-Caveat Lector-
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Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 17:37:37 -0000
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Subject: [PalestineDiary] Israel is "Not Helpful"/Boston Globe
A delicate balance
By Thomas Oliphant, Globe Staff, 9/18/2001
WASHINGTON
THE SECOND WEEK of the new world disorder commences with top American
officials legitimately intrigued by possibilities with Iran and
properly disappointed by the behavior of Israeli prime minister Ariel
Sharon.
It commences with a correct focus on the outlaw society of
Afghanistan, but with a fresh appreciation of the vital importance of
a smart, focused response both to the crucial work of recruiting Arab
nations into the struggle against terrorism and to the highest-stakes
work of protecting Americans from additional attacks.
If it felt obvious from the moment the second plane hit the second
World Trade Center tower that everything had changed, it is becoming
clear in a more detailed way a week later just what that means.
To the American officials mixing domestic and international security
concerns as never before, three new facts stand out:
The front lines in this struggle are occupied by ordinary citizens
all over the world. The home front is the front.
There is a far greater and consequential tension between urges to act
quickly and the imperative of being aware of unanticipated
consequences.
The vocabulary of crisis is slowly changing. From finding
perpetrators and bringing criminals to justice and retaliating, we
are all (in and out of government) moving toward fighting a worldwide
menace and uniting like-minded governments and demanding that all
choose sides.
The possibilities with a government such as Iran are so important
that Secretary of State Colin Powell has specifically singled them
out as worth exploring, and President Bush has stressed the
importance of exploring relationships we wouldn't have dreamed of
just a week ago - with top aides making clear that he had Iran in
mind.
As a theological as well as political opponent of the Taliban and
Osama bin Laden, as a society in transition from revolutionary rogue
to something less threatening, Iran finds itself at a crossroads.
It may come to nothing or worse, but administration officials are
right to explore at once and in depth whether Iran is ready to behave
as a responsible member of the international community.
It would be wrong to allow Iranian officials to put the US
relationship with Israel on the table in this connection (and US
officials make credible assurances they would never permit it).
It would be equally wrong to acquiesce in such obvious ties to
terrorism as support for Hezbollah and other groups operating out of
southern Lebanon. But it would not be wrong to suggest that trade and
aid prospects for Iran will be enhanced by responsible behavior.
In part, this delicate dance is why Israel's actions have been so
distressing. This has not prompted public statements yet by US
officials, but the feelings just beneath the surface are intense.
As one senior official put it over the weekend, ''Just make a list of
what's happened. Sharon stepped up attacks on Palestinian
communities; his people started a PR campaign to paint Yasser Arafat
as another Osama bin Laden; they are roping off neighborhoods in
possible preparation for more attacks; and they are actively
discouraging our coalition-building diplomacy with Arab states,
especially Iran and Syria.''
Put it all together, and US efforts to enlist the Palestinian
Authority's help short term and long, its efforts to keep passions as
cool as possible in part to mitigate the danger of more attacks on
Americans, and its broader diplomacy are all being obstructed.
Not helpful.
For the next few days, however, nothing is more important than how
the United States responds to the obvious implication of the Taliban
in bin Laden's operations, and vice versa. This makes the Taliban's
mere existence a threat to Americans under the new rules.
US officials, though, emphasize that initial inclinations to massive
bombing or other disproportionate responses have been resisted and
that whatever is about to happen is being carefully and judiciously
planned.
As another official put it yesterday, ''American lives are at risk in
this country in everything we do. Domestic and foreign implications
are linked now. To underline it, the most important consumer of the
investigation into who did this deed may be Secretary Powell's
campaign to recruit allies.''
Everything, in short, really has changed.
Thomas Oliphant's e-mail address is oliphant@globe.
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