My point was that removing Saddam should not have been our highest priority. Fighting terrorism should have been our number one concern, followed by the Palestinian peace process. ↗
On the other hand, if the free world is concerned with how a new Palestinian leader governs, then the peace process will have a real chance to succeed. ↗
Too often in the past, U.S. leaders have forced Israel to pay the price for American strategic interests in the Middle East - through concessions in the peace process as well as passivity in the face of Iraqi attacks. ↗
And we ought to work our diplomacy first and I think it's a reason it's going to respond increasingly to our diplomacy particularly with the president's direct involvement in the peace process, and I think that's extraordinarily important. ↗
It's really necessary for the United States to continue to give strong leadership to the Middle East peace process, supported by European countries at the same time. ↗