Posted on 04/18/2002 7:32:55 PM PDT by Democrats are liars
The look on U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's face said it all. Emerging from a meeting with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat in Ramallah yesterday, Powell was described by reporters as looking "grim," an adjective not normally associated with success in diplomatic endeavors. And in a sense, Powell had every right to be feeling glum. For after spending 10 precious days in the region, he stood before those assembled at a press conference in Jerusalem with little to show for his efforts.
The primary aim of Powell's visit, which even optimists had labeled a "mission impossible," was to somehow bring about a cease-fire, a pause in the violence that would enable Israel and the Palestinians to return to the diplomatic track. But the much-coveted cease-fire proved elusive, with Powell concluding yesterday that "cease-fire is not a relevant term at the moment."
Consequently, he was left grasping at straws, suggesting he had been able to push the Israeli government into accepting a "timeline" for withdrawing from Palestinian- controlled cities. But that type of diplomatic "achievement" hardly would seem to merit clearing the schedule of the secretary of state of the United States for a week and a half.
To be fair, Powell did manage to calm the situation along Israel's northern border, where Hizbullah has been doing its utmost to open up a second front. But even this is unlikely to last very long, if only because both Syria and Iran, Hizbullah's devoted patrons, have little interest in making matters easier for either Prime Minister Ariel Sharon or U.S. President George W. Bush.
Locally, the result of Powell's failed mission is likely to be a resurgence of violence and terrorism. By paying two highly publicized visits to Arafat's Ramallah compound, Powell tore away the label of "irrelevant" that the Sharon government has sought to pin on the Palestinian leader. In this sense, then, the Powell mission was a victory for Arafat, who once again demonstrated he is able to utilize terrorism without fear of painful diplomatic repercussions.
Arafat also chalked up another achievement thanks to Powell's visit - a sooner than planned Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian cities such as Jenin and Nablus, which Sharon said on Tuesday would be completed within a week.
Though troops remain in Ramallah and Bethlehem, the military pressure on the Palestinians is far less than it was just a week or two ago. While Israeli forces were able to inflict a painful blow on the terrorist infrastructure in Judea and Samaria, much of it remains in place, and Gaza's has yet to be dealt with at all. Hence, it is only a matter of time before the terrorist organizations are able to regroup and rebuild, something that does not bode well for the future.
Regionally, the impact of Powell's failure will, perhaps, prove far more damaging to U.S. interests, suggesting both a weakening of American influence and an embarrassing inability to impose its will. This is a blow to American prestige, and it could not have come at a more inopportune time for a Bush administration busy making preparations for an assault on Baghdad.
Thus far, the increasingly likely attack on Iraq has generated increasingly heated opposition, both within the Arab world and in Europe. Powell's Middle Eastern flop is liable further to fuel antagonism toward the U.S.'s predominant role in world affairs, boosting the chances that the road to Baghdad will be a lonely one for America's young men and women in uniform.
The European Union, always anxious to expand its role in the region, even at the expense of American interests, might very well try to exploit Powell's empty-handed departure for its own benefit. Though the EU has taken a markedly strident anti-Israel stance of late, it has never given up hope of playing a diplomatic role that is commensurate with the financial aid it pours into the area, particularly into Palestinian coffers.
Forestalling such a move might very well be one explanation behind Powell's decision to leave Assistant Secretary of State William Burns in the region, as well as his announcement that envoy Anthony Zinni and CIA chief George Tenet will be coming back. If America is seen as leaving a diplomatic vacuum, the Europeans will be among the first to try to fill it, and that is something which neither Washington nor Jerusalem would be likely to welcome.
Indeed, it is difficult to fathom why Powell was willing to undertake such a risky mission, with so little chance of success, in the first place. Though previous American secretaries of state, such as Warren Christopher, often seemed undeterred by lousy odds, they were acting in an entirely different set of circumstances. While Powell has said he will be back, he was careful not to set a date for his return. In retrospect, that might very well prove to be the wisest move he made.
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People have been fighting over that land for 3,000 years with nothing to show. Does anyone in their right mind expect Powell or anybody else to change it in 10 days.
This confrontation will end if Israel is conquered by the Islamics, or if Israel atom bombs a pile of Arabs.
Well, I could have saved some tax payer dollars and told him that. Like that was a big secret!
He has become a doddering old man who lies like a rug before our very eyes.
It is hard to see this now, and the nattering nabobs in the press, the sycophants of the liberals, hope this will turn us against Bush. They could care less that by diminishing him it hurts our country.
The same can be said for the conservatives like Rush and William Bennett. Little babies, who want everything NOW and stamp their little feet when it doesn't work that way.
I just pray that our President goes on and does what he needs to do. We will be safer if he does and much much worse off if he fails
I hope you are right. However, it would be a big mistake if Powell goes back over there.
That means that Israel and the US are both in the anti-terrorism fight together and the A-Rabs had better watch it!
That is a pretty good point!
It is abundantly clear now, to all with eyes to see, that GW has both given Powell a fair shot at doing it the old way, and also punched Arafat's ticket for the last time. Now the true purpose of the exercise is clear, and it had nothing to do with any illusory "ceasefire."
Yes the trip was a full success, for exactly the reasons that obtuse observors claim the opposite. It moved the real "process" forward, past the dead end of "peace talks" and on to Reality. At last.
Bush is finding out that these "moderate" Gulf Arab oil states (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait) are definitely not U.S. allies but shift their allegiance like the sands in the wind just to placate their emotionally unstable subjects.
If Bush is really hell bent on removing Saddam Hussein (who owes his survival to Colin Powell's idiotic decision) then the U.S. might just have to unilaterally eliminate the rat without any assistance from the Gulf Arab nations.
It might be wise for Bush to let the sand and dust settle from the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation before extracting Saddam Hussein. Best to erradicate Al-Qaeda in the meantime.
This country DEFINITELY needs to get weaned off of "cheap Middle East" oil, improve relations with the former Soviet Union (jointly develop Siberian oilfields) drill in ANWAR (how about an Executive Decision, i.e. National Security ala Clinton?) and anywhere else that there are commercial quantities of hydrocarbons.
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