Make the US the arbiter of Israel's security?
Writing in this morning's Washington Post, columnist David Ignatius claims that US Secretary of State Condoloeeza Rice is 'bridging' between the US and the 'Palestinians' by having the US decide whether the 'Palestinians' have fulfilled their obligations under the first phase of the 'road map.'The bridging process has been evident over the past month as the two sides sought to marry the security guarantees promised in the existing "road map" with the Annapolis document and its "political horizon." The hang-up was that, under the road map, the Israelis demanded security measures as a condition for further movement. To break the logjam, Rice's team drafted compromise language that would allow the United States to act as arbiter of whether the road map's security conditions are being met.As most of you know already, I love the US but I find it very difficult to accept another country as being the arbiter of Israel's security. Who will decide? Based on what criteria? With all due respect, to date, not one 'Palestinian' terrorist organization has been disbanded, not one 'Palestinian' terrorist has been arrested, and not one 'Palestinian' terrorist has had his weapons confiscated by the 'Palestinian Authority.'
This week, for the first time, three hundred 'Palestinian policemen' were sent to patrol Shchem (Nablus). But that patrol was yet another 'goodwill gesture' by Israel to the 'Palestinians' and no one is pretending that the 'Palestinians' can actually patrol the town or fight terror.
I would hate to see that classified as compliance with the first phase of the 'road map' because the Bush administration is in a rush to gain a diplomatic coup before the end of the President's term. We need to let Israel decide when it feels secure - and no one else.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:23 PM
4 Comments:
The South Vietnamese would council Israel to not rely on the Americans for their security.
Israel's colonial status is being clarified.
Your skepticism is well-founded. The very fact that Rice and Bush are pushing this ridiculous "peace process" with a group that is doing what Fatah is doing shows that they are no judges on the matter. Who do they think they are? They would never subject the U.S. to what they subject Israel to.
I'm glad you still love the U.S., but don't trust our leaders.
And I hate to sound like a downer, but if I were y'all, I wouldn't hope for too much from a Giuliani presidency, either.
Unfortunately, the State Department is the agency often charged with monitoring compliance of conditions under US law as well. Needless to say, the Palestinians always pass with flying colors; the Israelis, eh, not so much.
Olmert (and sadly most Israeli leaders) would rather pass the buck to the US so when things go wrong they can say: "the US assured us that the Palestinians had complied."
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