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CounterPunch
February
18, 2003
Enthusiastic IDF Awaits War
in Iraq
First
Saddam, Then Iran, Syria and Libya?
by ALUF BENN
Ha'aretz
Correspondent
The Prime Minister's Office ascribes little importance
to the diplomatic hurdles America must overcome in the UN Security
Council on the path to a war against Iraq. Israel estimates that
the date of attack depends only on logistical considerations,
when the deployment of U.S. troops is complete, and that the
war will begin at the end of February or the beginning of March.
No delays or any kind of influence are expected from the coalition
negotiations.
The military and political leadership
yearns for war in Iraq, seeing it as an opportunity to win the
war of attrition with the Palestinians. According to their approach
removing Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat from his
position will signify Palestinian surrender. Major General Amos
Gilad, Coordinator of Government Activities in the West Bank
and Gaza, expressed the army's position Saturday, saying that
a U.S.-led attack on Iraq would remove the Iraqi threat, and
would be an example for"the removal of other dictators closer
to us who use violence and terror."
Senior IDF officers and those close to
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, such as National Security Advisor
Ephraim Halevy, paint a rosy picture of the wonderful future
Israel can expect after the war. They envision a domino effect,
with the fall of Saddam Hussein followed by that of Israel's
other enemies: Arafat, Hassan Nasrallah, Bashar Assad, the ayatollah
in Iran and maybe even Muhammar Gadaffi. Along with these leaders,
will disappear terror and weapons of mass destruction.
There is also excitement in the IDF's
planning department over the standoff between the U.S. and its
NATO allies. A paper distributed to the army's upper echelons
even spoke of an opportunity to remove the pro-Palestinian Europeans
from the Middle East. A senior source said Saturday that the
U.S. will punish the Europeans for their back-stabbing on the
road to Baghdad, and will no longer ask them for input regarding
Israeli concessions.
But the conflict in the Security Council
shows that the U.S. is having a hard time controlling the international
community, and is still focused on transforming the Middle East
into an area under U.S. protection, in which Israel will enjoy
privileged status. The conflict centers mainly around Iraq, but
is also found in the Palestine-Israel arena. The U.S.'s partners
in the "Quartet" - representatives of the EU Russia
and the UN - demonstrated their strength Friday when they managed
to persuade Arafat to publicly announce his unconditional acceptance
of the international "road map" to end the conflict
between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as his intention
to appoint a Palestinian prime minister. The announcement on
the appointment of a prime minister was intended to show the
Americans that there is a reason for the insistence of the Europeans,
the Russians and the UN to continue to talk with Arafat.
Arafat's announcement was a huge triumph
for Sharon who demanded the appointment of a prime minister with
authority in the PA, and he even succeeded in enlisting the Europeans
and the UN, Arafat's main supporters, to pressure the Palestinian
leader to change his tactics. The problematic part, from Sharon's
point of view, is in the "road map." The Europeans
want to implement the current draft which Qartet representatives
are slated to discuss Monday in London. Sharon, however, wants
to make some changes and to limit UN and European influence.
Gaining Palestinian agreement to the road map will be more difficult
after such amendments are made.
The Prime Minister's Office will finish
Israel's draft of the road map this week, which will be brought
for approval before the new government. Head of the Prime Minister's
Office Dov Weisglass and representatives of Defense Minister
Shaul Mofaz (Military Secretary of the Defense Minister, Brigadier
General Michael Herzog) and Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(Advisor Uzi Arad and Foreign Ministry General Manager Yoav Biran)
are working together on the draft.
After the document is completed, Weisglass
is due to go to Washington to discuss the special aid package
that Israel has requested from the U.S. Weisglass is also likely
to meet with National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice for general
policy discussions. Before that, however, Israel's ambassador
to the U.S. Danny Ayalon is due to return to Israel for consultation
talks, and Sharon is to meet with representatives of the Congress
subcommittee on Middle East affairs, scheduled to arrive in Israel
Sunday. All the talks this week, and the London summit on PA
reform, make up the Israeli-Palestinian part of the preparations
for war on Iraq. Israel expects little from the London talks,
since the U.S. promised there would be no progress in the drafting
of the road map or in discussions about the aims of reforms within
the PA. Within the committee of donors to the PA, the Palestinians
will face a hostile front demanding that supervision of the how
funds are used be improved. They will also be informed of a reduction
in the support they received as compensation for the freezing
of tax revenues that Israel collected on their behalf. With the
renewal of revenue transfers from the Israeli treasury to the
PA, the Palestinians are likely to lose the generous "bridging
funds" donated by the EU.
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February 15
/ 16, 2003
Alexander
Cockburn
Colin
Powell and the Great "Intelligence Fraud"
Rep. Dennis
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The Whole World is Watching
Edward Said
A Monumental Hypocrisy
Wouter Hijink
Report from Amsterdam
"War: Do Not Feed!"
Linda Heard
At Last! Proud to be British
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Taking a Stand on Iraq
Robert Fisk
The Case Against War
Lev Grinberg
Lessons from Israel
A War Without Legitimacy
Chris Floyd
Cold Fronts:
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Ahmad Faruqui
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Norman Madarasz
French Kisses from the Citizens of France
Adam Lebowitz
Scott Ritter in Tokyo
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Bring Us the Head of Osama bin Laden
Forrest Hylton
The Revolt in Bolivia
Col. Dan Smith
Irrelevance and Credibility:
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Wayne Madsen
The Lies of Tom Lantos
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The Invisible Modernities of the Islamic World
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Who's Safe Now?
An American in Cairo
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Poets Basement:
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Website of the Weekend
Anti-War
Posters
Read
Whiteout and Find Out
How the CIA's Backing of the Mujahideen Created the World's Most
Robust Heroin Market and Helped to Finance the Rise of the Taliban
and Osama bin Laden
Whiteout:
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by Alexander
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and Jeffrey St. Clair
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