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Boston Globe Online Powell's trip is called a way to buy time for Sharon sweep
by John Donnelly and Charles A. Radin, Globe Staff, 4/9/2002
WASHINGTON - While calling on Israel publicly to end its offensive against Palestinians in the West Bank ''without delay,'' the Bush administration has privately signaled to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that he can phase out the operation gradually, two US officials said yesterday.
The understanding was that Sharon should start making substantive withdrawals at about the time of Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's arrival in Jerusalem, which is expected to be Friday, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity. The officials said the US government does not view Sharon's continued military operations as defiance of the president.''Sharon knows how far he can go on this,'' said a Defense Department official. ''There might be a little more pressure on him publicly if he hasn't done something serious by Friday, but he has a window to get things done right now.''
He said the administration expected gestures from Israel before Friday, like the pullback announced last night from the West Bank towns of Tulkarem and Qalqilya, but did not expect substantive moves by Israel until closer to Powell's arrival.The officials said they did not know whether the administration explicitly gave Sharon until Friday or rather suggested that the timetable could be more flexible.
Bush reiterated his call for an immediate pullout. ''I meant what I said to the prime minister of Israel: I expect there to be withdrawal without delay,'' the president said before a speech yesterday in Tennessee. ''I also meant what I said to the Arab world to strongly condemn and act against terrorist activity.''But the US officials and an array of Middle East analysts said that Bush's public rhetoric was aimed at the Arab world.
In the Middle East, many leaders weren't buying it, as became clear yesterday in Morocco, Powell's first of three planned stops before arriving in Jerusalem.King Mohammed, part of the new generation of Arab leaders, greeted Powell during a photo session attended by several US journalists and wasted no time in speaking his mind. ''Don't you think it would be more important to go to Jerusalem first?'' the king asked Powell.
Taken aback, Powell responded that he had ''considered all options,'' and wanted a chance to consult with European and Arab colleagues to coordinate his mission.
The Defense Department official in Washington was more explicit. Powell's itinerary, he said, was designed ''to give Sharon some more time.''A State Department official agreed. ''The Israelis are not listening so much to what we say, but are watching what we do,'' the official said. ''And what we're doing is giving them more time to withdraw.''
In Israel, there was little sense of pressure from the United States to withdraw quickly.
''The signals the Israeli government got from the US government ... were taken as an indication that Israel has until Friday to finish its operation,'' said Gerald Steinberg, director of the program in conflict management at Tel Aviv's Bar Ilan University.Steinberg said intensive discussions are occurring between the Americans and the Israelis on how future terrorist acts would be dealt with. ''So far, there has been no clear indication from the Americans how renewed terrorism would be dealt with, if Israel complied with the US `request' to end the operation'' and then suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks - which have virtually ceased since the early days of the Israeli operation - began anew, Steinberg said.
Among Palestinians and their Arab allies, there was great frustration over a perceived US-Israeli charade. Azmi Bishara, an Arab member of the Israeli Knesset, or parliament, said: ''They are playing a game. The Americans are not really pressuring the Israelis. They are saying things to the media to absorb Arab anger and frustration.''If American leaders said to Israeli leaders that the operation should stop immediately, ''the Israelis would stop,'' Bishara said.
''What they are doing is very ambiguous,'' he said. ''Why is Colin Powell five days late? Is it so urgent in Morocco that he should go there first? I think it is a message to Israel that it can continue.''The Powell trip was also designed to win Arab support to pressure Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to enforce a cease-fire and put an end to suicide bombings inside Israel, the US officials and analysts said. Before arriving in Jerusalem, Powell plans to meet Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.
''If there was a real committed American intent to impose their vision on what was happening today, Powell would have been there by now,'' said Geoffrey Aronson, director of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, a Washington think tank. ''I see no evidence that the Americans have a clearer idea of what to do from what they thought a week ago or two weeks ago or six months ago. Powell is a Zinni with more stripes.''US envoy Anthony Zinni, a retired general, has unsuccessfully tried to broker a cease-fire on two trips. He met again with Sharon yesterday.
The first priority of the secretary of state's mission is to negotiate a halt to the violence. The State Department official said that Powell had one message for Arafat: ''The name of the game is to end the violence, and until you do that, we have little to talk about.''While Powell could hold out the possibility of restarting talks toward a peace settlement, his emphasis would be on getting Arafat to repudiate the suicide attacks and other violence against Israel, the official said.
Edward S. Walker, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs during the Clinton administration, said the administration should exert more pressure on Arafat, but he said the Palestinian leader may not be able to deliver a cease-fire now.''What we are really talking about is a public statement saying: `Enough is enough. Terrorism doesn't get us anywhere. We put our future and fate in the hands of the US,''' Walker said.
He added that it might be time to deliver a message to Arafat that this is his last chance. ''At some point, you simply have to blow the whistle on the man,'' said Walker, who has participated in several negotiations with Arafat. ''How many chances do you give somebody?''Up to now, the US has been saying, `Don't touch the hair on his chinny chin chin,''' Walker said. ''If the US says it's time to look for somebody else, then Arafat needs to take this into consideration.''
Donnelly reported from Washington; Radin reported from Tel Aviv. Donnelly can be reached by email at [EMAIL PROTECTED].This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 4/9/2002.
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