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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eashoa' M'sheekha who wrote (45868)	9/21/2002 12:46:14 PM
From: Eashoa' M'sheekha	Respond to of 281500

Netanyahu supports Iraq action By JANICE ARNOLD MONTREAL - The free world is courting nuclear disaster if it does not rally behind the United States in its proposed attack against Iraq, former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a press conference before his thwarted talk at Concordia University. "To wait would be a mistakeŠ If we do not act, 9/11 will pale in comparison to the other horrors the terrorist network will inflict on us. It's only a question of time. Civilization is in danger." Netanyahu said he supports attacking Iraq even though he believes Israel would be Saddam Hussein's "first target of choice" in such a conflict. "The Israeli public is unanimous that we must take out Saddam. We can protect ourselves against chemical and biological weapons, but not nuclear attack." Israel, he believes, would respond, however, to any attack, unlike in the 1991 Gulf War when it did not retaliate against the Scud missiles. Netanyahu said the terrorist network consists of a half-dozen regimes and perhaps two dozen affiliated organizations. "Today, they have the will [to strike the West], but not the power. The West has the power, now it must show the will." This network is rapidly assembling nuclear technology, Netanyahu said, and will use it to inflict "catastrophe" on the democratic world, of which it has "an unquenchable hatred." He said "9/11 was a wake-up call from hell. We can now press our collective snooze button or act in order to live." In addition to Iraq, Netanyahu said Iran and possibly Libya are also close to nuclear capability. Disbanding the Taliban in Afghanistan and scattering Al Qaeda are just the beginning of the war on terrorism, he indicated. "We must bring down all of the network." He described the West's campaign against terrorism as "black and whiteŠ good versus evil," and warned against engaging in "moral relativism." While acknowledging it is difficult morally for a democracy to take pre-emptive military action, Netanyahu said that if the free world had stopped Hitler in 1938, World War II could have been avoided. Iraq has already used gas as a weapon on the battlefield, something even the Nazis did not do, he said. Netanyahu also called for the ouster of Yasser Arafat and the rest of the Palestinian leadership. "This will open up the possibility of holding genuine free elections and allowing more moderate forces to emerge." Until then, there is no peace process, he said. Netanyahu accused the Palestinian Authority of "preaching politicide" - the elimination of the State of Israel - and "poisoning the minds" of its children by glorifying suicide attacks. "Arafat wants a Palestinian state instead of Israel, not beside Israel." Netanyahu insisted that his goal is not to occupy Palestinian territory or to deny the Palestinians self-government. He defined self-government as a sort of demilitarized pre-state status. Israel would continue to have enough control over the Palestinians to prevent them from having an army, importing weapons or entering into military pacts. "There must be a transitional period to detoxify Palestinian society and put in place political and economic reform, with the help of the United States and Europe," he said. Netanyahu defended the Jewish settlements, calling them "the result, not the cause, of the conflict." He also charged that Arab intransigence is the cause of the Palestinian refugee problem, which he noted did not exist between 1948 and 1967. Improving the Palestinian economy is a key to stability, he said. "While I was prime minister, the terror level was a fraction of what it is today. It was also the only three years when the Palestinian GDP rose. "It was a time when 150,000 Palestinian workers came into Israel every day and Israelis went to the casino in Jericho and the discos in Ramallah." Netanyahu denied that he was attempting to raise funds during Canadian visit, which was mainly sponsored by the Israel Asper Foundation, for a possible run again for Israel's highest office.

To: Eashoa' M'sheekha who wrote (45868)	9/21/2002 1:01:35 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

MONTREAL - The suspension of Mideast-related events by Concordia University after violent protests forced the cancellation of a speech by former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu penalizes Jewish students who want to stage pro-Israel activities, an organizer of the event says. Well, isn't that one heck of an opening line to recap the story of a speech cancelled by pro-Palestinian rioters, police incompetence, and university cowardice? True, the story seeps out in the rest of the piece, but the very 'moral equivalence' that is being decried is on full display in that first paragraph, which gives the impression that it might have been Jewish protesters who shut down Neyanyahu's speech. But then, this is the cbc, so what more do you expect?