Abbas A Partner for Peace?

Recently, Bush prasied Mahmoud Abbas as "a reasonable voice among the extremists in the neighbourhood". I am not so sure about that. While Abbas concluded that the Palestinian reliance on violence [terrorism] was a tactical mistake, admission of a tactical error is not tantamount to denunciation. How easy it is to confuse Abbas the great pragmatist, as a moderate.

Setting aside his involvement in the 1972 Munich massace, support for terrorist organizations, and of course his gifted penmanship denying the Holocaust, let's take a closer look at the words of Abu Mazen, the moderate and great peace partner:

• "We made clear to the American and Israeli sides several times that the Palestinian side is unable to make concessions on anything".
• "I will cut off my hand if it signs an agreement in which even one centimeter of Palestinian territory conquered in 1967 is missing".
• Abbas rejected billions of dollars in U.S. support and formal state recognition, saying "we rejected these [offers] and said that our rights are not for sale".
• He stated, Camp David was "a trap, from beginning to end...We did not miss an opportunity at all, but rather survived a trap that was set for us".

Even if I were to accept the Abbas mythology, he lacks the necessary political clout to enforce the necessary compromises associated with any peace deal. So really, why all the hype?