----- Original Message -----
From: Zahi Damuni
To: Al-Awda News
Sent: Sunday, March 31, 2002 7:22 AM
Subject: [AL-AWDA-News] CHARLEY REESE: ANOTHER SHOT IN THE FOOT
ANOTHER SHOT IN THE FOOT
BY CHARLEY REESE
I've often thought that the United States does not really need any
foreign foes, since our own politicians are so adept at shooting us in
the foot when it comes to really looking out for national security.
President Bush, out of deference to the Israeli lobby, happily
ignored the conflict in the Middle East. A few people tried to warn
him that the Arab world has changed significantly since the 1990s.
Today, Arabs are served by Arab satellite television and watching the
Israelis brutalizing the Palestinians was creating boiling anger not
only against Israel but its accomplice, the United States. Oh, pooh on
the Arab people, the administration said. Their opinions don't count
even in their own countries.
Wrong. Except for Iraq, there are dictatorships but no totalitarian
governments in the Middle East. They might not follow the Anglo-Saxon
form of democracy (sorry, but that's what it is, even if most
Americans today are so poorly educated they don't know it). But they
have various forms and means for consulting their people. All
dictators know that there is always a line in the sand that they
cannot cross without facing a rebellion. King Abdullah of Jordan, for
example, sometimes disguises himself and goes out alone to see how his
government is treating the people. I don't see George Bush doing that.
In Saudi Arabia, they have councils of representatives from different
tribes.
So when Mr. Bush decided to attack Iraq, he was surprised to find
all the Arab leaders saying that they won't support an attack on Iraq
as long as the United States continues to allow the Israelis to
trample on the rights of the Palestinians. He sends the vice president
overseas, and Dick Cheney gets the same message. To save face, Cheney
comes back and slyly resurrects the old canard that Arab leaders say
one thing in public and the opposite in private. Notice, however, that
Cheney did not say that any Arab leader either said or implied that he
would support an attack on Iraq in private. No, Cheney, a master of
double talk - as all experienced politicians are - said that in
private ``they expressed concern about Saddam Hussein.'' Hell, they've
been expressing concern about him in public for years. But Cheney
wanted to leave the impression that they secretly support the U.S.
policy. They don't. Neither, for that matter, do most of the European
countries.
So Bush belatedly discovers the Palestinian conflict and rushes
people over to end it by at least restarting the peace process. Now
he's discovering, though not yet admitting it publicly, that Israel's
idea of partnership is for the United States to do what it says while
it refuses to adopt any suggestions we make. Look, here are the facts:
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the day he took office that
he would not negotiate a final settlement with the Palestinians. And
during his entire time in office, he has refused to meet with Yasser
Arafat and has engaged in a campaign to discredit Arafat and to break
the spirit of the Palestinians. When the Saudi peace plan was
proposed, he rejected it immediately. Israel, he said and still says,
will never withdraw to the 1967 boundaries. Well, no withdrawal, no
peace; no peace, no Arab cooperation with the U.S. scheme to overthrow
Saddam.
We are in the beginning of payback time for our hypocritical policy
of exempting Israel from every one of the ideals that we laboriously
reach. Self-determination is a must for Albanians in Kosovo - not for
Palestinians. Refugees have a right to return or receive compensation
- but not Palestinian refugees. Countries must obey U.N. Security
Council resolutions - but not Israel, which sits in defiance of more
than 60. Countries that routinely violate human rights deserve
sanctions - except Israel. Countries that assassinate political
enemies are state sponsors of terrorism - but not Israel.
Countries must not use American-donated weapons for offensive
purposes - except for Israel. People who commit war crimes must be put
on trial - unless they are Israelis.
I could go on and on, for the sins against the Palestinians are
practically endless. Americans are about to learn a basic truth
enunciated by writer Ayn Rand: We can avoid reality, but we cannot
avoid the consequences of avoiding reality. Bush is on dangerous
ground. He'd better kick the Israel-first cabal out of his
administration and replace it with people whose only interest is in
America's welfare.
(Charley Reese can be contacted at [EMAIL PROTECTED])
(c) 2002 by King Features Syndicate
Emergency Rafah Relief Fund:
http://al-awda.org/rafah_fund.htm
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