The Arab Coalition
By Dennis Ross, Wall Street Journal, 3/20/03
[highlights]
Consider Egypt's press, which has been emphasizing that Saddam Hussein is bringing the conflict on himself. In his trip to Berlin, Hosni Mubarak emphasized to his hosts that it was time to get the conflict over and remove Saddam...
Crown Prince Abdullah in now calling for a new charter on reform to be adopted by the Arab League...
Jordan publicly announced that an American contingent would come to the country to man Patriot missile batteries. Can anyone doubt that the Jordanian government was making a statement about where it was lining up in the event of war with Iraq? Contrast this posture with Jordan's posture ... 12 years ago.
Syria's behavior is even more surprising. Not only has it been restraining Hezbollah of late, but as if to convey that it will not be a problem, Syria has withdrawn 4,000 troops from Lebanon.
At this point, I would have added the Palestinian's new Prime Minister and the apparent diminution of power held by Arafat in an effort at reform to ensure there are no Palestinian barriers to Bush's "road map" being implemented posthaste.
He goes on to outline the post-war actions and approaches that must be taken to ensure that US policy achieves the desired results - Middle East peace and stability, and a reduction in terrorism in general and animosity toward us, all supported by genuine reform in the region. Among the issues are post-war government and multi-lateral peacekeeping in Iraq, furthering of efforts toward an Israeli-Palestinian settlement, and genuine and consistent advocacy of reform among oppressive regimes in the region and the world.
And in case you're looking for excuses to ignore Mr. Ross, he is a Middle East policy expert who worked in BOTH the Clinton and first Bush administrations. In other words, this is not a partisan opinion column or just another journalist who thinks he's a policy expert. I suggest you read it - you may gain, for once, a decent understanding of what's really going on. |
