A policy of failure leads to rising tensions [Archives:2003/658/Opinion]

Notwithstanding the American occupation of Iraq and the obvious failing attempts to get the Road Map to translate into tarmac, it appears that the present Administration's policy in the Middle East seems to be going haywire. The observer is inclined to believe that the region will be witnessing violence on a broader scale than the “War Office” of the current Bush Administration senses or is willing to admit. The obvious ramifications of a policy based on political arithmetic rather than a full comprehension of the realities prevailing on the ground in the region and which lacks clear transparent objectives are beginning to translate into an even more uncertain future for the region and for all stakeholders involved.
Having said that, it is safe to assume that the volatility of the region may evolve to further displays of spontaneous violence here and there that could eventually blow out of proportions and out of control.
On the Road Map, Ariel Sharon released some three hundred “prisoners” from Israeli jails, almost all of whom were to be released anyway, as their “sentence” has ended or they were in jail for no substantial reasons whatsoever, except to keep the sponge like prison system of the Zionist state operational. At the same time, by week's end over one hundred and five new Palestinians prisoners were already behind bars to replace some of them and plans were in place to arrest more over the next couple of weeks to ensure that the number of prisoners goes beyond the 8000 or so prisoners, most of whom are probably no threat to anyone and seek only to live free and without oppression in their farms and homes. It is worth mentioning that the prison system of the Zionist state is part and parcel of the systematic machinery to make life miserable for the Palestinians in their homeland so as to pave the way for Jewish settlers to take their place. Therefore, we should not be fooled by the “kind gesture” and the publicized release of people who were due to be released anyway, with or without the Road Map to Peace.
In the meantime, the Sharon intentions of peace for the area were manifested last week by continuous violent raids on Palestinians, on the grounds of doing the police work for the Palestinian Authority. Mr. Sharon went on killing and destroying any hopes for peace by unleashing the firepower of his forces against unarmed Palestinians on the road or in their homes, forgetting that even Hamas and Al-Aqsa brigade have complied with the cease fire called for by the Road Map. It is typical Israeli intransigence and in fact part and parcel of the kind of Zionist intimidation one has seen for over eighty years since the Zionists began setting their feet in the Holy Land. In fact, Israel does not want peace, for that would stand in the way of realizing the chauvinistic ambition of turning the territory extending from the Euphrates to the Nile, into the Homeland for the Jews-Eretz Israel. One only has to read the reports of the United Nations Observer Missions sent to police the peace in the region over the past half a century to see manifestations of the systematic efforts to continuously intimidate the population of the region into a hostile stand against the Jewish state, because of this intransigence that is inherent in the Zionist effort (See Major General Carl Von Horn – Soldiering for Peace to get some interesting highlights of this intransigence). It is not surprising that the White House has yet to display any reaction to this continuous intimidation, and continues to insist on the rights of Israel to defend herself. The question “Against Whom?” does not seem to bother the Americans, notwithstanding the full compliance of the Palestinians with the cease fire. But no one has any rights in the region except Israel and the only humans in the region are the illegal settlers of the Holy Land.
On another note, to make life more miserable in more than one area, Sharon went on to intimidate Hezbollah by killing a leading member of Hezbollah in Beirut last week. Obviously, Hezbollah was not about to stand with its hands folded. The well organized and capable Hezbollah responded with its own menacing strike against the Israelis, in an area of Lebanon illegally occupied by the Israelis. Now of course, Israel will continue to scream its “continued war against terror”, which is no more than a cliche that masks a thousand and one terror tactics of the Zionist machinery-the most dangerous and chauvinistic terror machine in modern history. All one has to do is keep track of events in the region on a daily basis and one will see Sharon's real face of terror embedded in every bullet that is unleashed in the Holy Land.
In Iraq, the tone of violence has intensified more than it was prior to Uday and Qusay's death. Thus, it is clear that the Iraqi people are not simply resisting for the sake of Saddam Hussein or anyone in the former Takriti regime. Moreover continuous “collateral” casualties, among Iraqi civilians does not make the American occupation look any better, with many children and civilians taking the toll for the hasty responsive behavior of heavily armed troops, who believe that by merely unleashing a high dose of their lethal firepower in any direction they will be able to quell opposition to their uncalled for presence in the region.
Mr. Al Gore, former Vice President and should-have-been President, finally let us know his views on the fumbles of his former antagonist. We view this as continuing proof that the American people are really getting fed up with an incoherent and sloppy Administration in managing the affairs of state in the United States.
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