The "road map" to peace in the mid-east has take a wrong turn away from its stated objective.

Terror attacks in Israel

With the increase in terror attacks on Israel since the historic meeting between the three major actors, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, President Bush, and Palestinian Premier Mahmoud Abbas of the future state of Palestine, peace in the region seems to have slipped from the cautious optimism it once had had. I fear that the Bush administer is making the same mistake that the Clinton administration had made and has not learned why there was early success in the peace process.
The Clinton administration, and increasingly the Bush administration, figured that the issue of peace between Palestine and Israel can be isolated to the region in question; the so-called land for peace approach. What this method lacks is a greater appreciation for the foreign involvement in the battle. The early success in implementing the "road map," in my opinion, can be attributed to the threats the Bush administration laid out against Syria and Iran. These treats, legitimized by 300,000 troops in the region and the one-sided victory over Iraq, caused Hamas and the like terror organization to limit operation in Israel in fear of being the US's next target. The Majority of those who wish to continue the fight until Israel is pushed into the sea are based in Iran and Syria. This is why the large presence of US troop in Iraq had a somewhat stabilizing effect on the peace process. The Peace process will not be able to move past the present impasse until the foreign elements of Hamas and the like are either destroyed or so threatened that they can not operate. Only then, can the conflict in the region be isolated to the primary players of Israel and Palestine. By eliminating the foreign elements in the Palestinian-Israel conflict, those who have the most to gain from peace and the most to lose from the continued conflict will be allowed to work together to come to a mutually beneficial solution.