Empty chair in Baghdad

Part 4: Iraq

In 2006, President George W. Bush established a study group headed by former US Secretary of State Baker and former Congressman Hamilton, aimed at offering the Administration new ways to resolve the situation in Iraq in the wake of the country's occupation/liberation from Saddam Hussein's burden.

The proposals included integrating Syria and Iran in discussions and efforts to mitigate the situation, convening an international conference of all the countries involved in the affair, and promoting efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

• Part 1: Afghanistan
  

• Part 2: North Korea 
  

President Bush immediately rejected most of these proposals, including the notion of integrating Syria and Iran, as long as they maintain policies of supporting terror and advancing a nuclear program. It appears the president objected to the spirit of the study group proposals, which called for an attempt to engage in dialogue with opponents while enhancing the pressure on them.

In recent months, former Secretary of State Baker expressed his support for holding an international meeting that would deal with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and feature all the parties involved in the conflict with the exception of Israel. He thought that such arrangement would allow for a to-the-point, pressure-free discussion.

This weekend, Baghdad will host an international conference on Iraq: In a sharp diplomatic turn, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced that the United States will take part in the event, while Syria and Iran also announced they will accept the invitation of the host government in Baghdad. The list of invitees includes Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the five Security Council members, the Arabs League, the European Union; and this is not a final list.

The conference will feature top diplomatic officials, and if discussions go well, another round will be held, this time with the participation of foreign ministers. This forum may possibly take the form of a permanent committee for a significant period of time.

American spokespersons make sure to emphasize that no other issues except for Iraq will be discussed during the meeting, and in particular, that there would be no bilateral contacts between Iran and the US and Syria and the US on other matters. Reality, however, may be different: Iran and Syria have the ability to significantly contribute to minimizing violence in Iraq, and cooperation on their part will apparently require that they are offered something in return. And after all, the reward Iran and Syria are interested in is not found in Iraq, but rather, in locations such as Lebanon, the Persian Gulf, etc.

We can assume that Israel would expect the American Administration to refrain from holding talks on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Baghdad, and officially this would certainly be the case. But is it not likely to see opportunities to converse outside the meeting halls about any issue out there? Even if the beginning is resistant and difficult, this conference may become a constitutive regional event in the Middle East; a sort of "clearing house" for all the conflicts and clashes in our region, with no exceptions.

Against this backdrop, Israel's absence from Baghdad is conspicuous. Fundamentally, Israel has the right to be there no less, and possibly even more so, than some of the other invitees. The 39 missiles fired at Israeli territory during the First Gulf War should have earned us a right for a seat in this conference. Why did we keep quiet?

Ephraim Halevy is a former Mossad chief.