Bush Didn't Say There Would A Palestinian State In 2008?

From the Whitehouse website:

Setting the Record Straight: President Bush Consistently Focused on Defining a Palestinian State

The Washington Post Inaccurately Claims The President Is "Scaling Back" Ambitions For Middle East Peace Process

"[O]ne report today … suggested that the President is backtracking … suggesting that the President had said that we would actually have a sovereign, final Palestinian state by the end of 2008. The President has never said that. We've been very clear that what 2008 should be used for is to help the negotiating parties focus on the big picture, but also get into some of the nitty gritty and very difficult issues, such as borders and settlements, that are going to have to be solved."

─ White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, 1/8/08 [emphasis added]

Read the whole thing.

At this point, it is not so much an issue of what President Bush has said as his following through on his promises--in his letter to Sharon back in April 2004, Bush gave a number of assurances, among them:

Third, Israel will retain its right to defend itself against terrorism, including to take actions against terrorist organizations. The United States will lead efforts, working together with Jordan, Egypt, and others in the international community, to build the capacity and will of Palestinian institutions to fight terrorism, dismantle terrorist organizations, and prevent the areas from which Israel has withdrawn from posing a threat that would have to be addressed by any other means. [emphasis added]

And we've all seen how well that has worked out.

See also Powerline's post about how Condoleezza Rice has rendered past Bush assurances "inoperative". In another post, Powerline highlights Rice's explanation that problem is that

The "road map" for peace, conceived in 2002 by Mr. Bush, had become a hindrance to the peace process, because the first requirement was that the Palestinians stop terrorist attacks.

Rice's sleight-of-hand obscures one key point:

The problem with this approach is that the "core issues" identified by Secretary Rice are not, in fact, the core issues. There is actually only one core issue: the fact that most Palestinians do not accept Israel's right to exist or the right of Jews to live in the region, and therefore support those who are constantly trying to kill them. But for the Palestinians' genocidal dreams, all other "issues" would have been resolved many years ago.

Let's face it, the goal is not real peace; the goal is to create a Palestinian state--regardless of the consequences. If Bush sees an opportunity to do that before he leaves office, he will grab it with both hands.

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