Zinni Heads Into The Storm, As Palestinians Say Sharon Is Trying To Thwart His Truce Mission

Ha'aretz News ^

[RCW2001]

Zinni heads into the storm, as Palestinians say Sharon is trying to thwart his truce mission

By Peter Hirschberg, Ha'aretz Correspondent

	Anthony Zinni: The U.S. envoy represents the last stage - not the first - of the Bush administration's Mideast involvement.

If new U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni had any illusions about the elusiveness of the task that awaits him when he arrives Monday in the region on his cease-fire mission, they would have been rapidly extinguished by the bloody three-day prelude to his visit, in which 12 Palestinians and one Israel have been killed.

The swirl of violence continued Sunday, with Israel Defense Forces helicopters and troops mounting a missile attack on Palestinian Authority installations in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for increased Palestinian mortar fire over the last few days. In one such attack, an IDF reservist was killed Saturday night in Gaza.

Security along the 1967 Green Line border was also stepped up Sunday in the face of Hamas threats to avenge Israel's assassination of Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, the movement's military-wing leader in the West Bank. Abu Hanoud, whom the army has tried to kill twice in the past, was blown apart when a helicopter targeted his car near the West Bank town of Nablus on Friday night.

The Palestinians said the targeting of Abu Hanoud - two of his deputies were also killed in the strike - was a deliberate attempt by Israel to sabotage the cease-fire mission headed by Zinni, and Undersecretary of State William Burns, even before it got underway. "I cannot forecast whether these [U.S.] efforts will succeed because [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon is trying to drown these efforts in a sea of blood," Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo told Voice of Palestine radio.

In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the prevailing view is that the killing of Abu Hanoud is an attempt by Sharon to provoke Hamas into a revenge attack in order to thwart the new American initiative. "The assassination of Abu Hanoud thus places the Hamas leadership in a quandary - if they react with a powerful revenge attack, they will damage Arafat in his talks with Burns and Zinni. But if they fail to react, Hamas' prestige will be hurt," writes Ha'aretz Palestinian affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein.

Senior PA officials, writes Rubinstein, were making a concerted effort over the weekend to calm Hamas leaders, "asking them to exercise restraint, at least in the coming days, to show the Americans and world public opinion that the Israelis are the ones carrying out violent acts and trying to bring about a deterioration in the situation."

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, however, defended the assassination Sunday, saying Abu Hanoud had orchestrated suicide bombings in which dozens of Israelis had been killed. Peres told Israel Radio that Abu Hanoud was a "professional terrorist" and that killing him was a legitimate act of self-defense.

Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said killing Abu Hanoud was imperative because he had been planning further attacks. He said it was "inconceivable" not to have killed him, even on the eve of the U.S. peace mission.

Sharon told the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday that he placed great importance on reaching a cease-fire agreement, but that Zinni's visit was essentially "a test for [PA Chairman Yasser] Arafat and the Palestinian leadership to show whether their intentions really are to advance the diplomatic process."

Zinni's two-week sojourn is not expected to be much more than a crash-course in the excruciating nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and an attempt to get to know the two sides. Few expect any results on the ground during his first visit.

Both President George Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell have made it clear that Zinni's mission represents a greater U.S. commitment to the region and a desire on the part of the administration to see a rapid calming of the conflict, writes Ha'aretz correspondent Nitzan Horowitz.

"But Zinni is also the last stage, at least as things stand at present," adds Horowitz. "Powell does not plan to come to the region when the talks reach a more critical phase, and Bush has no intention of operating the way Clinton did and inviting the sides to come and slug it out at Camp David. The administration took a step forward with Powell's speech, and another step in sending Zinni, and it has no plans to go a single step further. This means Zinni is the last stage in the American involvement and that is why the administration attaches such importance to his mission."

[Patria One]

""But Zinni is also the last stage, at least as things stand at present," adds Horowitz. "Powell does not plan to come to the region when the talks reach a more critical phase, and Bush has no intention of operating the way Clinton did and inviting the sides to come and slug it out at Camp David. The administration took a step forward with Powell's speech, and another step in sending Zinni, and it has no plans to go a single step further. This means Zinni is the last stage in the American involvement and that is why the administration attaches such importance to his mission."

If true, this is very interesting. If true, Bush knows something.

[Patria One]

FYI

[Patria One]

Excerpt from Conversation with Zinni:

"All those things you suggest are treating the symptoms of terrorism. Attacking the terrorist, becoming more aware of the threat, those are at the symptoms.

You have to go back to the root cause. I don't believe that the vast majority of terrorists do what they do out of some fanatical motivation, religious or political belief.

It's usually because we have a part of the world that's traumatized; that, through humanitarian or political conditions that are very, very poor, we have a number of young people, usually young men, who are disenfranchised, who are radicalized, dissatisfied, who want to strike out at something.

Some political condition, economic or human condition, has made them that way. And they find refuge in sanctuaries, usually in places like Afghanistan and Somalia where there is no rule of law, no nation state that's viable, no existing state, usually a failed or incapable state. And they find refuge among extremist groups that will give rationale to the cause, be it religious or otherwise. But the real underlying ability to recruit has to be in an environment where these other conditions exist.

There's nothing in Islam that supports extremism and terrorism. Like there's nothing in Christianity, but you still find, obviously, Christian extremists.

So it isn't a religious thing. It isn't an ethnic thing.

I really think it traces back to a root cause that we ought to learn to deal with. We don't deal with these well. We don't invest in regions. We don't invest in the stability in regions. The way we go about foreign assistance, foreign aid, in helping others help themselves deal with these problems is woefully inadequate."

[American in Israel]

How come when the Jews are attacked by mortar squads that is not Afafat trying to Thwart a Truce Mission. Only when the Jews fight back to stop the mortars is "Peace" threatened. What a crock!

[Phil V.]

Peres said the success of the visit depends mainly on the Palestinians, Army Radio reported.

Dead on bull's eye! The Palestinians HAVE to be willing to put aside the recent IDF booby trap that killed five members of one Palestinian "clan" (recently euphemized as "family"). Should they be unable to do so then the continued calamity will be on THEIR shoulders. [end of sarcasm].

[Phil V.]

If true, this is very interesting. If true, Bush knows something.

Bush knows that Sharon's personal "investment" in the occupied territories (settlements) are central to Sharon's vision for Israel. Bush knows that Sharon will not casually shed his vision. Bush knows that Sharon is, at the same time, blowing kisses to Bush and Powell while giving them the finger behind his back.

Bush should cancel his meeting with Sharon - just as he canceled his meeting with Arafat. Bush should DEMAND an answer to the booby trap explosion that killed 5 Palestinian children.

[xzins]

Zinni said, "There's nothing in Islam that supports extremism and terrorism. Like there's nothing in Christianity, but you still find, obviously, Christian extremists. So it isn't a religious thing. It isn't an ethnic thing.

This is why Zinni was exactly the wrong person to be given this post. Zinni is naive or just a simple-minded compromiser. Islam is not peaceful and even a basic student of the religion knows that it does support expansionist war....complete with extremism and terrorism.

Zinni, when commander of CentCom, was the general who gave his stamp of approval to the deal that permitted Yemen to be in charge of the security of our ships when they visited Aden Harbor. This naivete or clintonian compromise is one of the major reasons for the bombing of the USS Cole.

Bush has made a mistake with Zinni.

[Patria One]

Bush has also said that "terrorists" are the enemy, not Islam or the Arab world. Everyone is reading from the same page here.

Maybe the terrorists won't get their WW3 between America and all the Arabs.

[xzins]

terrorists" are the enemy, not Islam

Fine. Since Islamic fundamentalism is the birthing ground of the terrorists, then we'll just war against the peoples and nations of fundamentalist Shi'ism, Sunnism, and Wahabbism; and any others who seek, recruit, train, and/or inspire any who are or who would be "terrorists."

Is that OK with you?

[Patria One]

Either you don't know anything about Islam including Salafi, Sunnis and Shia or you are just disappointed that Bush won't act like an ignorant fool and broaden the war against the Muslims because of your narrow religious convictions.

[aristeides]

Zinni is a political general who concludes what he knows he's supposed to conclude.

[Patria One]

It called holding it in the road.

[Patria One]

FYI bump.

[Qatar-6]

You are both fools

Zinni is the finest General officer I have met in 23 years of commissioned service

He is exactly the right man for this mission

He will do what he can to bring peace, but he will make sure that both sides understand that America's security interests will be paramount

Neither Arafat or Sharon will find him a pushover

[College Repub]

Fred, why was Sharon elected? Barak was more popular. The Israeli populous figured out that if Arafat is dumb enough to turn down an offer giving ihm 97% of what he wanted and then some, and then start an intifada (On Barak's term, btw), that there was no hope in dealing with them diplomatically. That is why Sharon was elected.

[Lancey Howard]

"I really think it traces back to a root cause that we ought to learn to deal with. We don't deal with these well. We don't invest in regions. We don't invest in the stability in regions. The way we go about foreign assistance, foreign aid, in helping others help themselves deal with these problems is woefully inadequate"

Pure babble. If this is what we are sending over there to try to make peace, don't hold your breath. "Woefully inadequate"? This Zinni sounds like yet another one of these creeps who believe that the mass murders of 9/11 were, deep down, America's own fault somehow. Gimme a break.