Posted on 10/18/2003 9:51:59 PM PDT by yonif
DETROIT — Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean of Vermont supports a two-state solution with Israelis and Palestinians living side by side, but says a comprehensive peace plan will only come through sacrifice and commitment by the leadership on both sides.
An American president brokering such a deal would go a long way toward improving U.S.-Arab relations, Dean told about 200 people on the second day of the Arab American Institute’s National Leadership Conference on Saturday.
The former Vermont governor said the U.S. needs to help build economic opportunity in the West Bank, and both sides must learn they can be partners in the struggle for peace.
“A majority of the people on both sides of the green line want peace,” he said. “We can only do it if we present a vision, which will demand sacrifice and commitment.”
Dean said the Palestinian leadership will have to make the decision to abandon violence and dismantle terrorist infrastructure while Israel should do all it can to alleviate Palestinian suffering and spur economic development.
He said a real opportunity exists to bring peace in the region, but he acknowledged that developing a plan is complicated by “the wall,” referring to Israel’s plans to build a barrier that juts into the West Bank.
Israel insists the wall is essential to prevent suicide attacks, thereby fostering an atmosphere conducive to peace talks. The Palestinians see the project as a blatant grab for land before talks on the borders of a Palestinian state.
The wall also was addressed by several other Democratic presidential candidates who had spoken to the conference Friday.
“If I was president tomorrow, the first thing I would do would pick up the telephone and ask Bill Clinton to go to the Middle East and represent me,” Dean said.
Clinton was close to bringing together the two sides but Bush has dropped the ball, thinking Israelis and Palestinians will never get along, Dean said.
Conference attendee John Lauve of Holly, Mich., who liked Dean’s comments so much he wrote a $75 check to his campaign, agreed that establishing Mideast peace is essential for the United States.
“If we don’t resolve this, it will become a great problem in the coming years,” Lauve said.
Dean spoke on a range of issues, including civil liberties, improving health care and education.
The candidate also was critical of the Bush administration’s foreign policy and the recent war in Iraq. He said Saddam Hussein’s regime was evil but did not pose an immediate threat to the United States.
“I did not think it was a good idea to support the president’s resolution to go to war with Iraq. I don’t think this president understands defense at all,” Dean said.
“It’s not just enough to have a strong military defending the United States of America, it’s also important to have high moral principles and a set of ideals to which other countries aspire,” he said.
Dean was the seventh of eight Democratic presidential candidates scheduled to address the conference. Former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, who also is among the field competing for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, was scheduled to address the conference Saturday evening.
Several other Democratic candidates and Marc Racicot, chairman of the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign, spoke to participants Friday.
As Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts did Friday, Dean criticized comments made by Lt. Gen. William Boykin, who recently said of a 1993 battle with a Muslim militia leader in Somalia: “I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol.”
“There’s no place in America for bigotry, either anti-Islam or anti-Semitic,” Dean said. “The only chance that we have in this country ... is to set aside whatever difficulties, prejudices, stereotypes that we have and learn to live with each other.”
It was not enough for Secretary of State Colin Powell’s spokesman to condemn Boykin’s remarks, Dean said; Bush should have done it.
“It does not serve us well anywhere to tolerate bigotry or hatred,” Dean said.
Hanan Rasheed of Danville, Calif., liked Dean’s ideas and his focus on freedom, one of the reasons why she came to this country 30 years ago. But Rasheed said Arabs must take responsibility for breaking down barriers.
“It is up to us as Arab-Americans to teach and enlighten Americans to our culture and heritage,” Rasheed said.
"both sides" support peace?
Gee, from the title I thought Dean wanted to send Clinton over there to be sacrificed. Imagine my disappointment....
If the Palistinians laid down their arms, there would be peace.
If the Israelis laid down their arms, they would be exterminated.
Dean's mouth is writing checks his butt can't cash, should he ever get the opportunity to lead. Fortunately, he won't ever get that chance.
I no doubt lack perspicacity, but I see neither any "real opportunity" for peace in the region at present, nor do I see the Wall as impairing but rather fostering peace. Maybe Dean has a point about bitching it juts too far into the West Bank, but then Dean didn't say that, he just bitched about the Wall period per the quote. Thus the "jutting" bit appears to be just spin (perhaps inadvertant) by the "reporter," who is clearly not "fair and balanced as always," either by design or incompetence.
Dean's suggestion that some American personality, be it Clinton or someone else, being interjected into the region, will make much difference, is also well, just naive. What will make a difference, is when both sides (of course, the Palestinians are at the moment so disorganized and disheveled that they really don't have a "side" with which one can do business about anything that will stick) deem it in their best interests to change the status quo. That is not in currently in play either.
What we have here IMO is drivel.
Well there is a unique, new, fresh idea. What an idiot.
If the Israelis laid down their arms, they would be exterminated.
That is one of the best summaries I have seen. Well done.
What we have here is a lefty pandering for votes and dollars. That he's employing drivel is beside the point.
That's a pretty bizarre way to pander for money. A large portion of money for DemocRAT candidates comes from Jews.
These a$$holes are nothing if not predictable. Dean is spewing the same old meaningless bulls$it we've all heard before.
LOL. Maybe we need to bring Winston Churcill back from the grave, just to sooth they frayed and hyper sensitive synpases with eloquence, and then peace will emerge. Of course, Churchill was a man of more than just words, although words were his forte. The man was more than a one trick poney.
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