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Jewish World Review June 24, 2003 / 24 Sivan, 5763 THE DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES By Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
One year ago today, George W. Bush strode into the White House Rose Garden to unveil what he called a "vision" for Mideast peace. At the time, the June 24, 2002 address garnered wide attention for the willingness it formally expressed -- for the first time by any U.S. President -- to recognize a Palestinian state. Ever since then, proponents of such a state have been working assiduously to water down, ignore and, if possible, eliminate the important caveats Mr. Bush made clear would have to be satisfied before he would support its establishment.
The anniversary of the vision speech is an appropriate moment to reflect on both the current status and abiding salience in particular of three of these caveats. They exemplify the President's original determination to ensure that a new state of Palestine would not simply amount to a new terrorist-sponsoring nation in a region still populated by too many of them.
This was a stunning, yet absolutely sensible, precondition. The President had, from the beginning of his administration, understood that the old Palestinian leadership under Yasser Arafat was part of the problem, not the solution. In insisting that a new leadership -- uncompromised by terror and enjoying a popular mandate -- precede a new state, Mr. Bush recognized that only if the Palestinian people wanted an end to terror and true peace with Israel would these goals be achieved.
In the intervening months, though, the President was prevailed upon to declare Yasser Arafat's right-hand man for forty years, Mahmoud Abbas, the "new and different" leadership he had in mind. He has legitimated him with a summit meeting and pledged inestimable support, both politically, financially and in the ominous rebuilding of Palestinian "security" forces -- even though Abbas was not popularly elected and has acknowledged the obvious: Arafat remains in control.
Over the past twelve months, President Bush has embraced a "road map" that ostensibly implements his vision for Mideast peace. Nowhere is the difference between the original plan and the so-called implementation more stark, however, than with respect to the precondition that Palestinian terror must be dismantled before the U.S. would "support" (let alone recognize) a new state. According to the road map, the United States is committed to endorse the establishment of a Palestinian state -- starting with something called "provisional boundaries" by the end of this year -- even if the Palestinian leadership continues to refuse to fight terrorists.
Today, official incitement in support of anti-Israeli and anti-Western terror continues in virtually every Arab capital except, notably, in Baghdad. In particular, Arafat's Palestinian Authority (PA) persists in its use of maps, television and radio broadcasts and print media that conveys the proto-government's abiding determination to "liberate" all of "Palestine" -- including the land Israel "occupied" before the 1967 Six Day War.
President George W. Bush by fax: (202) 456-2461, (Andrew Card, Chief of Staff)
or by e-mail.
Dr. Condoleeza Rice, National Security Advisor, FAX (202) 456-2883, PHONE (202) 456-9491
Mr. Elliot Abrams, the Director for Near East and North African Affairs, at FAX (202) 456-9120, and by phone through his secretary Joanna, (202) 456-9121
Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, 1000 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1000 or by e-mail form:
http://www.defenselink.mil/
Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense, 1010 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1010 or by e-mail form
http://www.defenselink.mil
Interestingly, the results of a new national opinion poll performed by Luntz Research Companies for the Center for Security Policy shows very strong popular support for each of these visionary Bush caveats. By a 61% to 21% margin, the American people do not think Mahmoud Abbas represents new Palestinian leadership untainted by terror. 73% agree (46% "strongly") with the precondition that the Palestinian terror infrastructure must be dismantled; only 18% disagree. And 73% think it "fair" for Israel to insist that Palestinian incitement against it must stop before there can be any hope for a true peace. Only 16% think such insistence to be "unfair." Such sentiments are even more pronounced among Christian conservatives central to Mr. Bush's political base. (The results of this poll can be viewed at [site].)
George W. Bush's success as president to date has been rooted in his firm attachment to clear principles. One of the most important of these has been that terror against free peoples is terror; it will be fought everywhere and not rewarded. The road map has already proven a futile and potentially dangerous diversion from that path.
Before more damage is done to the coherence and integrity of U.S. policy in the war on terror, to the prospects for realizing a genuine and durable Mideast peace and perhaps to the Bush presidency itself, a course correction is required that moves once again in the direction laid out by the President a year ago today.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. JWR contributor Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. acted as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy during the Reagan Administration, following four years of service as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy. He was a professional staff member on the Senate Armed Services Committee under the chairmanship of the late Senator John Tower, and a national security legislative aide to the late Senator Henry M. Jackson. He currently heads the Center for Security Policy. Click here to comment on this column. © 2003, Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. | ||||||||||||
