Issue No. 609
Opinion
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24 - 30 October 2002 Issue No. 609 Opinion |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Roadmap of what?
It is not hard to see through the mission that brought US Assistant Secretary of State William Burns to the Middle East. Burns has been holding talks in Arab capitals, including Cairo, and making upbeat statements afterwards. But to understand his mission, one has to look elsewhere, perhaps to what Israeli papers are saying about Ariel Sharon's talks with George W Bush in Washington.
The US assistant secretary began his visit to the region only after Sharon and Bush reached an understanding: Sharon received satisfactory news about the upcoming war on Iraq as well as on the US's plans for the region. The Israelis and the Americans agreed on a pattern of coordination whereby Israel would be notified in advance of the timing of the US strike and is to be kept abreast of the logistical support that US troops will need during the military operations.
Burns' regional tour is a mere palliative, as is the so- called "roadmap" he is bringing along. This roadmap is said to contain Bush's ideas for the creation of a future Palestinian state. In fact, it has all the vagueness and contradictions that mark President Bush's Middle East policy. Its starting point is the very one that proved futile in past mediation efforts; namely, the call for Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian areas and for an end to suicide operations.
Washington has already refused to send international observers to the territories. It has even vetoed resolutions by the UN Security Council calling for such a measure. It did so because Sharon does not want the world to see what he is up to. The dispatch of observers should, by all accounts, have been included in the first phase of the roadmap for 2003, when military operations are likely to be underway in Iraq and Sharon could run amok. Needless to say, the observer's matter was conspicuous by its absence.
Sharon knows exactly what to do with this piece of political gimmickry. And he said that the roadmap does not commit him to anything and does not clash with Israel's objectives. The Israeli prime minister, however, is ready to play along with the roadmap charade. He may even release a portion of frozen Palestinian funds and slightly modify the deployment of his troops. But he will go ahead with dismantling the Palestinian Authority. He needs to create a new Palestinian leadership, one that Israel can push around in future negotiations.
For his part, President Bush is donning, once again, the mask of "impartial mediator". He acts as though he wants to clear the atmosphere for serious negotiations on the creation of a Palestinian state. This is just a smokescreen, and it is likely to dissipate once Washington secures the backing of Arab governments for its upcoming attack against Iraq.
It is not difficult to see the connection between military preparations for the intended US war against Iraq and William Burns' current mission. What credibility does this mission have? For months, the Bush administration has turned a blind eye to Israel's daily assaults on Palestinian civilians, to the killing and detention of hundreds of Palestinians suspected of acts of resistance, to the siege on Arafat's headquarters and to Israeli incursions into Palestinian areas. US policymakers haven't shown the slightest interest in the plight of the Palestinians, because they were busy preparing the world and the domestic front for the upcoming attack on Iraq.
Nothing useful will come out of Burns' current mission, and nothing useful came out of similar missions in the past. These missions are designed to placate Arab nations and restore their confidence in US policy. They are also woefully lacking in substance. Perhaps, in a few days, we might discover that all Burns did was warn Arab government s not to do anything untoward while Iraq is being sorted out.
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