Morning Brief 3/29

Israel Election Olmert wins, and reaches out to Abbas in an election night speech: "We are ready to compromise, to give up parts of the beloved Land of Israel … and evacuate, under great pain, Jews living there, in order to create the conditions that will enable you to fulfil your dream and live alongside ...

Israel Election

Israel Election

Olmert wins, and reaches out to Abbas in an election night speech:

"We are ready to compromise, to give up parts of the beloved Land of Israel … and evacuate, under great pain, Jews living there, in order to create the conditions that will enable you to fulfil your dream and live alongside us," he said.

"It is time for the Palestinians to change their ethos, to accept compromise as soon as possible. If they manage to do this soon, we will sit and work out a plan. If not, Israel will take control of its own fate, and in consensus among our people and with the agreement of the world and US President George Bush, we will act. The time has come to act."

Netanyahu is flayed for Likud’s poor showing:

"It’s not just that the nation doesn’t want Bibi [Netanyahu], it is now clear that the nation can’t stand him," senior Likud figures said on Wednesday. "He needs to get up and leave. That is the absolute meaning of the election results."

France

Protests turn violent. Here and here is more on the irony that kids are rallying for the status quo. Protest photographs.

Iraq

25,000 Iraqis have been displaced since the Samarra bombing. CentCom is not investigating intelligence leaks to Russia. Rumsfeld defends the controvesial raid from Sunday. The Arab League is worried about Iranian influence in Iraq.

John Hughes says, patience, my friend:

In Iraq the hope of the enemy is that the American public will grow tired of the continuing casualties and the lengthy political maneuvering over the formation of a new government, and put such pressure upon the Bush administration to withdraw American troops that President Bush would be unable to resist it.

Tidbits: Jimmy Carter slams the India nuclear deal and cites McNamara’s Foreign Policy piece, "Apocalypse Soon." Italy offers assylum to the Afghan Christian convert. Belarus has arrested 1,000 people.

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