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America in the Middle East

Bush's new formula: Retreat = 'calm'


By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
August 11, 2005

As Israelis count down the last thee days before implementation of the ?disengagement? plan, US President George W. Bush Thursday made a special statement in support of the pending forced expulsion of some 10,000 Jews from their homes in Gaza and northern Samaria.

?I believe the decision that Prime Minister [Ariel] Sharon has made and is going to follow through on will be good for Israel,? Bush said in an interview with Israel's Channel One News from his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Despite warnings by Israeli experts and US lawmakers to the contrary, Bush insisted surrendering those areas to full PLO-Hamas rule would bring increased security to Israel's embattled Jewish population.

Bush pointed to the current relative calm as proof of his assertion.

?There was an intifada and killing and now there is calm and there are fewer attacks, and in the long run this will be good for Israel's security,? the president said.

The current calm, however, has been attributed by intelligence officials to PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas' efforts to secure a temporary halt to the violence, believing now was the time to apply diplomatic, rather than physical, pressure on Israel.

Terror groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad have vowed to renew in full their efforts to mass murder Jewish men, women and children following the withdrawal.

Meanwhile, Bush remained adamant last week that the formula for peace he insists Israel follow does not apply to America's own presence in the region.

Following a publicized threat by Al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri to wreak further death and destruction on London and the United States if the Americans did not immediately vacate Iraq, Bush said Washington was determined to ?stay the course.?

?We will complete the job in Iraq.?

In the absence of American intervention in Iraq, ?terrorists and...killers? like al-Zawahri would be free to ?impose their dark vision on the world,? said Bush.

The terror haven Bush sees Iraq becoming without the US occupation there is precisely what recognized terrorism expert and former-Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu says will happen to Gaza if the Israelis withdraw.

?Don?t give [the Palestinian Arabs] a huge base for terror,? Netanyahu implored Wednesday.

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