The Baker Hamilton Bi-Partisan Report on Iraq was released today. I am not going to comment on the substance of this report since I basically agree that “staying the course” is not a viable option. See my recent post on the subject. But I do want to comment on one aspect. It is an aspect that is constantly being thrown up by various so called experts on the Middle East. The report strongly recommends that as part of an over-all approach to dealing with the problems in Iraq, the administration must engage more directly to solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem. The two chairman made it very clear that there is no solving anything unless the Israeli/Palestinian problem is solved. They said it was a unanimous concern of all the Middle Eastern leaders that they spoke to. Well, What a surprise! The Arabs want the US to engage in the peace process. I guess they feel the Palestinians should just be pressured to back off and leave Israel alone.
No? …Maybe not.
I can’t say I’m surprised at that recommendation. I’m not that familiar with Lee Hamilton’s views on Israel except to say that when he was in congress I do not recall him being all that supportive. But James Baker is another story. He revealed his true colors when he was Secretary of State for the President’s father. He cares about as much for Israel’s welfare as he does for Maldive’s welfare. In other words, not much.
The suggestion to engage in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians has been a code word for putting more pressure on Israel to give in to Palestinian demands. There is no consideration about the futility of that because of the intractable attitude from Hamas, the majority party in the territories to seek Israel’s destruction.
Serve up Israel on a platter. That’s the solution. I don’t care how they couch the terms. It is nothing short of what Baker said to his boss when he was Secretary of State. When asked about his views at the time, his attitude was something to the effect: Hmmm… 40 million Arabs, 6 million Jews… “Blank” the Jews. They didn’t vote for us anyway!”
What do they expect the President to do? Sell out the Jews to appease the Arabs? I really think that any individual who thinks that Israel can negotiate with people who have vowed to destroy it, is either an idiot, an anti-Semite, or a fool. It’s as simple as that. It can’t always be Israel who does all the giving and the Palestinians who do all the taking. The only people who should be getting pressure are the Palestinians. If that’s what the report advocates, then I am all for it.
