Washington won't let Israel win

From:  David (DavidABrown)    5/4/2002 9:11 pm  
To:  ALL    
 
  385.1  
 
Source Jerusalem Post www.JPost.com
May. 3, 2002
Washington won't let Israel win
Column One/Caroline B. Glick


Wednesdays New York Times led with the banner headline, "New Strategy Set by US and Saudis for Mideast Crisis." The article cited administration sources, explaining that the outcome of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullahs visit to US President George W. Bushs ranch in Crawford, Texas, was a "division of labor" between the two. The Saudis are to deliver Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat to the negotiating table, and Bush is to deliver Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, starting at their meeting on Monday. The endgame, according to the article, is the establishment of a PLO state along the lines set out by president Bill Clinton in December 2000.
The Clinton proposal, which was declared null and void by the Bush administration early last year, envisioned the establishment of a Palestinian state in about 95 percent of Judea and Samaria, all of the Gaza Strip, east Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, and the Halutza dunes inside pre-1967 Israel. 

The Clinton proposal also gave legitimacy to the Palestinian demand for a "right of return," allowing for the immigration of several thousand in the framework of family reunification.
If the Times report is true, (and the Times seems to have a knack for forcing events to follow its stories), it can be said that the Bush administration is quite simply following in the footsteps of all US administrations since Dwight Eisenhowers " allowing Israel to beat Arab aggression militarily, but forcing it to lose the war politically. 

So it was in 1956, when Eisenhower forced David Ben-Gurion to beat a speedy retreat from the Sinai and Gaza at the end of the Suez campaign. The president justified the uncompromising demand by promising Israel that if the Egyptians were again to close the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, the US would send its navy to reopen the waterway by force. In 1967, when Gamal Abdel Nasser closed the straits, president Lyndon Johnson begged off, forcing Israel to stand alone. 

After the Six Day War, which should have led to a complete political reshuffling of the region, the US again protected Israels neighbors. 

Adopting UN Security Council Resolution 242, the US again dragged Israel along by extolling the resolutions balance " conquered land would be returned to the aggressors, but not all of it, for Israel would be allowed to retain all territory necessary to ensure it had "defensible" borders. Promises aside, since the Carter administration, the US has accepted the Arab misinterpretation of 242 " that Israel is required to return all the lands it conquered. 

In 1973, the US administration was again on hand, wresting the Egyptians from the jowls of defeat. Henry Kissinger prevented Israel from destroying Egypts Third Army, allowed the Egyptians to escape with honor and thus enabled the creation of the current Egyptian myth "that Israel lost that war." 

The Ford and Carter administrations strongly pressured Israel to sign away the Sinai in exchange for peaceful ties with Egypt, which after 23 years have yet to materialize, although Egypt, rearmed with American assistance, now poses a military threat unimaginable in the past.
In Lebanon in 1982, the Reagan administration stepped in to save a routed Arafat. The Americans paved the way for his escape with his troops from Beirut to Tunis, free to fight another day. In the meantime, the US forced Israel to withdraw from much of Lebanon and allowed the Syrian army to remain. 

And in the Gulf war, the first Bush administration not only prevented Israel from achieving political advantage, it prohibited Israel even from defending itself against unprovoked Iraqi ballistic missile attacks. After isolating Israel from the coalition, the administration proceeded to force its democratic ally to the negotiating table to discuss the transfer territory to the Arabs. When the negotiations failed to bear fruit, the administration meddled in the 1992 elections to assist in the victory of the more forthcoming Labor Party. 

Although the Clinton administration served in a decade unscathed by large-scale war, but marked by an increase in rogue states audacity and terrorist attacks on US targets, Clinton consistently urged Israel to accept Palestinian terrorism and insisted on turning a blind eye to blatant PA breaches of its commitments to Israel. The Clinton administrations addiction to pressuring Israel to accept Arab aggression under the guise of peacemaking led to unprecedented meddling in Israels internal politics. The end result could be seen in the twin pictures of Clinton impertinently announcing his peace plan after his successor had already been elected, and Madeleine Albright chasing after Arafat outside the US Embassy in Paris in a vain attempt to get him to return to the negotiating table he had just overturned. 

The refusal of successive administrations to locate the US Embassy in Jerusalem, Israels capital, is not simply an indignity, but another example of how the US has consistently prevented Israel from gaining any political advantage from its military victories against Arab aggression.
Why has the US treated Israel so shabbily? Mainly because it can get away with it. After all, Israel has no other diplomatic outlet, given that the American people is not as cynical as the State Department. Throughout this history, the US has justified denying its democratic ally the fruits of its military victories against despotic aggressors "in the interests of peace." This policy has never brought peace, nor has it engendered stability. Rather, just as feeding the beast acts not to placate it but to strengthen it, so US placation of the Arab world at Israels expense has legitimized Arab rejection of Israel. 

Never having to worry about losing irrevocably in their wars against Israel, rogue states like Syria, Iraq, and Iran ostentatiously build up non-conventional capabilities to destroy Israel. For their part, supposedly moderate regimes, like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, are free to inspire as much anti-Israeli and anti-American sentiment as they wish, knowing there will never be a serious price to pay, even if this hatred foments a war they will lose. 

Today Bush, perhaps to a degree even greater than his predecessors, has sole power to determine which side will emerge victorious from the current Palestinian terrorist war against Israel. 

And what would a much maligned and dreaded Israeli political victory over the current terrorist war look like? First and foremost, it would see Arafats physical disappearance from the scene and the dismantling of his Palestinian Authority as a political and military organization. Just as in Afghanistan today and hopefully in Iraq in the near future, the US has and will set up friendly, quasi-democratic governments, so Israel, or the US, would set up a new Palestinian government, committed to coexistence with Israel and the provision of political and economic freedom to the Palestinian people. Although sovereignty would not be promised, the chances of sovereignty being achieved, naturally and peacefully, would be greatly enhanced if the Palestinian people is allowed to develop democratic institutions and economic prosperity. 

There is nothing wrong, immoral, imperialistic, or even anti-Palestinian about this plan. In fact, it would allow the Palestinians the opportunity to reconstitute their civil society after eight years of living under a corrupt dictatorship, which impoverished and subjugated them and told them to value murder more than life. 

The only thing wrong with this plan is that it allows Israel to win this war politically. 

In seemingly siding with the Saudis over Israel, the Bush administration has opted for the status quo, even though the status quo has failed repeatedly. On September 11, the US was attacked by the consequences of the status quo. Decades of hatred of the US, fuelled by despotic, US-backed regimes, which have seen the value of US guarantees as successive administrations have sold Israel out to Arab pressure, empowered al-Qaida to strike. The belief that today, the US is again preventing Israel from defeating the PA, has made Arafat stronger than he ever was before. It should have been clear by now that the Palestinian terrorist war against Israel, supported by Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and Syria, together with al-Qaidas war against the US " backed by the same governments " have rendered the status quo not only destined to failure, but also dangerous to US interests. 

Given the almost schizophrenic nature of the US administrations Middle East policies, it is still anybodys guess what Bush will decide to do. One thing is certain though: For the US to be able to win its war on Islamic terrorism, Israel must be allowed to win its war on Palestinian terrorism, both militarily and politically.



David A. Brown
Basic Christian: Forum



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Edited 5/5/2002 12:19:53 AM ET by David (DAVIDABROWN) 
From:  David (DavidABrown)    5/4/2002 9:23 pm  
To:  ALL   (2 of 5)  
 
  385.2 in reply to 385.1  
 
Source Jerusalem Post www.JPost.com  
May. 5, 2002
PM leaves for US with booklet linking Arafat to terror
By Herb Keinon


Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is to travel to the US today for four days of meetings at a time of growing disagreement with Washington over how to deal with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. 

While Sharon is bringing a 100-page booklet to Washington documenting Arafats direct link to Palestinian terror organizations and actions, Bush administration officials are sending out signals they want Sharon to deal with Arafat. 

The New York Times yesterday quoted a senior foreign policy adviser to US President George W. Bush as saying the presidents immediate challenge is to "convince the Israelis its in their long-term interest to deal with Arafat, no matter how reprehensible he may be." 

The paper quoted a senior administration official as saying the Sharon government must understand that "only by having a responsible Palestinian Authority are we going to solve these questions, and that Yasser Arafat is the leader of the Palestinian Authority." 

But it is hardly likely Sharon will be in the mood to hear that he has to deal with Arafat, especially since Operation Defensive Shield has unearthed numerous documents linking Arafat to the wave of terror. 

Some of these are presented in the document Sharon will bring " prepared by Minister-without-Portfolio Dan Naveh " which officials in the Prime Ministers Office say detail Arafats financial links and personal involvement with Palestinian terror organizations and Palestinian terror. 

According to Naveh, this file leaves no room to doubt Arafats links to terror, and also documents the corruption of senior PA officials. "In his meeting in the US, the prime minister needs to remove from the agenda that thing called Arafat, and he needs to tell President Bush that Arafat cannot be a negotiating partner," Naveh said. 

Sharon, who delayed his trip for some 12 hours, will be coming back on Thursday, and not on Wednesday, as originally scheduled. He is slated to meet Bush in the White House on Tuesday afternoon. 

Prior to his meeting with Bush, Sharon is slated to meet Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Sharon has added on a short stay in New York to meet with Jewish leaders there. 

Sharon held a number of consultations over the weekend with the inner cabinet and senior advisers to formulate the program he will take to Washington. Israeli diplomatic officials say he is expected to tell the administration he expects the security situation to stabilize before any negotiations can begin. Sharon is also expected to detail what he has in mind when he talks about "long-term interim agreements." The prime minister is also expected to discuss an idea " proposed by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres months ago " for a massive economic program to rebuild the Palestinian economy, along the lines of Americas post-war Marshall Plan that helped rebuild Europe. 

Sharon is also expected to discuss with the Bush administration the idea of an international conference, which Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed on Thursday. Israel Radio reported that the conference, which Powell said will convene in the summer, will take place in Turkey. 

Although Powell said one of the goals of the conference would be to clear the way forward to a Palestinian state, it will be difficult in Washington for Sharon to endorse the idea of a Palestinian state " which he has done in the past " because the Likud central committee is slated to meet next week and vote on a resolution asserting that no Palestinian state be established in the West Bank. 

The committee, which will select the next Likud prime ministerial candidate, is expected to overwhelmingly support this resolution. 

The Americans, in coordination with the Europeans, Russia, the United Nations, and Saudi Arabia, suggested holding a summit at which the sides could explore solutions based on the American vision of two states. The vision is of Israel and Palestine within secure borders on the basis of UN Resolutions 242 and 338, which call for a withdrawal from land occupied in the 1967 war, and a Saudi peace initiative that offers Israel full normalization with Arab states in return for a full withdrawal, Bassam Abu Sharif, a special adviser to Arafat, said. 

"We will consult all the brethren Arab leaders over this conference before it convenes," said Arafat. Abu Sharif said Arab foreign ministers would probably meet in Cairo this week to discuss the conference and coordinate their positions.
The PA has sent an envoy to Saudi Arabia to discuss the US-Saudi ideas, a PA source said. 

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said Arafat called for the creation of a Palestinian state based on the principle of land for peace, the recent Saudi initiative, and the dismantlement of the settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. 

Arafat also called for immediate talks with Israel, to be monitored by the US, Europe, and the Arab nations The Palestinians expect Bush to present the US ideas to Sharon during their meeting today. 

"The conference will be based on the US led international initiative, not Sharons ideas," Abu Sharif said. 

Another PA source said Sharon was trying to avoid pressure to accept such a proposal and was therefore offering a plan of his own.
Palestinian officials said they are waiting for the outcome of the meeting between Bush and Sharon to see if the conference has any chance of moving the peace process forward. 

Some officials were skeptical, saying nothing would be achieved without US pressure on Israel and the Americans are not prepared to use such pressure.
One senior PA official said Arafat would only declare a cease-fire based on a US-proposed package deal combining the cease-fire with the resumption of political talks and an economic aid package to rebuild PA institutions and security services, if the US can convince Israel about its proposal and get the army to withdraw from all PA areas. 

Lamia Lahoud and news agencies contributed to this report.



David A. Brown
Basic Christian: Forum
 
  
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  From:  Jirasol   5/11/2002 9:39 am  
To:  David (DavidABrown)    (3 of 5)  
 
  385.3 in reply to 385.1  
 
:-)) you are funny thanks. 
  
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  From:  Hamilton109   5/14/2002 9:36 am  
To:  David (DavidABrown)    (4 of 5)  
 
  385.4 in reply to 385.2  
 
Thank you for the information. 
Someday the US will have to realized that aiding and arming the enemies of Israel is aiding and arming the enemies of the US.
 
  
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   From:  David (DavidABrown)    5/15/2002 9:30 am  
To:  Hamilton109   (5 of 5)  
 
  385.5 in reply to 385.4  
 
Hi Hamilton,

 

Well said!

 

I for one am not eager for the seeds that our Government is now sowing in arming and supporting Anti-Jewish and Anti-Christian Terrorists to bloom.

 

I think it is going to be a harvest of much destruction and much sorrow and unfortunately we are just beginning to see the tip of it. The only thing Arafat and his Terrorist buddies are learning is that they can commit terror and receive the blessing and support of the world Governments.

 

God Bless You,

David



David A. Brown
Basic Christian: Forum
 
  
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