Washington's response to Israel’s murder of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin has been wholly inadequate. Unlike every other country which has expressed a view, the United States has held back from clear and outright condemnation of the Hamas leader’s assassination. This is a serious mistake. US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice even appeared initially to approve and endorse the slaying. A few hours later, she had to eat her words and get behind the official line that the United States was “deeply troubled.” She then absurdly called upon the Palestinians to stay calm. On what planet does she think she is living? Whatever wiser heads at the State Department may wish, the impression given by Washington in the wake of this crime is that America approves.
Whatever regrets the administration has revolve around the difficult position in which its Zionist Israeli friends have once again placed it. The extent of those difficulties should not be underestimated. American Middle Eastern policy is like a heavy truck hurtling into a sand trap. The massive original momentum carried it on through clouds of dust but it is fast losing speed. It is not far from grinding helplessly to a halt. President Bush and his hawkish team of advisers have neither deviated nor taken their feet off the accelerator. In this headlong run into a morass, they have ignored the guidance of friends as well as warnings about their precipitous speed. When the sand-logged wheels of Bush’s policy finally drag things to a stop, there may be few who will feel like helping to dig Washington out. If, just for once, the White House could have condemned Israel for committing a heinous crime under international law — as every other government did — it could have done the cause of peace in the region, and indeed the whole world, so much good.
If Washington demands to lead in the war against terror, then it must act in such a way as to inspire confidence and respect among those expected to follow its lead. Terrorism does not stop being terrorism when it is carried out by Israelis. George Bush and his fellow hawks should see that in choosing to believe that Yassin’s killing was not terror, they are throwing away any claim to moral leadership against all other terrorists. It is almost as if, baffled by the complexities of the Middle East, they have given up trying to understand and win hearts and minds by decent behavior.
They are unable to respect the cultures in which they have chosen to interfere. Instead, they have tightened their flak jackets, pulled down their helmets and are bulldozing their way forward like some over-padded US football player. Every oversight, every mistake, every ignorant act plays into the hands of the terrorist forces of chaos and evil. Indeed Washington’s persistent foolishness is invaluable propaganda for the terrorist and George W Bush is turning himself into the finest recruiting sergeant Al-Qaeda and its minions have ever had.
