Referencing Ivo Again
Paul Krugman quotes Ivo's great blog about the Bush Administration's diplomacy and what it really means. That's a lot of praise in my mind. But, who knew that Condi would be such a fan as well.
This afternoon on Fox Suncay, she was asked why she wasn't leaving the G8 summit and going to do something in the Middle East. It was as if she was channeling Ivo, cause she said something like "there is no point going there, going back and forth, if we don't know what the agenda is." I think after she kind of caught herself, but it was telling. There is no point jumping into the fray unless we know what our strategy is. Since we haven't had a strategy for years on this issue, then why move from Russia.
I know Josh, folks on AA, and other commentaries are wondering out loud of America's relevance and the need for us to take a role in this mess. Its hard to ignore that sentiment. Unless you are Condi Rice, of course, and realize that there for an Administration that hasn't taken diplomacy very seriously, in the midst of a crises, that shell is bound to be exposed. Better to stay put than travel.
Here's a question that no one wants to ask - why does the US continue to arm Israel to the teeth while condemning others for arming the other side? Especially when Israel uses our money and arms to engage in acts that ultimately undermine our interests in the middle east? Why are we giving half of our foreign aid to Israel rather than genuinely poor countries in the world - or our own schools?
July 17, 2006 5:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
We give the Israelis money for the same reason that we give the Egyptians money: it was an essential part of the original Camp David Accord and every Congress and administration since Carter has considered it a small price to pay to keep peace between those two countries.
Resolving the issues needed for peace between Egypt and Israel was expensive for both sides. The West decided to dodge this problem by paying the bills (it is certainly cheaper than them fighting).
Any effective peace deal will weaken the Israeli defense posture. Dealing with that problem while treating the Palestinians fairly will cost lots of money that the Israelis do not have. No U.S. government wants our willingness to pay that bill as part of a comprehensive deal questioned. Being a credible ally of Israel means that we can ask them to trust us on this and we would be foolish to throw it away.
July 17, 2006 11:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
The money we're paying today to Israel has nothing to do with peace with Egypt. If anything it helps Israel cause wars.
And the money given to Egypt is a fraction of what goes to Israel, nevermind that Egypt unlike ISrael actually needs foreign aid.
No, we should immediately cease all payments to Israel and use that foreign aid for nations which aren't warmongers.
July 17, 2006 3:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Israel and Egypt agreed to specific things at Camp David. Those promises have been followed to the letter and so the promised goodies flow from that.
Suppose we do cut off aid to Israel. Any peace deal requires the Israelis to stop doing things unilaterally and trust the West with their survival. If we break the promise we made in the 1970's, how do we convince them to trust us on this one when the stakes are so much higher?
July 17, 2006 5:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Condi isn't going to the ME because the simple fact is that Dick Cheney and the neocons - with the forthright assistance of the Israeli military and political leadership - have rendered her "diplomacy" a complete frickin' waste of time.
In other words, she has been marginalized once again, just as Colin Powell was during the runup to the Iraq war. Powell was Bush's toadie at State then, despite his reservations, as his aide Wilkinson said, and Condi is the toady now.
And toadies do what they're told.
There's no point in trying to do diplomacy when the US has decided, as someone in the Washington Post article said, "to let the Israeli military have their run."
Only when US citizens in Beirut start to get killed by Israeli missiles will someone decide that maybe the US should actually try to at least LOOK like they're doing diplomacy.
In the meantime, there isn't the slightest bit of interest in the US in trying to stop the war, and every bit of interest in trying to widen it.
July 17, 2006 10:50 PM | Reply | Permalink