So, what do we all think of this?
To me, this sounds like a fantastic idea. It’s good economics, it will be good for helping liberalize the region, and it’s going to help make Iraq more stable.
From a geopolitical standpoint, it’s also smart. It pulls the middle-east closer to America.
Comments?
There’s a problem with the idea. It’s not Bush’s idea, and it is unlikely to pull the Middle East closer to America. Why? Because the EU has been working with the Gulf Cooperation Council on such a development long before Bush was elected. While the GCC is not the entire middle east, it constitutes the strongest economies in the area. In fact, as a result of the negotiations, the GCC already introduced a customs union recently. A free trade area in the GCC is already being planned.
(Cf. http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/gulf_cooperation/intro/ and documents linked there)
So no, Bush didn’t have a fantastic idea. He merely, as with his Iraq ‘evidence’ plagiarized from others.
He did too have a fantastic idea! OK, it wasn’t his fantastic idea! Still, its a pretty good idea!
No mention is made of a EU-proposed ‘free-trade zone’ in your cite. Sure, there is some mention of some trade between the EU and GCC, but that is hardly the same thing as what GW is proposing. But feel free to try again!
Nice try, Brutus. And what is
´?
I also referred to that website and those linked from there. If you had bothered to look around, you would have found plenty of mention of a free trade zone, for example in the very prominently linked PDF protocol of the March conference in Doha.
e.g.
Nice try, Brutus. Really nice try.
Next time, actually try reading the references you are given.
Bah. If it wasn’t for you meddling kids…
That’s really not necessary, Oliver. A rolled-up newspaper works just as well. Watch!
<WHAP!> Bad Brutus! Bad! Go lay down by your water dish!
I don’t get you guys. I ask if the U.S.'s Free Trade plan for the middle east, and your response is, “It’s not unique! The Europeans proposed it first! Nyah nyah!”
Who gives a rat’s ass if anyone else is doing it? I wasn’t trying to suggest that Bush’s plan for a free trade zone was some sort of brilliant insight that made Bush an economic genius or anything, but that it a smart next step in American Middle-East policy.
If other countries are doing the same thing, good on them. Free trade is good for everyone. And don’t forget that the U.S. already has free trade pacts with Israel and Jordan, and that this latest plan is being greeted with great enthusiasm in Egypt and other countries who have been asking for this.
You forget: Bush = Bad to a lot of these guys.
Not me. But that doesn’t make Bush an economic genius. A broken clock is right twice a day, but only by accident. You’d think that if he understood the economics and the nature of trust building in small steps, then he’d come out with a plan to drop trade barriers with European states – what with the whole shouting match over Iraq, not to mention N. Korea, Iran, Pakistan, yadda, yadda, yadda.
But that doesn’t make it a bad idea. Since I studied economics, “dropping trade barriers is good” is my default position. It would be good in the Middle East, but I don’t think it’ll bring peace in and of itself. Scenario 1: The trade barriers go down, some dumb-ass Palestinian decides he wants to derail the peace process with a bombing, the Israelis react in the same way they always do, back to square one. Scenario 2: Barriers go down, Israelis bull-doze houses for more “settlement” construction & kill a couple people in the process, Palestinians react, back to square one.
You know how they said that “only Nixon could go to China”? I’m wondering if voting for Leiberman might not be the best thing we can do to solve the Middle East problem.
Jeez Louise, OliverH, why don’t you just sign all you posts "Die Bush Die”. Everything related to Bush is personal to you.
So someone else proposed the idea, BFD!
Your responses revolve around the fact that you don’t like the war in Iraq. It would have been nice if the UN had stepped up to the plate instead of the never ending inspections.
Well, hell, yes, GeeDubya stepped up to the plate. And then he shot the umpire.
How would you know?
Awww, gee, now I gotta cry myself to sleep again!
It seems to be a regular occurrence with you, how do you possibly manage?
I am nurtuted by the contempt of the contemptible. You know, they have a pit for this sort of thing, for those with the urge to insult but without the wit for debate. Check it out, all your friends are there and they’re both in a good mood.
Now, if only he’d apply this philosophy to the steel industry…
Isn’t the proper use of sigs restricted to one per thread? I see five thus far. Why is that?
So many witticisms, and so little time.
Enlighten us. What is bad about Bush’s move toward a Mid East free trade zone. I’m sure the President can break away from his hourly briefings to review your suggestions. Maybe you can catch Mz Rice at lunch and kick a few ideas around.
I’m confident you can solve all the world’s problems with just the right self-aggrandizing retort.
By the way, did you mean nurtured, or neutered?
Note to people with well-educated posteriors: use spell-check when trying to denigrate your fellow man.
You do me too much credit, McGoober, but I’ll try to be of help as you stumble towards enlightenment.
Point of fact, there is nothing wrong with offering “free trade” as an inducement for the Palestinians. But there’s nothing much right about it either. It makes a good headline, makes a very statesmanlike show, but thats about it.
“Free trade” is pretty cool if you have something to sell. Tell me, what was the last thing you bought from Gaza? What do you think the next one will be?
The Palestinians have got d for diddly squat. They have no reason whatever to give a rats ass about free trade. They would be blubberingly grateful for half the largesse we pour every year into Israel. When pigs fly. We are Isreal’s very best friend, whether they are ours as well is another question.
As Amos Oz pointed out, true tragedy occurs when both antagonists are right. GeeDubya’s “free trade” offer has about as much impact as his much vaunted “roadmap”. Its nice, its pleasant, its a band aid on a gangrenous wound. It offers the opportunity to appear deeply involved and concerned, with lots of nice overtones of leadership and best of all! it costs nothing.
It might be that the Palestinians and Arabs will view this as a major concession on our part, a shift in our pitiless adherence to Israel’s hard liners. I rather doubt it. But if you can believe in Fearless Misleader’s vision, you can probably believe in his statesmanship as well. It would be churlish to disrupt such an innocent faith.