Maybe you saw or read about the visit of King Abdullah recently to the United States. I have a great deal of respect for this leader of Jordan because he is truly a good example of the kind of leadership that is needed in the Middle East today. I see him as being like myself in that he is a centrist which is what is needed if we are to ever have peace in the Middle East. He talked about bringing the Israeli – Palestinian conflict to come to some kind of agreement in order establish a two state solution. He also stated that he believed this was our last chance. I couldn’t help but feel a kind of hopelessness because we have been through this before too many times. If you are aware of the other times we tried this, then maybe you are like me in feeling this way. The first thing that comes to mind is why waste our time and money in going through this yet another time. It seems that these groups have so much hate and distrust that nothing will ever change. So what, if anything can be done? It seems like we have talked and talked about this for so long that we are at a dead end. From what I can tell the only way forward is if the enemies of Israel come to recognize there right to exist. So what can be done in order to make this happen before it’s too late. When the king of Jordan talks about it being our last chance he is talking about not only the Israeli and Palestinian problem, but the whole Middle East falling into a true nightmare of unimaginable turmoil. He pointed to the problem in Darfur as an example of the type of extremism that is spreading and needs to be stopped. I couldn’t agree more and have spoken up for years hoping to change things, like so many have already. I know only too well how so many have worked so hard for peace only to see it shattered every time. You work and work to build something only to have it destroyed so quickly. So of course we have to ask ourselves, what’s the point of building yet once again. The king stated that America needs to be involved in the talks if they are to be successful. I believe that before we start any new talks that we need to have the Palestinians recognize Israel’s right to exist. Without that recognition there can never be a true peace. If they refuse to do that then they need to state just what it is that they would have them do. Would they have them pack up there bags and leave? Is this the only way they would avoid a war? If so, we need to know. If this is the only way then I’m sure that Israel would rather fight and die than lose there homeland. I can’t speak for anybody but myself but this is what I believe they would do rather than face another WWII situation. If it’s a two state solution that will prevent a war then they need to say so. Even President Bush has said that he believes in the two state solution. This is also what I believe to be the answer. Surely there must be some kind of answer to prevent war. Like the bumper stickers I see that say,” war is never the answer.” If not war, then what? I wish one of these people who always have all the answers could tell us just what it is that needs to be done before it’s too late. We would surely love to know the answer. Of course things are seldom as simple as the mindset of a bumper sticker person believes them to be. I guess it’s just some words to make them feel better about themselves. It sure is easier than to have to actually have to come up with a true answer. I think that I would feel better if we had a Democrat running things here. One of the first things that I noticed about President Bush is that he’s no President Clinton when it comes to bring the world together. In a way I can’t blame him for not wanting to go through this dance again. Even if we were able to have an agreement, who really believes it would last? We’ve had our hopes up too many times in the past just to see them destroyed. It makes it very hard to even get something started when you feel that you’re doomed before you’ve even begun. Still I can’t give up and I hope you won’t give up also. I can’t stop thinking about all of the children that will suffer because there grownups refuse to come to some kind of agreement. Perhaps it’s the children who will finally be the ones to solve this problem sometime in the further. I just hope the King of Jordan can forgive us for feeling so tired of this problem and never give up on us. We surly need more leaders like him and pray for his success.