-Caveat Lector- > FYI > > From: International Justice Watch Discussion List > Subject: Sharon has more power in Washington than Powell > > Sharon has lots of support in the US and he can do whatever > he wants. > > Not even the straight-talking Mr Sharon is irritable enough to say so > in public, but he seems to regard the United States less as a > superpower which must be obeyed, than as a potentially useful enabler > which will create the conditions for Israel to survive and flourish; > the best judge of those conditions being Israel rather than the US. > > Daniel > > ------------------------------------------------------------- > > SUNDAY TELEGRAPH(LONDON) April 14, 2002, Sunday > > Israeli leader has more power in Washington than Powell > > BY: JOHN SIMPSON > > The United States reached the limits of its power this week. A group > of Arab leaders obliged Colin Powell, the Secretary of State, to say > that he was, after all, determined to meet Yasser Arafat during his > visit to Israel, even though Washington had earlier regarded the > Palestinian leader as an irrelevance. > > The Israeli government, so dependent on American economic and military > aid, ignored Washington's wishes and refused to compromise over a > withdrawal from the West Bank. And a fanatical young woman strapped > some explosives around her waist and killed and maimed dozens of > innocent people in Jaffa Street here, demonstrating how even a single > individual can frustrate the plans of a superpower. No wonder > President George W. Bush did his best during his first year in office > to ignore the Middle East; there's nothing to be gained here but > embarrassment and humiliation. Now, though, his administration is > involved despite itself, and its prestige requires some progress > towards a visible solution. > > There's no sign of that. The sudden twists of policy which the White > House and the State Department have gone through during the past > couple of weeks have made it harder than ever to be certain what the > United States does want here. Does it now consider, for instance, that > Mr Arafat must still be given a significant part to play in > negotiating with Israel, in spite of the harsh things President Bush > said about him recently? > > Or would Washington be secretly glad if Ariel Sharon, the Israeli > Prime Minister, were to do what he would like and deport Mr Arafat > from Palestinian territories altogether? (Mr Sharon now has all the > political pieces in place to do that, if he judges the time is ripe: > he has won the support of a far-Right religious party, which would > make up the numbers in his coalition if the Labor Party resigned in > protest at such a move against Mr Arafat.) > > It is only ten days since the world's press was trumpeting President > Bush's new, tough line on Israel: withdraw from the towns and cities > of the West Bank, or face American displeasure. And it's only four > days since Mr Powell insisted in Cairo that he was > definitely going to meet Mr Arafat when he came here; a decision which > Mr Sharon then called "a tragic mistake". "Any meeting like this would > only encourage him, and has never brought him to stop the terror," he > said. > > At the brief press conference which Mr Sharon held with Mr Powell on > Friday, the Secretary of State's language, body and verbal, certainly > were not that of the paymaster coming to call a client to account. Far > from it. Mr Powell seemed ingratiating, deferential; no doubt he > realises how much support Mr Sharon has back in Washington and how > much influence his friends there have with the President. > > Not even the straight-talking Mr Sharon is irritable enough to say so > in public, but he seems to regard the United States less as a > superpower which must be obeyed, than as a potentially useful enabler > which will create the conditions for Israel to survive and flourish; > the best judge of those conditions being Israel rather than the US. > > The State Department clearly doesn't like it; who would? But Mr Powell > has to recognise that his voice is not as powerful in Washington as > Donald Rumsfeld's [the Defence Secretary] and those of the other > hawks. The received wisdom is that President Bush's father lost the > 1992 election in part because his Secretary of State, James Baker, > told Israel in a moment of bluntness and irritation that if Washington > was paying, it expected to get what it wanted. But that's not how > things work. > > George W. Bush wants to do better than his father and win the 2004 > election, and if he is to do that he knows he will need to look like > Israel's best friend, not its schoolmaster. > > And in the meantime, Mr Sharon is proving difficult to stop. Almost > exactly 20 years ago, as defence minister, he insisted that the > security of northern Israel required a swift and limited incursion > into southern Lebanon. Four months later, having captured Beirut, he > put Mr Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organisation on ships which > took them out of this part of the Middle East altogether. > > Now he insists that the security of Israel as a whole requires Israeli > troops to stay in the towns and cities of the West Bank for a little > longer; he favours a limited incursion into southern Lebanon to stop > Hezbollah firing rockets at northern Israel; and - yes - he says he > wants to ship Mr Arafat out of this part of the Middle East > altogether. It's an old foreign correspondent's adage that if you wait > long enough, the same stories always come round again. Nowadays, it > seems, you don't have to wait that long. > > John Simpson is World Affairs Editor of the BBC > > _________________________________________________________________ > > Copyright 2002 The Telegraph Group Limited > > <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> > DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER > ========== > CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic > screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are > sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- > directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with > major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. > That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and > always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no > credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. > > Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. > ======================================================================== > Archives Available at: > http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html > <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of > [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> > > http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ > <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> > ======================================================================== > To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: > SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: > SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Om
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
