WASHINGTON, 30 March – As Israeli forces entered Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s headquarters yesterday and exchanged fire with his security guards, Arab News spoke to three US experts — Adm. Eugene Carroll, Congressman Darrell Issa, and William Christison, a former adviser to the director of the CIA — who all called on the US administration to help put an immediate end to the violence.

Adm. Eugene Carroll, former director of US Military Operations and all US Forces in Europe and the Middle East and former commander of the Carrier Striking Force of the US Sixth Fleet told Arab News: “The current situation is getting very close to the jugular vein,”

Adm. Carroll feels “frustration and futility,” regarding the situation, which he said, “reminds me of Gandhi, who said “as long as we demand an eye for an eye we will end up blind.” We’re getting very blind in the Middle East.

“Sharon is the captive of his own policies and constituency, and I doubt that Arafat has the leverage to stop this. It seems intractable, given the personalities that are at work.”

Regarding the unwillingness of the US administration to intervene, Adm. Carroll said: “I think we have to be unambiguous in our demand for an end of violence on both sides.

“We can’t be unequivocal, there has to be a plan with a lot of resources and a community effort. The US alone cannot do it; we are compromised by our total commitment to the security and as the guarantor to Israel, so there is only so much we can do. The United Nation’s Security Council is the place to get the resolution and the plan activated.

“I think part of the cycle which is destined to fail is that every act of violence results in immediate escalating response. If you don’t solve the problem it can reach the point that it becomes, in effect, a return to war in the Middle East,” said Adm. Carroll.

“As it stands now, Israel has little to do before it declares war on the Palestinians and Arafat, and this will have consequences in the Arab community and Muslim world.”

Asked who has the authority to stop the killing, Adm. Carroll said: “Gen. Zinni is the representative of the US, and thus has limits in his ability to bring the sides together. Kofi Annan is a man of stature in the international community, if he could take the initiative, with the support of the Security Council, to demand an end to the violence on both sides, and a commitment to enforce the cease-fire on both sides, then you might break the cycle long enough to deal with it in a constructive way.

“Oslo was not fully implemented, the Mitchell Plan made some progress, but he was seen as an emissary of the US, and so Zinni is also limited on the Arab side. And in a sense, the Arab world is right in saying that the US is the only country that can help them, but it (the US) cannot impose its views on Israel.”

Regarding Israel’s use of US weapons against the Palestinians, Adm. Carroll said: “We have certain constraints on our military programs, and one of them is that the weapons cannot be used for offensive purposes, and cannot be transferred to other parties. We probably have a caveat on systems that are transferred to Israel, and we could insist this be observed. Whether this would work, or not, I don’t really know. Sharon is not a malleable man; he is committed to a powerful role for Israel in the Middle East as a military power.

“Until the US is totally committed to a peace process, and is willing to force Israel to enforce it, we will not be seen as credible. This is why the Arab world doubts our intentions.

Adm. Carroll said the US must shift its focus away from Iraq and back on the Palestinians and Israelis. “Until the US gets off this ridiculous proposition that the dismissal of Saddam Hussein is the answer of anything in the Middle East, we will not be seen as understanding the problem.

“Our domestic problem in the US is how far we can go to threaten Israel actions, by withdrawing our support. There is a powerful faction, a major element of our economy and media and political party that is part of this political and moral commitment to the survival of Israel.

“I don’t think there is any ethical or moral consideration that would lead us to withdraw our support to Israel. It is a fact that must be accepted by the Muslim world, which they now say they understand, but are asking for some major concessions that must be negotiated rather carefully,” concluded Adm. Carroll

Congressman Darrell Issa, R-California, told Arab News “this continued demonization of Arafat by the Sharon government makes it harder and harder to believe that Arafat can ever be effective.”

Regarding Israel’s use of US weapons against the Palestinians, Rep. Issa said: “It’s illegal to use the weapons, but for decades we have allowed Israel to do pre-emptive attacks with American armaments

“The more important resolution for me, because it is important to focus on the big picture, is that the same legislation that created Israel should be used to create a Palestinian state. There is an inevitability of a Palestinian state, in compliance with the 50-year-old resolution that created Israel and Palestine.”

Rep. Issa said that the US administration “needs to demand that Israel be responsible for the safety of Arafat and the Palestinian Authority as a whole. Israel has a right to self-defense, and that must be remembered, but I’m watching them breaking down walls of the Arafat’s compound…

“The Bush administration has an obligation to insist that Israel be responsible for the safely of the people who are in charge of an occupied people.

Rep. Issa said Israel’s prime minister has an obligation to enforce the peace treaties signed by his predecessors. “Sharon is responsible for the signing of all the agreements of all the prime ministers who came before him, if he throws these out then he is just a dictator and the legitimacy of his democracy must be questioned.

“President Bush has to ask both sides to move past the violence and killing to move to negotiations. The recent Arab Summit initiative is the best opportunity that has ever been before the parties, and now is the time for the Bush administration to act.”

Rep. Issa said the first step should be to bring in UN observation teams.

Regarding the US’s position that Arafat control end the violence, Rep. Issa said: “It’s hard to understand how Arafat can enforce his authority after you’ve taken his authority away. President Bush must ultimately step in.” 

William Christison, former National Intelligence Officer and principle adviser to the director of the CIA, spoke of the need to end terrorism through changes in US foreign policy: “The strong support of Israel, and the belief by the Muslims and Arabs that US is as much to blame as Israel for the occupation, is why the US should support an end of occupation and dismantling of all the settlements, and grant true Palestinian sovereignty over the territory, including East Jerusalem. This will stop terrorism in the future, and is truly and simply the right thing to do,” said Christison.

But Christison is not optimistic. “The US is not going to come down on Israel, they are simply too many reasons not to.”