Know this: Powell is doing what he thinks is appropriate and not what the WH wants him to do. He's getting ready to quit and he knows the WH can't afford to fire him.
****************************************************
Powell Offers Abuse Apology and Israeli Rebuke
By ALAN COWELL
Published: May 16, 2004
HUNEH, Jordan, May 16 — Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, at a gathering of the Arab elite, offered a direct apology today to Iraqi prisoners in Baghdad abused by Americans and castigated Israel for demolishing Palestinian homes in Gaza.
But, as he ended a brief foray into the Arab world hoping to rebuild American credibility, there was little evidence that the twin gestures had mollified Arabs mistrustful of American policies in both Iraq and the Palestine-Israel conflict.
In recent weeks, the United States' reputation in the Arab world has been deeply tarnished both by its acceptance of proposals by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel — yet to be endorsed within that country — for a unilateral disengagement from Gaza and by the spectacle of uniformed Americans abusing naked and hooded Iraqi detainees at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.
At a joint news conference with Marwan Muasher, his Jordanian counterpart, Mr. Powell went further than in the past to offer American apologies for the abuse.
"The president has expressed an apology on behalf of the nation," he said. "I will reinforce that apology. We are devastated by what happened at Abu Ghraib. We apologize to those who were abused in such an awful manner."
In a speech to participants on Saturday, Mr. Powell held back from an explicit apology but sought to overcome hostility toward the United States in the region by promising that those who committed the abuse in Baghdad would be brought to justice. He also pledged that the White House was "starting again" in the effort to end the Palestine-Israel conflict.
But the sometimes emotional address on Saturday left dissatisfaction among many of the participants, representing policy-makers and business leaders. The Americans "are not solving the issues concerning the Iraqis or the Israelis," said Omar Othman, 45, a Saudi petroleum company executive. "What they are giving us is only a rosy picture and we want the reality."
Rami Khouri, editor in chief of the English-language Daily Star in Beirut, called the speech "inappropriate and insensitive because he was telling us the same old stuff and he seems unaware or not caring about the widespread criticism of United States policy in the region, which was conveyed to him."
Mohamed Baderkhan, a 55-year-old Jordanian executive, said: "He did not give us hope. He tried to improve the United States' image but he didn't give us anything new."
At his news conference today, Mr. Powell sought anew to win support. "We are doing everything we can to deal with what you describe as the frustrations within the region," he told a questioner. "Everybody says we should return sovereignty to the Iraqi people so that it no longer looks like an occupation. That's exactly what we are trying to do and what we plan to accomplish by the end of June." But he made clear — as he had done during his speech on Saturday — that American and allied forces would remain in Iraq for an unspecified period.
Even as he spoke of a new start to peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians, though, Arab officials complained that Israel's destruction of Palestinian homes in Gaza's Rafah refugee camp seemed to undermine an offer by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to dismantle Jewish settlements in Gaza and pull out Israeli troops.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher of Egypt, a delegate at the World Economic forum, told CNN: "The plan that the Americans are talking about is a plan that didn't float at all." He added, "The way Mr. Sharon is implementing it is to destroy more homes in Gaza — I mean what sort of Gaza does he want to leave?"
At his news conference, Mr. Powell said: "We oppose the destruction of homes. We don't think that is productive."
Mr. Powell met on Saturday in Amman, the Jordanian capital, with Ahmed Qurei, the Palestinian prime minister, who is to meet on Monday in Berlin with Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser. Mr. Powell was asked at his news conference today to comment on remarks attributed to Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, calling on his followers to "terrorize your enemy."
"Mr. Arafat continues to take actions and make statements to make it exceptionally difficult to move forward," Mr. Powell said. He complained that the Palestinian leader "refuses to allow consolidation of security forces."
In an interview recorded for the ABC News program "This Week," Mr. Powell said of the Palestinians, "What they need to do is to wrest control of the security forces from Chairman Arafat."
At a session of the World Economic Forum, however, Nabil Shaath, the Palestinian Foreign Minister, took issue angrily with what he depicted as a one-sided American attitude on the issue. The United States "must put a full stop on the violence by both sides," he said. "Stop blaming it all on the Palestinians."
In an interview later, he said Mr. Powell's visit here had been "positive in two senses" because it signaled American willingness to restart talks and to return to the negotiating framework established before Mr. Sharon's new initiative.
"Other than these two positive factors there was nothing practical," Mr. Shaath said. "There was no decision that the United States is going to get re-engaged in a meaningful way."
Others seemed more positive. "I think what was important during this meeting was that the secretary listened to what we have to say," said Mr. Maher, the foreign minister of Egypt, a traditional ally of the United States. "For a long time, we thought the Americans didn't want to listen."
nytimes.com |
