Administration Damages Its Own Peace Plan

President Bush this week dramatically reversed decades of American strategy in the Middle East by endorsing – outside a negotiated framework – Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's claims to parts of the West Bank and his desire to deny Palestinian refugees the right of return to their homes in Israel. The president's announcement undercuts the administration's own road map for peace in the Middle East and is sure to inflame already high tensions in the Arab world.

• The administration's endorsement of Israeli settlements in the West Bank significantly undermines the peace process. Palestinians and the Arab world will almost certainly take the latest U.S.-Israeli announcement as a retreat from a diplomatic, negotiated peace. Rather than acting as an evenhanded, honest broker in the Middle East the Bush administration has blindly accepted Sharon's agenda of annexation and unilateral separation – a recipe for future violence for both Israelis and Palestinians.
• The Bush administration has once again alienated key allies by opting for unilateral action in the Middle East. The European Union roundly criticized the agreement and stated that it would not recognize any borders that were not agreed upon by all parties. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan also criticized the agreement stating through a spokesperson that a plan "should be determined in negotiations between the parties, based on relevant Security Council resolutions." Even Prime Minister Tony Blair, one of the president's strongest allies on the war on terror, is said to be "uncomfortable" with the agreement.
• The president's actions significantly harm U.S. efforts to stop the nationalist insurgency in Iraq. After suffering the deadliest period in Iraq since the beginning of the war, the administration's one-sided agreement with Israel will only reinforce views in Iraq and elsewhere that America discounts Arab concerns.

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