Bush ends 5-day Middle East trip with little progress

[maddezmom]

SHARM EL SHEIK, Egypt_Wrapping up a five-day tour of the Middle East , President Bush on Sunday told his Arab allies that expanding democratic reforms and isolating the "spoilers"— Iran and Syria — were crucial steps to a secure and prosperous future for the region.

Bush spoke at the opening of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East in this Red Sea resort town, where 1,500 policymakers have gathered. More lecture than rallying cry, Bush's speech stuck to familiar themes: Iran's nuclear program, more civil liberties, a bigger role for Arab women, free trade, and progress on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by the end of the year.

Bush, however, heads home to Washington with few, if any, concrete gains on his largely ceremonial tour, his second trip to the Middle East in four months. He failed to win Saudi help with rising oil prices and didn't make any breakthroughs on groundwork for a Palestinian state.

Indeed, Bush's chiding speech to the Arabs— only days after lavishing praise on Israel — only hardened his image as a pro-Israeli president who's commanding wars in two Muslim nations, and possibly preparing for a third, with Iran .

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20080518/wl_mcclatchy/2942853_1

[gateley]

1. He's become as big an embarrassment as Yeltsin --

A pity he wasn't too drunk to get off the plane, as Yeltsin was in Ireland.

[NV Whino]

2. Well, hell, getting him out of the country for 5 days is progress.

[DrDan]

3. oil has surpassed $120 a barrel - and he is 'spainin' to them about how to

make their region prosperous. What's wrong with this picture.

[hokies4ever]

4. We haven't bombed Iran yet

so that is a small bit of success for Bush so far. You know he's just searching nonstop for an excuse to send a couple of bombs into Iran.

[thunder rising]

5. Anymore it's a successful tour if he doesn't whip it out and pee in the punch bowl

My expectations are that low.

[ribrepin]

6. Ahem