Hamas is hell-bent on the destruction of Israel, so of course they'd make a statement like that.
If the U.S. convinces Israel to go ahead with an independent Palestinian state, and the Arab nations do nothing to insure stopping (or even discouragement ) of terrorism against Israel, then what would the U.S. have done but hand over Israel's sovereignty.
From what I've observed from the last fifty years regarding Israel (and largely detailed above) you can't believe any of what the arabs are saying, particularly Arafat.
Arafat, after last week making a half-hearted obligatory statement condemning suicide bombings against Israel (his condition for being released from house arrest in Ramallah), Arafat yesterday said, rallying his Palestinian followers: "A million martyrs are on their way to Jerusalem" (as reported on CBS News).
That doesn't sound like he's condemning suicide bombers. Quite the opposite, he's strongly encouraging it.
Regarding Kioto, I didn't know Australia was complying (already, or planning to ?). I do feel that Bush could have expressed more of a willingness to negotiate the Kioto agreement instead of just dumping it flat-out.
The environmentalist backlash was very visible in the U.S. when he dumped Kioto. On many environmental-related issues, such as the proposed oil drilling expansion in Alaska, that was blocked by the Democrats, it seems clear that Bush sides with corporate business, especially the oil industry.
But in the news reporting I saw of Kioto and Bush's rejection of it (and the press was very much against Bush, the press is very pro-environment), Bush had a valid point that the U.S. should not be obligated to comply when others do not.
