In response to Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas's demand for the release of every single one of the thousands of Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli jails, President Bush replied: "Surely, nobody wants to let a cold-blooded killer out of prison that would help derail the process" and "engage in terror attacks."
But clearly Abbas's demand--and Palestinian popular support for it--is incontrovertible evidence that the Palestinian leadership--and the great majority of Palestinians--want exactly what president Bush said nobody wants: to free all imprisoned terrorists so they can resume murdering Jews.
If President Bush believes that evading reality is practical--that a man demanding the release of terrorists is an honest partner for peace--he needs to do some hard thinking. Bush said: "I fully understand the prime minister's desire, I fully understand his request."
Do you Mr. President?
From David Holcberg of the Ayn Rand Institute: