Posted on 05/02/2003 7:59:59 AM PDT by bedolido
PARIS -- The argument always comes up eventually when you're traveling in the Middle East: The United States cannot play the role of peacemaker, your Arab host will insist, because the pro-Israel lobby in Washington is too strong.
This is a conversation I have grown to hate -- partly for its not-so-veiled anti-Semitism, partly because it ignores the reality that most Israelis want peace, whatever right-wing lobbyists may say, and partly because of its cynical, one-dimensional view of U.S. politics.
America is a country of surprises, I like to remind my Arab hosts. In U.S. foreign policy, values and strategic vision count for more than narrow political interests. The anti-communist Richard Nixon went to Mao's China; the liberal Jimmy Carter persuaded conservative Menachem Begin to make peace with Egypt. And perhaps now George W. Bush can help create a Palestinian state that lives in peace with its neighbor.
That's my hope as the "road map" to Middle East peace is finally published. But when I read the skeptical comments in yesterday's papers declaring the road map a political nonstarter, I am reminded of the cynicism of the Arab world.
"I don't think he [Bush] gets anything politically if he has a peace deal," one pro-Israel GOP lobbyist told The Post.
The chorus of know-it-all naysayers is nearly deafening, and maybe it's right. Perhaps only a fool would imagine that Bush would follow his triumph in Iraq by waging peace. Perhaps this president does listen more to Karl Rove's political calculus than to his own conscience.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Bull!
Anwar Sadat made peace with Israel by offering them a good deal. Carter just happened to be around at the time.
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