COLIN POWELL’S visit to the region was much anticipated by those who had still held shreds of hope that American policy would impartially seek a swift and moral end to the current slaughter taking place in Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah and other towns and villages across Palestine. Those who anticipated as much were swayed by America’s renowned sense of fair play.
But what does Mr. Powell do? Taking a casual tour of Morocco, and then off to Spain, and with stops at a few other countries along the way, he then nonchalantly meanders his way to the region of conflict. And no sooner is he here, than he is whisked off by helicopter to the scene of the wreckage of a bus in the occupied territories blown up by a bomber. A pity his flight plan did not include real scenes of far worse and unspeakable horrors befalling innocent people at the hands of the Israelis. Or perhaps the stench of death was blown downstream of Mr. Powell’s flight path.
And while he was in Israel, he mulled over whether he should meet Yasser Arafat or not, mimicking what his boss Mr. Bush had been droning all along: "Arafat should do more to curb and condemn the violence." Give me a break, pleeeez! Arafat cannot change his underwear in private without Israelis watching his every move and these worldly statesmen come up with something as profound as that!
And conveniently, while in Israel, the issue of why international relief and humanitarian organizations such as the Red Cross have been kept out of these areas of gore and massacre by the Israeli Army is never brought up. Why have medical and humanitarian teams been denied access to civilians, no more terrorists than you or I. The solitary UN envoy at the scene said that "Not any objective can justify such action, with colossal suffering to civilians." The last such person to expel relief organizations was Milosevic, the butcher of Serbia.
On the contrary, Mr. Powell is satisfied with the timetable set up by Mr. Sharon for ethnic cleansing, notwithstanding indisputable facts brought up by the European press that a majority of these targets were deliberate and directed toward innocent people, women and children included. And for some minor oversight, such facts are rarely if ever reported on US networks such as Fox or CNN’s Headline News.
And then Mr. Sharon bluntly adds, "Israel cannot accept international forces here." Why, Mr. Sharon? What do you have to hide? Are you in a brutal endeavor to snuff out the last living witnesses who may bear words against you at the court of justice in Brussels? For similar crimes against humanity that have been committed on your behalf in the past? Like Sabra and Shatilla, if your memory fails you?
While Mr. Powell was here in the region, back at the ranch Mr. Bush sways between being annoyed with and graciously appeasing Mr. Sharon. In his own deep words he says, "He gave me a timetable and he met the timetable." Maybe I’m mistaken, but I believe massacres are still taking place at the time of this writing, a further blood bath of the innocent.
And where does that leave us today? The United States government may have allowed the role of the "honest broker" slip away this time. Hypocrisy has recently veiled much of their often conflicting foreign policies. And careful not to distress or offend Mr. Sharon, the policymakers have turned back to the thorough planning of how to drum up international support and legitimize the bombing of Iraq into dust! Iraq has been defying UN resolutions, touts Mr. Bush daily, while refraining from once adding that Israel has a far more bizarre history of snubbing UN and Security Council resolutions in its quest for land expansion and illegal settlements.
So why this obsession with Saddam, Mr. Bush? Is it a promise you made to your dad, George, to finish off what he had started? Many felt at the time that Bush Sr. had lost the bid for re-election because he didn’t take Saddam out. Are you consciously trying to avoid repeating history? Win votes at the cost of innocent lives? Or would they be written off as "collateral damage", as Mr. Rumsfield would casually put it?
Say what you will Mr. Bush, but compared to Sharon, Saddam is slowly transforming himself in the eyes of many here into a cupid dressed up in lily-white pinafores!
— Tariq A. Al-Maeena
