1. It says a lot for the African National Congress that, after eleven of their supporters were killed last week, they are still prepared to talk peace. 2. Almost his first act as president was to see an accommodation with the impoverished and embittered Chiapas Indians, asking the rebellious Zapatistas to talk peace. 3. Although Colombian history has demonstrated that it is easier to talk peace than to produce it, political pressure for an end to the war clearly has grown. 4. And so, the two sides talk peace and wage war, and ordinary people suffer. 5. A wise Israeli leader would use the Bush initiative to show that he stands ready to talk peace with any responsible partner. 6. But little headway was made, and the FARC stepped up its military attacks even as its representatives talked peace. 7. But Oslo also failed because the Palestinians, while talking peace in English, continued to build hate against Israelis in Arabic in their mosques and textbooks. 8. But the meeting reveals why talking peace in Colombia so often seems like plowing the sea. 9. Even as they talk peace, both the guerrillas and the Colombian government are preparing for the possibility of a more intense phase in the war. 10. Eventually, Ross says, Israelis and Palestinians will sit down once again to talk peace. |