Coming Up Empty

"'A popular proverb in Iran says that 'they wanted to fix a person's eyebrow but instead they made him blind.' In our view, this summarizes Bush's policies in the Middle East,' said Ali Reza Jalaeepour, a reformist political analyst in Tehran."

Bush's Outline

Steven Lee Myers writes in the New York Times: "President Bush outlined Thursday in the clearest terms so far the shape of a two-state peace treaty he is hoping to broker between Israel and the Palestinians by the end of his term.

"He called for redrawing borders and compensating Palestinians and their descendants for homes they left in what is now Israel. . . .

"Mr. Bush did not offer specific detailed prescriptions for the core issues he addressed: where to draw new borders, how many Israeli settlements in the West Bank will have to be uprooted in a final deal or how to compensate a Palestinian diaspora numbering in the millions now for homes and lands lost long ago, let alone how to pay for it.

"Many of the issues Mr. Bush addressed in his statement, delivered alone at his hotel, have been at the center of previous peace talks that ultimately failed, and reflected American policy long pursued by Mr. Bush and his predecessor, Bill Clinton. But having faced criticism for speaking of peace only in the broadest way, Mr. Bush publicly addressed what are known as the core issues, even if those remain subject to intense negotiations."

Here's the transcript of his remarks. "These negotiations must ensure that Israel has secure, recognized, and defensible borders. And they must ensure that the state of Palestine is viable, contiguous, sovereign, and independent," Bush said.

Michael Abramowitz and Jonathan Finer write in The Washington Post: "President Bush said Thursday that Palestinian refugees should receive compensation for the loss of homes they fled or were forced to flee during the establishment of Israel and declared that there should be an end to Israel's 'occupation' of lands seized in war four decades ago. . . .

"While Bush has previously used language describing Israel's presence in the West Bank as an 'occupation,' his words Thursday seemed a pointed prod at the Israeli government, coming on his first trip to the country during his presidency. Palestinians have long seen Bush as a partisan of Israel, but some welcomed parts of his statement.

"At the same time, Bush restated his past formulation that Israel cannot be expected to give up all the land captured during the 1967 war, parts of which now have large Israeli settlements, and that the two sides must make territorial compromises that reflect 'current realities.' . . .

"In most respects, Bush's statement Thursday represented a careful reformulation of established positions, packaged to provide the two sides with a basis to pursue negotiations. Bush began calling as early as 2002 for some of the key things he pointed to this week, with no success toward achieving his goal of two peaceful states, Israel and Palestine.

"But his language Thursday on compensation was a first for his administration; Bush's repeated statements that Israel should be a 'Jewish' state have been interpreted as support of the Israeli position that there should not be a wholesale return of Palestinian refugees to their erstwhile property in Israel.

"Until now Bush has resisted the Clinton administration position that the refugees should receive compensation for their losses and suffering."