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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (13561)	2/27/2003 5:32:49 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

You think the war may be all about preserving Israel's hegemony in the Mideast? Well, just don't blab it off or else.... Bibi might run after you: Thursday, February 27, 2003 Adar1 25, 5763 Sharon v. Blair By Aluf Benn There is a great deal of hypocrisy in Israel's criticism of the European position in the Middle East. Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the senior ranks in his ministry mobilized to refute the link the leaders of the European Union created between the crisis in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Netanyahu wrote to his 15 European colleagues and warned them against tying the two issues together. But the connection between Iraq and the Palestinians was, in fact, created by Israel. It is difficult to find a senior Israeli minister, officer or official that has not declared in recent months that the war with Iraq will make it possible to remove Yasser Arafat and renew the peace process from a position of advantage. The Israeli criticism has different motives. Now, at the head of his new government, Ariel Sharon is setting out on a new campaign to do away with the "road map." He is aiming for a new understanding with the United States to replace the one tainted by European influence. In the Prime Minister's Office and the Israel Defense Forces, the "road map" is viewed as a flawed document, born out of American lip service to the Europeans and Arabs, who take exception to the attack on Saddam Hussein. With the help of his friends in the White House, Sharon has managed to delay publication of the "road map" as an international program for an imposed settlement. The upcoming war in Iraq has given him additional time to prepare for the "day after," when he will try to mobilize Bush for his side. Sharon's rivals for the president's ear can be found in Europe, not the Middle East. The Arab world is divided and conflicted, and paying the price of 9/11 with loss of influence. The United States has ignored its Arab friends on the way to Iraq. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been courting Sharon following two years of boycott and sharp criticism, and is trying to restrain the Palestinians. The Saudis have begun talking about internal reforms. No Arab leader has an open door at the White House like that enjoyed by the Israeli premier. The fear of an American-Saudi understanding to get Israel out of the territories, like after the 1991 Gulf War, has never seemed further away. The place of Mubarak and Crown Prince Abdullah as the patrons of the Palestinians is now being filled by British Prime Minister Tony Blair. In Jerusalem, jokes can be heard about the split in the European camp between supporters and opponents of the United States. But the dispute exists only surrounding the issue of Iraq. Concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the roles are reversed: Germany and France are keeping silent; while Britain and Spain want Bush to pad their support for the attack on Iraq with Israeli concessions - "Sharon for Saddam." Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar visited the Bush ranch in Texas on the weekend and spent hours trying to convince the president to advance the "road map." The American administration refused to commit itself. Blair's special envoy, Lord Michael Levy, traveled to Washington last week and met with Elliot Abrams, who holds the Middle East portfolio in the National Security Council. Levy passed on a message from the Palestinians and asked the United States to respond favorably to the appointment of a Palestinian prime minister, even if he seems to be an Arafat man. Abrams listened attentively, but projected a lack of urgency to become involved in the conflict. The British got the impression that the publication of the "road map" would have to wait until after the war. The influence of the Europeans is limited. France and Germany will not support the war in Iraq even in return for a Palestinian flag on the Temple Mount, and Bush has not promised them anything. Britain, Spain and Italy will go with Bush, regardless of Sharon's concessions. And this is why the Americans have no real reason to pressure the prime minister now. The question is whether Bush will have to repay diplomatic debts to those leaders that supported him. Israeli sources believe that the purpose of the British intervention on behalf of the Palestinians is to pacify Blair's rivals from the British left, and will lose its momentum after the war. Israeli officials have refrained from leveling criticism at the British prime minister; and here and there, words of praise can be heard. This is apparently a sign for the future. In the coming weeks, Sharon will try to neutralize, or at least mitigate, Blair's influence on his American ally. haaretz.com

To: stockman_scott who wrote (13561)	2/27/2003 7:06:51 AM
From: zonder	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

War on Iraq: Not in the name of democracy iht.com Marwan Bishara IHT Thursday, February 27, 2003 War and the Arab world PARIS The Bush administration should be careful when it talks about democracy in the Middle East. The idea is too valuable, and too vital, to be used as cynical camouflage for other agendas, whether those are based on oil interests, or Israel's, or the desire to have a solid military beachhead in a volatile region. . America doesn't seem to realize what bitter memories we Arabs have of foreign democracies trying to shape and dominate our region. It is dismaying to watch as America, which long ago rejected the notion of colonialism, seems about to repeat the mistakes of an old Europe whose past attempts to dominate the region by force have lead to more than a million Arab deaths. America is also mimicking the preemptive war doctrine and policies of Israel, which have failed utterly to bring peace or security. . Washington has a history of double standards in the region. Its closest allies have long included some of the least democratic. And for almost a year now, the Bush administration looked the other way as its closest friend, Israel, imposed house arrest on Yasser Arafat, a democratically elected Arab leader, and prevented the elected Palestinian legislative council from convening. . Like Americans, the Arab and Iraqi people would like to see regime change in Iraq, but not at any price. Not by installing an American military governor in Baghdad after killing more innocent civilians and possibly provoking an environmental disaster from burning oil fields. And certainly not through a possible retaliatory use of nuclear weapons, which the Bush administration has been openly contemplating. . Only totalitarian regimes and ideologies preach that the end justifies the means. For democrats, the means counts no less than the end. That's called applying the law. . War would lead to regime change in Iraq, but rather than bringing about democracy it would probably lead to chaos - the enemy of democracy - in a land that continues to suffer from tribal, ethnic and religious divisions. . While Saddam is temporary - his long tenure has been possible in part thanks to two decades of support from Washington - the Iraqi and Arab people and civilization are here to stay. After decades of conflict, the region needs not another devastating war but stability so that it can advance toward democracy incrementally and cumulatively. . This means containing the spread of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the whole region while supporting freedom and gradual reform. . Democracy is based on individuals freely consenting to assume their civic responsibilities toward one another and toward the community of nations. Dictators like Saddam lose when the fear of totalitarianism is defeated in the hearts and minds of the people, who must be the true agents for democratic change. But if democratic values are not allowed the time to take root in Arab society, the dictators will be replaced by Islamist extremists who pay lip service to democracy to get into power. . It's important to realize that Iraq gained urgency in the White House not for Iraqis' sake, but because Sept. 11 destabilized America's security. The Bush administration's attempts to lump together Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, while unconvincing to most audiences around the world, have scared the hell out of the American people. . Today what Arabs have to fear most is America's fear - real and imagined. They watch helplessly as the Bush administration uses Americans' worries to whip the UN Security Council into agreeing to its war plans. . Arab democrats can only hope that democratic America will restrain Washington's imperial drive to war. Otherwise no one will be able to deter the eschatological politics of Arab fundamentalists and those of the American right. . It's time for democrats - Westerners, Arabs and others - to confront warmongering politicians with a geo-ethics, to oppose war with the same unwavering opposition they oppose dictators. Democrats the world over, foremost among them American democrats, must put their values above their interests, their humanity above their fear, to help create coalitions across continents and religions to make peace and democracy possible for all. . The writer, who teaches international relations at the American University in Paris, is author of "Palestine/Israel: Peace or Apartheid."