To the Point

Israel, the Palestinians and President Bush

After years of peace efforts by former administrations, the current President Bush refused to meet with the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Tomorrow, Arafat's successor will visit the White House for the second time. Israel's withdrawal from Gaza has created risk as well as opportunity for Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority, which has been struggling to assert control over militant groups like Hamas and local militias. Abu Mazen, as he is also known, wants to draw them into electoral politics, but the White House wants disarmament first. Will tomorrow's meeting signal greater involvement by the Bush Administration? We look at the challenge facing Abbas and what it will take to persuade Israelis they could live with a Palestinian state with Palestinians and Israelis, advocates of a two-state solution and two advisors to Presidents Clinton and Bush, Sr. Making News: DHS Unprepared for Disasters Even after Post-Katrina Mistakes Hurricane Wilma is now strongest storm ever recorded in Atlantic ocean. It may hit Florida later this week. Meantime, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told Congress today that FEMA was overwhelmed by Hurricane Katrina and that it must be redesigned. Tim Starks, who covers homeland security for Congressional Quarterly, said one questioner even asked why he should not be accused of "negligent homicide." Reporter's Notebook: Saddam Hussein on Trial Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today applauded Iraqi voters' approval of a new constitution, but acknowledge that the US might still have troops in Iraq 10 years from now. Meantime, in the first day of his trial, a defiant Saddam Hussein entered a plea of not guilty to charges of killing and torturing Iraqis in 1982. Dan Murphy was in the courtroom for the Christian Science Monitor.