What the Arabs Think of the Annapolis Conference
QuestionGirl November 28th, 2007 - 10:07 amPresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says it was a failure. Put Condi in charge of anything other than her daily workout and it’s bound for failure.
Arab commentators on Wednesday dismissed the relaunch of Israeli-Palestinian talks as a U.S.’staged media event unlikely to lead to Middle East peace.
Some argued that U.S. President George W. Bush’s real aim in convening Tuesday’s conference in Annapolis, Maryland, was to rescue his image after failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, or to persuade Arab states their deadliest foe was Iran, not Israel.
“The failure of Annapolis is now clear. (President Mahmoud) Abbas will return to Palestine without anything,” said Essam el-Erian, a senior leader in Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood.
“The conference was designed for public relations and the participants were obliged to participate,” he contended.
Lebanon’s former telecommunications minister Essam Noman, writing in the opposition al-Akhbar newspaper, said the United States had succeeded in “dragging the Arabs to a diplomatic talkfest”.
Washington’s message, he said, was “I am the policeman (an Arabic word-play on Annapolis) of the Middle East, responsible for your safety and stability. Beware deviousness and troublemaking, Israel isn’t the enemy, Iran is”.
More at Reuters
November 28th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
This is like going to a Holiday dinner party to the house of your neighbor who you hate just for the food and booze. The only thing to be accomplished is a full stomach and a light head. It’s purely pomp and pagaentry disguised as diplomacy. Kindasleezy could not negotiate her way into or out of a paper bag. She needs to go back to Stanford where she can teach kids her only talent which is how to pretend, and convince others, you are something you are not. Ok, she could probably model designer shoes as well.