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

To: michael97123 who wrote (157846)	2/8/2005 5:40:46 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Respond to of 281500

Interesting comment, from someone not normally this optimistic: The Last Warrior Standing by Mike Cohen & Elliot Chodoff An historic picture emanated from Sharm e-Sheikh today. For the first time in history, an Israeli leader sat down together with Arab leaders at an official, public and televised conference with no international mediators in sight – official or otherwise. Everyone in the room, everyone in the picture, was a native of the region – a full-fledged resident of the Middle East. No Americans - although Sec. of State Condaleeza Rice was in the region yesterday, she wisely decided to absent herself from the meeting - no Europeans, no Russians and most importantly, no United Nations envoys attended or were invited. No one but the assorted plaintiffs was at the table – no external advocates or judges. The "bilateralism" David Ben Gurion dreamed of has finally arrived - if only for a day. Left to their own devices the participants ventured into various renditions of the period to come. All the talk was of peace and hope, none of the past and nothing about recriminations. But more than talk there were quite a few historic images that are worthy of mention and note, above all the image of Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel, sitting at an official Arab League table not only as an equal, not only as a messenger, but as a victor - The Last Warrior Standing - alone, with no recognizable faces behind him, save his lawyer and advisor Dov Weissglass. Ben Gurion, Dayan, Golda, Begin – all gone. Peres and Shamir, alive but very noticeably (especially Peres) absent. No current, past or future colleagues or coalition partners anywhere in sight. On the Arab side – all the kings, presidents and chairmen of yesteryear were gone. Hussein, Sadat, Assad, Nasser, and most importantly Yasser – all gone. During a quick look around the room one could note that everyone was wearing a western style suit and tie. No leaders in uniform, no leaders with guns. The entire road from the Sharm e-Sheikh airport to the resort hotel where the “Middle East Quartet” summit was being held was lined with the flags of the four nations, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Israel. The black, red and white of the regional Arabs flags mixed and provided sharp contrast to the bright blue and white Star of David – this had never happened before. The Israeli flag was noticeably absent from all previous events on Arab land, most notably on the streets of Aqaba during the U.S. sponsored summit there in June 2002 – the birthplace of “the roadmap.” In the room itself, fittingly the same room that traditionally hosts the Arab Summit, the Israeli blue and white stood side by side with the banners of the three Arab participants, five flags of each stood proudly behind the host Mubarak, five flags each that added a sense of grandeur, of color and of historic accent to the event. But the starkest image of all was still that of Ariel Sharon. Ariel Sharon fought in every Israeli-Arab war, dating back to the 1948 War of Independence – and was a significant participant in the development of the Israeli Defense Forces as a commander and warrior. Sharon was injured at Latrun in the battle over the road to Jerusalem in 1948. He led the battle against the Gaza-based Fedayeen terrorists in the 1950’s. Sharon was the commander who crossed the Suez Canal and arguably won the Sinai battle in 1973. Sharon directed the IDF in battle as minister of defense during the early 1980’s and was globally and domestically reviled and shunned for decades as the “butcher of Beirut.” He was all but written off as a possible national leader until the fighting began in the fall of 2000, and Israeli political pundits have been prophesying his imminent fall from power since the day he took office in March 2001. Regardless of one’s political orientation and personal feelings about Sharon today; no matter what hopes or dangers we each foresee coming out of the Summit’s proceedings; in fact no matter what happens tomorrow; if the old adage that the last man standing wins, Ariel Sharon is the last warrior standing and, at least for today, he has emerged the big winner..