It's déjà-vu all over again. Every time a U.S. president reaches his final year or two in office, he looks for a way to create a lasting legacy. For some reason, he always end up picking the same issue -- Israeli/Palestian peace:
U.S. President George Bush will turn his attention today to the goal of brokering an elusive agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
Bush has invited the leaders of the two sides of the conflict to Washington and will be holding separate meetings with both at the White House on Monday.
The talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will lay the groundwork for all-day Mideast talks on Tuesday in Annapolis, Maryland.
The meetings have been endorsed by the Arab League and will be attended by 16 Arab states. Significantly, even Syria, a nation that has been at war with Israel for decades, has announced it will attend the sessions.
Bush had made it one of the priorities of his administration to achieve a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
I'm afraid this latest kick at the can, like the litany of those before it, is doomed to failure. It will be rushed in an effort to complete a deal before Bush leaves office. Palestinian terrorist groups will continue attacking Israel, communication will break down, Hamas will be re-elected and we'll be back to the same vicious cycle.
