JINSA Report #845 Sometimes It Really Is That Simple

JINSA Report #845 January 12, 2009 Sometimes It Really Is That Simple One of the raps on President Bush is that he is not a "deep thinker," that he holds a simplistic view of the world. Particularly in Washington, if you say something in seven sentences where one would do, you win points. If you drive a stake through the heart of conventional wisdom you lose points. But sometimes it really is that simple.   Mr. Bush held his last press conference today and was asked, of course, about Israel's operation in Gaza. He said: I'm for a sustainable cease-fire. And a definition of a sustainable cease-fire is that Hamas stops firing rockets into Israel. And there will not be a sustainable cease-fire if they continue firing rockets...the choice is Hamas's to make. And we believe that the best way to ensure that there is a sustainable cease-fire is to work with Egypt to stop the smuggling of arms into the Gaza that enables Hamas to continue to fire rockets. And so countries that supply weapons to Hamas have got to stop. And the international community needs to continue to pressure them to stop providing weapons... Hamas, obviously, if they're interested in a sustainable cease-fire, needs to stop arming.     I think Israel has a right to defend herself.   We will miss the clarity of a president who says a cease-fire means you cease firing, and we wonder why the solons in Europe and the UN have so much trouble understanding self-defense. On the other hand, sometimes nuance counts. Wedded to the "two state solution," the President failed to note that there are now three geographic and three governmental entities between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River; one democracy, one terrorist-state and one governed by Abu Mazen (whose term in office has expired) and Salam Fayyad (who was never elected). Mr. Bush also attributed increased stability on the West Bank to the establishment of Palestinian security forces, a recent development, rather than to Israel's six-year quest to establish security control of the area, under the auspices of which the Palestinian economy has begun, finally, to grow. And finally, he suggested that a "vibrant economy will help lead to democracy." This is backwards - only the rule of law will enable a vibrant economy to emerge. Lest we sound churlish as President Bush leaves office, we are truly grateful for his steadfast support of Israel and his understanding of the bad guys. The challenge...is always complicated by the fact that people are willing to murder to stop the advance of freedom. Hamas, or for that matter al Qaeda, or other extremist groups, are willing to use violence to prevent free states from emerging. And that's the big challenge.     Yes, it is. And we hope his successor doesn't make those things more complicated than they need to be.     Archive of past JINSA Reports Support JINSA, click here! email: feedback@jinsa.org phone: 202-667-3900 web: http://www.jinsa.org

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