Pundits are not putting much weight on Bush's visit, writes Rasha Saad The shadow of Tehran and Damascus will haunt US President George Bush's Middle East tour, believe Arab pundits. In the London-based daily Al-Hayat, Elias Harfouche wrote that the only two stops that will surely remain out of this tour are Damascus and Tehran. "Despite that, these two capitals will cast their heavy shadows over all of Bush's talks during his tour." The talks between Bush and Middle East leaders will revolve around the Palestinian situation and Lebanese presidential crisis. Harfouche explains that Damascus and Tehran pervade all these files, even if this pervasiveness, according to the Bush administration, is negative or obstructive. So, if this is the case, what can the US president's tour accomplish? Arab pundits believe Bush will strive to rally the largest number of regional forces for his plan and for standing up to the two disrupting forces, Iran and Syria, whom he considers to be at the heart of the problems that he and his allies are facing. But, as Harfouche points out, both Damascus and Tehran are wagering on the failure of the US plan, in view of its history and the fact that President Bush is not seriously committed to peace between Israel and Palestine. This is in addition to the factor of time that is not in favour of Bush who leaves office in January next year. In fact, Harfouche argues, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad was ahead of everyone else after he submitted the pre-outcome of Bush's tour. Al-Assad told an Australian newspaper that he did not expect much from the journey. "It is too late to talk about peace in the last year of the administration's mandate, during which it will be busy with the elections," Al-Assad said. Jihad Al-Khazen believes Arabs should neither welcome Bush nor extend their warm hospitality given the hostile US position to the Arabs and Muslims. It is a position that, according to Al-Khazen, "seeks to serve Israel's interests and fulfil America's imperial ambitions, i.e. the establishment of neo- imperialism." Any different talk, Al-Khazen argues, is tantamount to lying, cowardice or hypocrisy. "If divine justice and American democracy exist, then George Bush and Dick Cheney must be impeached and tried before the International Criminal Court," Al-Khazen wrote. Al-Khazen cited the thousands of calls on the Internet and in the media calling for the impeachment of George Bush. Al-Khazen quoted George McGovern, the Democratic candidate who ran against Richard Nixon for president in 1972 and considered one of the most prominent and moderate American politicians in the second half of the 20th century as saying: "As we enter the eighth year of the Bush-Cheney administration, I have belatedly and painfully concluded that the only honorable course for me is to urge the impeachment of the president and the vice- president." In an article in The Washington Post, Al-Khazen wrote, "McGovern reiterates documented information that can be accepted by any court of justice. He says that Bush and Cheney have violated the US constitution and have lied to the American people time after time. "Just as Nixon's crimes are petty in comparison to Bush's and Cheney's, as McGovern states, the crimes committed by Slobodan Miloseviç and the African warlords are modest in contrast to those of the American president and his deputy." In the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi Abdul-Bari Atwan supports this view. In "Receive him as a war criminal" Atwan urges the Arab people to receive Bush with rotten eggs, bad tomatoes and demonstrations "to show him our true feelings towards his devastating wars and his foreign policy that is anti-Arab and Muslim and pro-Israeli." In the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper Hussein Shobokshi wrote that there are a number of facts one should remember here; the fact that George Bush is himself not convinced of the usefulness of the peace process between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Shobokshi reminded readers that Bush said on more than one occasion that he cannot do more than what former US President Bill Clinton had done in the Wye talks. Therefore, Shobokshi concludes, "Bush's tour is nothing but routine and ceremonial. For he is keen to keep, after leaving politics, an open channel of communication with various regions of the world that have political and economic weight. "It is important therefore that one should deal practically and rationally with Bush's upcoming tour to the region by accepting that he is a captain of an administration that looks like a ship stuck in the mud of Iraq, in enormous internal economic problems, in an environmental impasse, and in unprecedented international controversies surrounding his leadership," Shobokshi concluded. Maamoun Fendi, also in Asharq Al-Awsat, echoed the voices of the few when he wrote that on the eve of Bush's visit to the Arab region, 99 per cent of the cards and the solution in the Middle East today are in the hands of the Arabs. According to Fendi, there is a serious Arab initiative for peace. However, the credibility of this initiative for the West and Israel is limited. In other words, the manifestations of Arab intentions for peace have not reached the West, particularly the United States and Israel. According to Fendi, Saudi Arabia can play a bridging role. He explains that those who are familiar with the secrets of Bush's visit to the region say that the main purpose of his tour is to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia because of its importance in the Arab and Islamic worlds and because of its significance in the world at a time when oil prices have reached $100 a barrel. This is in addition to the special relationship between President Bush and King Abdullah. President Bush has constantly praised King Abdullah as a man who honours his word and as a highly credible leader. "If this is so, why can't the Arabs exploit this relationship, which is based on mutual confidence between King Abdullah and President Bush, to promote their interests? What is needed is Arab coordination with Saudi Arabia and Syria to take advantage of this meeting to serve as the basis for solving pending Arab issues." Fendi insists that the Arabs can make Bush's visit a historic one by focusing on dealing with the pragmatic side of the personality of the visiting president instead of the old Arab way of wasting time at meetings talking about the history of the Arab- Israeli conflict and complaining about double standards. "The cards are in the hands of the Arabs today. Will they exploit them well?" Fendi asked.
