When President Bush meets with Jordan's King Abdullah today, each man will have a different agenda. Mr Bush wants the King's support in resolving the mess in Iraq, while King Abdullah will press for the United States to take a stronger role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As I noted in my blog entry last Sunday, the King believes that a peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians is the most important issue in the Middle East, and wants the United States to focus on achieving that end.

Well, I understand the King's position. Jordan has a very large Palestinian refugee population which he has to placate and he is, of course, concerned about the possibility of an additional influx of Palestinians if the conflict goes on. But I believe the King is very far off base in pressing for the United States to take a larger role in the peace process.

First of all, the United States is not recognized across the region as an honest broker. We have been solidly on the side of Israel for so long that no Arab ruler (and certainly not the "Arab street") really believes we could honestly represent their interests and concerns.

Second, peace can only be achieved if both sides really want it...and it's foolish to think that that's the case. The conflict is being driven by the extremists on both sides - the Israeli hard-liners who believe in their right to the biblical lands of Greater Israel, and the Islamic extremists who are blindly focused on the destruction of Israel, regardless of the cost to the Palestinian population. There are no moderate leaders on either side who are seriously trying to accommodate the legitimate economic, social, political, and religious interests of both sides.

The United States can't impose a peace between people who don't want it. We can't do it in Iraq, and we certainly can't do it in Palestine, no matter how much well-meaning individuals like King Abdullah might wish. Peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come when both sides are ready for it. We can help create the conditions for dialog by applying pressure to the Israelis (to the extent we can, and they accept), but the leaders of the Arab world must apply equal pressure to the Palestinians. The hard-liners on both sides must be forced to lay aside their extreme positions and participate in a true dialog that will result in the first steps toward peace. Compromise will be painful, but is no less necessary between the Israelis and the Palestinians than it is between Democrats and Republicans here at home.

And no less likely.

Have a good day. Tomorrow, some thoughts on Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Turkey.

Bilbo