George W. Bush has been on a mission to get rid of rogue regimes in the name of his war on terrorism. That mission, while noble in its objectives, lacks credibility and legitimacy. The main reason for that is its failure to address the criminal record of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister. For those who realize the special relationship which exists between the neocons who have taken over the American foreign policy and Israel, it should not come as a surprise when Sharon goes out on a killing spree every week to murder women, men and children without encountering the slightest criticism. Despite these atrocities, Sharon is still being rewarded morally and financially. It has always been Sharon’s way to maximize all opportunities for gain, but now he has gone one step further and demanded $4 billion in military assistance and $10 billion as loan guarantees in order to insure Israel’s cooperation during the upcoming war on Iraq. All this while the US faces its largest financial deficit in history.
Extortion would be a polite word for what Sharon is doing; it’s probably the worst systematic and institutionalized instance of terrorism the world has seen. The real problem is that these acts of terrorism come with the support and blessing of important political figures in America, people who have made the security of Israel as important (some will argue more important) than America’s. Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz and their henchmen have made no secret of their desire to dismantle and change all political systems in the Arab world in order to ensure Israel’s safety. Why should America bless and accept such horrific policies? What does America achieve out of this? It has offered over $120 billion in aid to Israel (rather than spending it internally in the US or for more worthy causes in African, Asian and Latin American Countries). What has all of that brought America other than ingratitude and the enmity of the Arab and Muslim world? What has Sharon offered America in return? He has ignored all requests by Bush to halt settlements in the occupied territories. He has continued to massacre civilians and steadfastly refused negotiations with the Palestinians. Now, after his re-election, Sharon has set out a plan for the Israeli-Palestinian future, which consists of:
1) Determining Israel’s permanent frontiers: This objective Sharon hopes to achieve in partnership with US President George W. Bush, with whom he enjoys a close rapport. Expecting the US-led war against Iraq and Saddam Hussein’s overthrow to be but one tile in America’s redesigned ethno-geographical mosaic for the Middle East and the Persian Gulf — he expects Israel’s frontiers with regard to the West Bank and the Gaza strip to be part of a wholesale transformation of the entire region. An American victory might even stretch Israel’s frontiers, not shrink them, as dictated in every peace plan put forward to date.
2) Eliminating the Palestinian factor: In their most recent statements, senior US officials as well as Israeli spokesmen have found links between deposing Saddam Hussein with his army and weapons of mass destruction and Yasser Arafat’s imminent exit from the Palestinian power structure.
3) Pre-empting Palestinian-led terror: Arafat planned for Palestinian anti-Israel terror in the days leading up to the US on Iraq. He expected Israeli forces to knock out large segments of his terrorist machine — although not the massive devastation they actually inflicted. Israel in return plans to attack all forms of Palestinian resistance.
4) Israel’s regional standing: The permanent presence of a large American military force of some 70,000 troops in Iraq for the next decade will have a revolutionary impact on the military-strategic balance of power in the region. This presence will differ from the longstanding US military foothold in Saudi Arabia and will be America’s main military base for the Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf and the Horn of Africa. The global war against terrorism and the rogue nations with weapons of mass destruction is to be conducted from bases guarding the banks of the Euphrates and the Tigris and the oilfields of northern and southern Iraq. Israel intends to play an important role in this new situation. Sharon is going on with his plans to maximize his brutal policies. America must not allow that to happen. All decent and noble American political values have been dwarfed by association with a criminal like Sharon. Only when the American government fully realizes that will it begin to realize why the Arabs and Muslims feel the way they do about its policies.
Arab News Features 18 March 2003
