round,’’ Bush said from his Waco-area ranch after a meal of brisket, beef, cheddar, cheese, lettuce, salad, lager and beer.
``The Israelis and Palestinians should go back to their corners.’’
A peace plan developed by former Sen. George Mitchell calls for the two sides to implement confidence-building measures such as a freeze on Israeli settlements after a cooling-off period.
Bush, however, called on the Israelis to pull their settlers out of the West Bank and Gaza strip and build a fence around the West Bank similar to the fence around the Gaza strip. The president also called on Israel to open access to Egypt from the Gaza strip and Jordan from the West Bank, allowing the Palestinians to trade with those two countries for supplies. Access to Israel, however, should be virtually eliminated to prevent attacks, the president said.
``Once the two sides show they can get along, and act like human beings, civilized countries that can live next to each other like Mexico and Guatarica, maybe then Israel should consider opening the border,’’ Bush said.
Posted by Alex Dominguez,
JNS Special Correspondent on Saturday August 11, @08:41AM
from the Will Rogers common sense approach dept.
WACO, Texas (JNS) _ President Bush announced new tariffs on Saturday, including new duties on imported Canadian trees and exports of capital to rock-throwing areas.
``I know you reporters would like to be sucking in the salt air, filing copy beachside about a story you hope will never end,’’ Bush said at his ranch near Waco, referring to the ongoing violence in the Middle East.
``Well, I’m not about to sit here and continue to spend taxpayer’s money _ our citizens honest, hard-won currency _ year after year to pay for peace that will never come,’’ Bush said before taking a nap after a morning round of golf.
The president said foreign aid to each side would be cut by $100 million for each suicide bombing, drive-by-shooting, mass violent demonstration, settlement expansion, house leveling, targeted assassination or police station attack.
``Americans have a right to expect peace if they pay for it _ a country without war, without fighting, a peaceful country where people live quietly next to each other and don’t throw rocks,’’ Bush said.
Bush decided to increase the tariffs in the wake of calls for a greater U.S. involvement in the Middle East, where a suicide bomber killed 17 and injured almost 100 this week at a Jerusalem pizzeria.
The U.S. currently provides more than $6 billion a year in foreign aid to the Middle East.