The same mistake was committed by the US and others in supporting Iraq against Iran in the 1980s, only to have Iraq turn on the west in 1990. The mistake was committed by the US and others in training Osama Bin Laden to fight in Afghanistan in the 1980s, only to have Bin Laden use the new regime there to launch attacks against the west in the 1990s and this year. And the same mistake has already been committed once this year with the US helping, however unwittingly, to install the Northern Alliance as Afghanistan’s new regime.
For the past five years, the Northern Alliance has barely been able to keep control of the tiniest slivers of the country, could not mount anything more than a slightly annoying opposition to the Taliban, and could not manage to gain much public support. Yet within five short weeks, this band of desert guerrillas is now set to take over the entire country, likely condemning it to years of further turmoil and bloodshed. The constant tension between Pakistan and India, and the presence in both countries of non-conventional weaponry, make any further instability in the region a very real danger to the rest of the world.
But perhaps a more important version of this mistake is the newly expressed US policy toward the Middle East. President Bush’s speech to the UN General Assembly last weekend spoke of his dream of a Palestinian State living in peace and security alongside Israel. Secretary of State Colin Powell echoed this vision in his speech to the Assembly, and will likely set out this plan more clearly in his foreign policy speech next week in Kentucky.
What the West seems still not to understand is that creation of totalitarian regimes in unstable parts of the world is necessarily not a good idea. Such regimes inevitably prolong and compound the instability in such regions. While western leaders chant their mantra of democratization and liberalization, they go about creating or propping up yet another anti-democratic, terrorist state, making such campaigns as the current US effort in Afghanistan or the Gulf War necessary. The stated US policy regarding a Palestinian State will unquestionably cause a war in the foreseeable future, one in which the US will be involved and which will seriously threaten wider western interests in the region including the supply of oil and the proliferation of non-conventional weapons among terrorists and terrorist states.
What is even more incredible, though, is the position of Israel’s government regarding a Palestinian State. Prime Minister Sharon, once viewed as the most powerful right-wing personality on the Israeli political scene, announced two weeks ago that he is not opposed to a Palestinian State in parts of Israel. While he tried to make the point that such a state would need to be demilitarized, no one gives any credibility to such a notion now that the Palestinians already have a 40,000-strong armed force, mortars, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, and lucrative contacts with most western nations.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres places even fewer restrictions on the Palestinian State he envisions, falling much closer into line with Bush’s dreamy vision than with reality on the ground. The truth is that little more can be expected from Peres, whose only useful contribution to Israeli society was made more than 30 years ago. But his statements on the issue, like those of Powell in the US, serve to give greater clarity to the position of his boss.
Israel should know better. After more than a year of constant violence directed at us by the regime about to be rewarded with a state of their own, how can anyone expect that the Palestinian State will live in peace and security alongside Israel? After more than 70 years of hatred, terrorism, murder and mayhem directed at the Jews of Israel, why any Israeli would still consider trusting the Palestinians is beyond belief.
There are senior members of the Likud who are seeking to block Sharon from carrying his policy forward. While the chances of their success are questionable in the smoky backrooms of political deal-making that are the Likud central committee chambers, they are to be lauded for their courage.
After all, someone has to stop the West from making the same mistake yet again. What a shame that Israel seems so willing to assist in creating yet another anti-democratic, terrorist, war mongering state in the world – one whose first target will be the Jewish State itself.
Copyright 2001. Yehuda Poch is a writer living in Israel. Reproduction in electronic or print format by permission only.
