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Bush for the Middle East

US PRESIDENT George W Bush visits the Middle East within days from now. This is the US leader's first visit to the region. Although he's paid two unannounced whirlwind visits to the region to shake hands with the US troops in Iraq, they were little more than photo opportunities.

Given the fact the Middle East happens to be the centre-stage and main theatre of the Bush administration's political agenda what with the Iraq war and Palestine-Israel conflict, one would think this president would pay more attention to the region.

Which is why this visit by the US president that will take him to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian Territories and other Gulf countries is considered important.

However, the very fact that this visit is taking place in Bush's final year in the White House and at the very fag end of his second tenure speaks volumes about the lopsided priorities of the administration.

Be that as it may, the Middle East would still welcome this belated visit by the US president if it would make any difference to the world's most volatile region.

The people of this ancient land that has seen so much bloodshed and suffering would welcome any attempt to bring peace to the holy land that is home to three great faiths and countless messengers of peace.

But the question is can Bush, having done everything possible to destabilise and inflame the Middle East, bring peace to it now?

The war on Iraq, inflicted on the region despite repeated warnings by America's close friends and allies in the region like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and others, continues to inflame the region and the larger Muslim world albeit the Iraq conflict seems to have lost its earlier intensity.

Israel, America's dangerous and unpredictable ally in the Middle East, continues to target and kill the helpless Palestinians with impunity, infuriating the Arab and Muslim world.

Will Bush's visit address these burning issues of the Middle East? No one knows, not even the president himself. This visit is supposed to shore up support for the Palestine-Israel peace process and the US initiative unveiled at the Annapolis conference earlier this month.

The Arab and Muslim world has always stood for peace. It would be the first to throw its weight behind President Bush if he'd demonstrated during all these years that he would be broker of just peace and not just another US leader pandering to the powerful Israeli-Zionist lobby.

If he means business, the US president would begin by reining in his Israeli friends. Even as Israelis were shaking hands with the Palestinian and other Arab leaders at Annapolis, they were working on more illegal settlements, this time in occupied Jerusalem. It's hypocrisy and double standards like these that are at the heart of the Middle East conflict.

The Middle East peace will remain a mirage as long as the US doesn't address these double standards of its friends and allies.