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Rice with Olmert (archive photo)
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Look who's talking

We've had enough of amateurish Mideast diplomacy based on empty words

In one of Shakespeare's works, the tormented hero concludes in disappointment and bitterness: "How my achievements mock me." US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is visiting the region once again. She is reproaching Israel and the Arabs while surrounded by the ruins of her achievements. But who will pay for the destruction she has inflicted on the Middle East?

 

It was Condoleezza Rice who heralded democracy in the Middle East, and according to her vision, Iraq and the Palestinian Authority were supposed to have been the vanguard of the democratic storm that is yet to break out here. And indeed, Iraq and the Palestinian Authority drowned in the sea of democracy. Chaos there and an Islamic militancy here have taken up the regime.

 

It was Condoleezza Rice who refused Mahmoud Abbas' pleas not to allow Hamas to participate in the elections of January 2006; it was Rice who coerced Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to allow the Muslim Brotherhood to participate in the elections at the end of 2005, in total opposition to his views. In both cases the outcome was catastrophic. She came here lacking any knowledge or experience and now she is reprimanding everyone.

 

It was Condoleezza Rice who recommended the "soft approach" regarding the Iraqi conflict and engaging in talks. The bedlam of the horrendous terror attacks is echoing throughout the Middle East. It was Rice who recommended the "soft approach" against Iran, assuming that sensitive negotiations would convince it and its president Ahmadinejad. Here too the outcome was not just failure, but rather, damage to almost the entire region, which is experiencing real existential fear.

 

Neglecting Iran's nuclear ambitions is a serious American shortcoming, while the implications on Syria, Hizbullah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and others are clearly evident.

 

This week in a press conference held in Jerusalem Rice announced that a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict much be reached. The moment she demanded a "solution" - there was no solution. Moving a real peace process forward would renew the wave of terror that has subsided at this point in time. Would Hamas, al-Qaeda or "Arab intellectuals" let a real solution exist? Or true recognition that would include ending the conflict with the Jews?

 

Look to the wise Jewish man

Rice should learn from a wise old Jewish man who preceded her in her post; he too was a professor of political science, Dr. Henry Kissinger. He knew that following the Yom Kippur War something could be achieved, but he didn't aim to resolve the issue. He aimed to achieve partial, limited intermediate agreements that were military in nature because he was aware that they could lead to further diplomatic processes in the future. He sufficed with little but ended up with a lot. Those reaching for a lot are destined to suffice with little, if at all.

 

Shuttle campaigns a la Kissinger style for Ms. Rice? Okay, but they should include Kissinger's wisdom as well.

 

Covert settlements between Israel and Sunni countries in the Persian Gulf? It's possible, on an absolute immunity level. Hushed security understandings with Egypt? Possible. Covert intelligence coordination with Jordan? Possible. But a peace celebration reminiscent of the 1990s? Heaven forbid. This will undoubtedly end very badly; we the citizens of the Middle East already understand this. The greater the defiance, the greater the terrorist resistance is bound to be.

 

Dear Ms. US secretary of state, the Sunni Arab regimes are eager for US leadership. For this reason they have resumed talking about the Saudi initiative. Not because they advocate it, but in order to achieve an Arab-Sunni common denominator behind Saudi Arabia's leadership. They are pleading for help and are scared to death of Iran. You have the Iranian problem in your lap at the moment, deal with the more urgent issues.

 

Here in Israel we are tired of amateurish experiments. We have had our fill of "achievements" by various types of well doers who haven't the foggiest idea what the Middle East is all about, which ultimately ridicules those who think they will change it by mere words. 

 


פרסום ראשון: 03.30.07, 00:31
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