It is disappointing that the end result of the Arab summit of 2007, which ended Thursday, March 29, was the collapse of the so-called “moderate Arab front” on which the USA administration and the Israeli government had banked on so heavily. The line emerging from the conference was strongly anti-American and anti-Israel, and ended the isolation of the two Middle East governments backing anti-US fighting elements in Iraq – Syria and Iran.
“Moderate” Saudi ruler King Abdullah publicly buried the hatchet with Syrian president Bashar Assad and announced to general acclaim that the next Arab League summit would be held in Damascus. Syria’s misdeeds with regard to Lebanon, Iran's capture of 15 British sailors, and the anarchy in the Palestinian Gaza strip were totally glossed over.
The Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, demanded that Israel accept the resurrected Saudi “peace plan” as it is, or risk war. No room was left for an active Israeli role, in the take-it-or-leave-it “peace process.”
I don't see how President Bush, after the Saudi's public declaration of solidarity with Iran, Syria, the anti-American insurgents in Iraq, Hezbollah, AND the Palestinian Hamas government, can continue the charade that there is a significant "moderate camp" in the Arab/Muslim world with which the USA can negotiate a Mideast peace agreement. It appears that at this point in time, the Muslim world has chosen to dictate their terms and conditions – which are basically for the USA and Israel to surrender. I'm curious to see if our State Department tries to slap some lipstick on this ugly Arab declaration, and attempts to sell it to us as "progress".
