A rchive Date
[ 03-07-2002 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.S ]
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[http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/stanway.html
Bush continues to be surprisingly impressive
By PAUL STANWAY -- Edmonton Sun
July 3, 2002
George W. Bush continues to impress as U.S. president, and I continue to feel guilty that I'm more than a little surprised by his performance.
The former Texas governor won the presidency by the skin of his teeth, and even his most ardent supporters would admit that his political record was solid rather than spectacular.
I defended the guy in this space a number of times because I thought the attacks on him were spiteful and childish, packed with liberal pomposity: As a conservative, Bush must be a bad person so there was no need to see what sort of president he might actually be. Yet for the open-minded Bush's performance has been a welcome surprise; the latest example being some straight talking on the future of Israel and its Palestinian neighbour.
Apart from the Cold War, no issue has had so much impact on world affairs over the last half-century, through half a dozen dangerous wars and the evolution of terrorism into a global scourge. As the 20th century was defined by the struggle between democracy and totalitarianism, it's a good bet that relations between the Islamic world and the West will loom large in the 21st century - and Israel and Palestine will continue to be the flashpoint in that relationship. It was never a question of whether President Bush would address this situation, but when and how.
As with so much else in the Bush presidency, it was Sept. 11 which made a new U.S. policy on Palestine inevitable. If you are opposed to terrorism and states that promote terror, eventually you must find yourself opposed to Yasser Arafat.
Over the past couple of decades the man who developed and defined international terrorism as a political tool has been adept at milking the western and Israeli desire for peace. He's managed to get without giving. Oh, he's had to make the odd compromise (like having to publicly acknowledge Israel's right to exist - nudge, nudge, wink, wink), but until recently Arafat's strategy appeared successful. He'd managed to get control over a large chunk of the West Bank and Gaza through the creation of an internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.
Surely peace was only a step or two away. Bill Clinton clearly thought so, as did a succession of Israeli leaders, including most recently the alleged arch-hawk Ariel Sharon! The only problem is that Arafat either can't or won't sell a peaceful compromise to his own people. It really doesn't matter which it is, the bottom line is that the "peace process" has become horribly lopsided.
Israel will accept an Arafat-led Palestinian state, give up most of the land captured in 1967 and allow joint administration of Jerusalem. It will accept the displacement of thousands of settlers from the West Bank and the inevitable wave of protest from its own hardliners. Arafat, for his part, either won't or can't make concessions. He can't or won't end terrorist attacks on Israel. No doubt Clinton's response to this would have been to flog the dead horse even harder. That's certainly the course of action advocated by most European leaders.
To his credit, Bush has brought this deadly farce to an end. The Palestinian Authority experiment has been a disaster. Until the Palestinians are willing to stop the violence and make concessions, there's no point in negotiating - and if Arafat can't or won't make those things happen, the Palestinians need a new leader. This is simple common sense, not rocket science.
Bush's critics say he's being unrealistic: There is no alternative to Arafat's non-leadership, and it's unreasonable to expect Palestinians to opt for democracy and law and order. All of which underlines the fact that the Palestinians are not ready to live as a peaceful self-governing neighbour. The peace process was an illusion.
In the wake of Sept. 11, it's hardly surprising that the U.S. should decide it cannot support a Palestinian leadership tainted by terror.
The surprise is that Bush had the courage and conviction to say so clearly.
Oops. I did it again.
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