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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: steve harris who wrote (293915)	7/13/2006 2:34:17 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1572934

Bush Plays Limited Middle East Role as Israel, Arabs Face Off July 13 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush and U.S. diplomats, distracted by threats from North Korea to Iraq, are playing a minor role as an escalating confrontation between Israelis and Arabs risks wider Middle East violence. David Welch, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, and Elliott Abrams, deputy assistant to the president, only arrived in the region yesterday, 17 days after the abduction of an Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip set off the crisis. Bush hasn't spoken to any Middle Eastern leaders in the past couple of weeks, according to National Security Council spokesman Frederick Jones. ``Up until now the administration's been on the sidelines,'' said Dennis Ross, the senior U.S. Middle East broker for President Bill Clinton. ``They've made a conscious decision to let this play out and let others take the lead. The administration is preoccupied.'' A year ago, Bush made expanding peace and democracy in the Middle East a priority, as a way to counter Islamic terrorism and improve economic prospects for Arabs. The strategy began to unravel when a stroke incapacitated Ariel Sharon, the longtime Israeli leader, and the anti-Israel Islamic movement Hamas triumphed in Palestinian elections. Iran's nuclear ambitions, violence in Iraq and North Korea's missile tests pushed the Palestinian issue further into the background. Tanks Roll Welch and Abrams left Washington before Israeli tanks rolled into Lebanon to search for two soldiers captured by the Shiite movement Hezbollah, marking the first incursion since Israel's May 2000 withdrawal from Lebanon. At least eight Israeli soldiers died in clashes with Hezbollah. In Gaza, Israeli forces have carried out air strikes and ground attacks in an attempt to force Hamas to free captive Corporal Gilad Shalit. Hamas and Hezbollah say they want prisoners released from Israeli jails. Martin Indyk, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel who now heads the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said U.S. ``engagement should have come a lot earlier'' and U.S. missteps helped Hamas win a parliamentary victory in January. ``That left us in a situation where we're not going to talk and all we can do is lay out conditions and pressure them and cut off aid,'' Indyk said. U.S. anti-terrorism law bars direct contacts with Hamas, which has carried out dozens of suicide attacks against Israelis. Abbas Weakened The Hamas electoral victory also weakened the U.S. partner, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Ankara, Turkey, at the same time as Abbas in April and did not meet with him. ``There's not a lot of interest in meeting so long as Abu Mazen is seen as not being very forceful,'' said Ed Abington, an adviser to Abbas in Washington and a former U.S. consul general to Jerusalem, referring to the Palestinian leader by his nickname. Ross said the U.S. has put too much faith in Egypt's ability to mediate Shalit's release. His capture triggered Israeli bombings and incursions into Gaza, leaving more than 70 Palestinians dead, according to the United Nations. Rather, the U.S. needs to talk most urgently to Syria, which hosts Hamas's leadership and facilitates Hezbollah operations. Hezbollah's attack yesterday ``is obviously part of a coordinated effort to help Hamas,'' Ross said. ``And now there's a risk of a wider escalation, and the address for all of this goes back to Damascus.'' Syria in Focus Rice said in Paris that ``Syria has a special responsibility to use its influence to support a positive outcome.'' A White House statement held Syria and Iran, as backers of Hezbollah, responsible for yesterday's attack and ``the ensuing violence.'' Welch and Abrams won't visit Damascus, according to State Department spokesman Gregg Sullivan. The U.S. pulled its ambassador from Damascus months ago because of frustration with President Bashar al-Assad. ``The U.S. administration made a decision a while ago that engagement with the Assad regime has not yielded the results that we would expect,'' Sullivan said. Last month Israeli warplanes flew over Syria to send a signal to the regime and threatened to kill the Syrian-based leaders of Hamas, which they blame for Shalit's capture. U.S. Approach The U.S. has been working to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches Gaza without pursuing any mediation of wider Israeli- Palestinian disputes. Bush took steps in his first term toward resolving the Mideast dispute, becoming the first president to endorse Palestinian statehood. He welcomed Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and urged further territorial handovers. The current violence has called into question Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan for more pullouts. A poll published this week by the Reut Institute in Israel found that 49 percent of Israelis oppose further handovers, compared to 38 percent who support the policy. Analysts are divided on what the U.S. can do now. Ross said the U.S. should pressure Syria and ask Saudi Arabia to use its influence with Hamas. Indyk said American involvement may be too late. ``We should have been much more active earlier when it might have been easier to head off this disaster,'' he said. bloomberg.com