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

To: Michael Watkins who wrote (153553)	12/7/2004 3:16:19 PM
From: Sun Tzu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Egypt heralds Mideast peace 'breakthrough', eyes return of ambassador 2 hours, 38 minutes ago Add to My Yahoo! Mideast - AFP CAIRO (AFP) - Egypt raised the prospect of a framework for a Middle East peace deal and said it could soon return an ambassador to Israel, a move that would revive full diplomatic ties after a four-year break. Quoting "high-level" Egyptian sources, state news agency MENA said key players in the search for peace have reached understanding on a plan that could lead to a comprehensive settlement. "An important understanding that could constitute an agreement in principle has been reached by Egypt, Israel, the Palestinians and the significant international parties -- the United States and the European Union (news - web sites) -- on a comprehensive solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," MENA said. International efforts to advance towards a final Middle East deal after years of bloody conflict have been revitalized following the death last month of veteran Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites). MENA said officials expect that "preparations (for a plan of action) would take place until July, after which political action will begin." That, in turn, could lead to a conference in Washington attended by the parties concerned with the peace process, notably the Israelis and the Palestinians, as well as Egypt, the United States, Russia and several European countries, MENA said. The "framework for the plan has effectively been established ... and discussions are underway to agree clearly on the points to be included." Expected to be included is a "bilateral ceasefire," under which the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites) would "put a stop to anti-Israeli attacks and consolidate its control over the situation in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites) and the West Bank." In that context, MENA said, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) is committed to a "halt to Israeli military operations against the Palestinians insofar as they continue to respect their commitment (to a ceasefire) and control their territory." MENA added that Sharon had declined to put this in writing, saying it was "not necessary, at the outset, to sign a ceasefire accord until the Palestinian Authority's security and administrative capabilities could be rebuilt." A peace roadmap drawn up by the United States, United Nations (news - web sites), the EU and Russia which calls for the creation of a Palestinian state next year has been left in tatters by the ongoing violence. In another sign of warming relations between Egypt and Israel, MENA quoted "high-level sources" as saying Cairo could soon return an ambassador to the Jewish state. "The new spirit in Israeli-Egyptian relations opens the way to a return of the Egyptian ambassador to Tel Aviv," the agency said. Cairo recalled its envoy in November 2000 after accusing Israel of using excessive force against the Palestinian intifada, or uprising, which erupted two months earlier. This is the first time since that Egypt -- which in 1979 became the first Arab nation to sign a peace treaty with Israel -- has openly raised the possibility of sending back an ambassador without conditions. Egypt's presidential spokesman Maged Abdel Fattah on Sunday linked any return to progress in the peace process. Ties between Israel and its largest neighbour took a dramatic upswing on Sunday when Egypt released the Israeli Druze Azzam Azzam who had served seven years of a 15-year sentence for spying, removing a major point of tensions. Israel in exchange freed six Egyptian students who had been accused of plotting to kidnap and assassinate Israeli soldiers. The new atmosphere was further underlined Monday when officials announced that Israel, Egypt and the United States were to set up free-trade zones under an agreement to be signed next week. Jordan is the only other Arab country to have a peace treaty with the Jewish state. Israel has diplomatic ties with Morocco, Tunisia and Qatar but none of them has sent an ambassador to Tel Aviv. Israel and Egypt have been liaising closely over next year's planned pullout of Israeli troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip, with both sides keen to ensure Islamic radicals do not step into any subsequent vacuum in the Palestinian territory. news.yahoo.com

To: Michael Watkins who wrote (153553)	12/7/2004 3:16:44 PM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Allow me to recycle something (January,2003). This has to do with the danger of not going in: The United States is the chief status quo power, that is, despite its own reformist agenda, it largely supports the international system, and tries to keep change peaceful and incremental. Iraq, after the demise of the Soviet Union, appears to be emerging as the chief REVISIONIST power, bent on upending the international system.(Although China has regional aspirations, it appears to be content to integrate within the international system). The United States is thus, automatically, the enemy of Iraq. The Iraqi Ba'athist regime must not be mistaken for the Syrian regime, which has regional ambitions (to create a "Greater Syria"), but not global ambitions. Saddam subscribes to the view that the Arab people are a kind of master race, and should play a dominant role in the world. Although his version is secular, it obviously speaks to the sentiments of Islamofascists, who think the international system should be dominated by shari'ah states. World War Two showed us that REVISIONIST regimes will often work together against a common foe. Stalin preferred Hitler, despite Hitler's avowed anti- Communism, although the Western powers wooed him too. Hitler allied with Japan, despite his racism. During the '80s, there is ample evidence of cooperation among terrorist groups as far- flung as the IRA, Basque separatists, Black September, and the Baader- Meinhof gang. There is also a lot of evidence of bankrolling, training, and arming coming from the Eastern bloc, primarily from the Soviet Union and Bulgaria (the Turk who shot the Polish Pope had ties to the Bulgarian secret service). It appears to be the case that certain rogue regimes, like North Korea and Iraq, have been cooperating on a number of enterprises, and that Saddam has ties to many terrorist groups. Iraq appears to be the focal point of REVISIONIST aspirations. Not only is there danger of an accelerated nuclear arms program, along with biochemical stockpiling, but Saddam could easily walk over the regimes in the Arabian peninsula, and gain effective control over the oil economy, to either amass wealth to fund his ventures, or use to wreak Western economies. Suppose that there were a concerted series of biochemical attacks on our troops in the region? How long before there was a call to withdraw them, leaving Saddam with a free hand? This, of course, touches on the possibility of containment. When a principal part of the "coalition" against the United States is terrorist organizations, with the possibility of irregular, dirty warfare involving WMDs, delivered by supposed freelance groups, without clear assignment of responsibility or ability to make a clearcut retaliation, there is no effective deterrence. Without effective deterrence, there are only two alternatives: at some point, we go in with guns blazing, or we keep taking it on the chin until blood gushes and we throw in the towel. Containment is not really an option.

To: Michael Watkins who wrote (153553)	12/7/2004 3:38:42 PM
From: carranza2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Let me ask you a serious question: Why do terrorists target the US? 10.- MickyD's; 9.- Baywatch; 8.- Lucy and Ricky Ricardo; 7.- The ladies show too much leg and cheek; 6.- Charlie Manson told them to; 5.- Like Mt. Everest, we're here; 4.- The Evil Joooish Conspiracy resides here; 3.- For grins; 2.- Got bored in Afghanistan after the Russkies left; And now, the Number One reason terrorists target us is: 1.- The Air Marshalls take too many doughnut breaks.

To: Michael Watkins who wrote (153553)	12/7/2004 3:43:03 PM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Islamicist ideology begins with the failure of the Mulsim world to prevail in its Medieval competition with the West. The Caliphate and associated kingdoms were richer, more learned, and more renowned than the remnants of the Western empire. Although the Arabs suffered from the incursion of the Turks, it is still the case that the Turks built a powerful empire, conquered the Byzantine Empire, and came close to over- running Eastern Europe. After the Battle of Vienna, the Muslim world began to recede, and eventually became a backwater compared to the growing nations of the Europe. How did Allah allow this to happen? The answer is due to the increasing injustice, corruption, and impiety of the ruling elites among the Muslims. For this reason, the infidel was allowed to humiliate and punish the Muslims (Arabs), until such time as they arose, revived their faith, and returned to their former glory, eventually to add on hegemony over all those who do not submit to Allah. However, materially, it is of course impossible for all of this to occur until Allah deals with the United States and its system of alliances, which keeps Muslims (Arabs) in their place and seduces their offspring with materialism, secularism, and feminism. Thus, the chief target of their fury is the United States. Israel is key, insofar as it is an ongoing humiliation that the Arabs (Muslims) cannot even keep Jews from establishing a state in the midst of their "natural" territory, but it is the United States that sponsors this humiliation.