WAIT a minute. Junior says Israel is our "oldest and best friend?" I thought that was MEXICO! [View All]

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Bush pushes peace, says U.S. "best friend" to Israel

Tabassum Zakaria
Reuters US Online Report Top News

May 14, 2008 17:29 EST

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President George W. Bush, in the Middle East to encourage struggling Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, has emphasized historic ties with Israel

saying the United States was its "oldest and best friend in the world."

Bush, in Jerusalem to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Israel's creation, will visit the Roman-era fort at Masada and give a speech before the Knesset on Thursday.

Before making his second trip this year and also of his presidency to Israel, Bush had expressed hope that a peace deal could be reached by the time he leaves office in January, despite obstacles that have cropped up since promises were made in Annapolis, Maryland, last November.

In the latest setback to an agreement with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been hit by calls to resign over suspicions he took bribes from a U.S. businessman.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Bush_pushes_peace_says_U_S_best_fri_05142008.html

Grown Cautious, Fox Expects Delay on U.S. Action on Migrants

By GINGER THOMPSON
Published: March 4, 2004

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E3DE133FF937A35750C0A9629C8B63



Three years ago,

Mr. Bush visited Mr. Fox's family ranch in the northern state of Guanajuato and proclaimed that America had no greater friend than Mexico.

Several months later, Mr. Fox became the first state visitor to the Bush White House.

But the warm personal relationship between the two was severely strained after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, when the Bush administration abandoned its promises to work on a migration accord with Mexico and Mexico voted against war with Iraq at the United Nations. Since then, Mr. Fox and Mr. Bush have had have had little more than stiff and fleeting encounters.

The chill began to thaw in January when Mr. Bush announced his plans for the most comprehensive overhaul of American immigration policy in recent years. Most Mexicans praised the proposal for giving undocumented immigrants opportunities to work legally in the United States and be reunited with their families. Others, however, said it would allow the United States to enjoy the economic benefits of low-cost immigrant labor without offering workers the protections that come with permanent residency.