In this issue:

AEI's Bolton Says Obama Is 'Bad for Israel'

LaRouche on Tariq Aziz Prosecution: 'Enough Is Enough!'

Syrian, Egyptian, Saudi Leaders Meet

Obama Will Make State Visit to Turkey

Turkey Can Play Role in Opening U.S./Iran Channel

From Volume 8, Issue 11 of EIR Online, Published Mar. 17, 2009
Southwest Asia News Digest

AEI's Bolton Says Obama Is 'Bad for Israel'

March 15 (EIRNS)—As EIR documents in this issue ("Amity Shlaes' Not-So-New American Fascism"), the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) got its start as a Hitler/Mussolini-supporting institution, running fascist operations against President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Today, this network is at the center of the attack on President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to destroy their policy shift in Southwest Asia to support a Palestinian state, and to reject the clash of civilizations. This is what blocked Ambassador Chas Freeman's appointment to head the National Intelligence Council.

John Bolton, the AEI wacko who could not attain Senate confirmation as UN ambassador during the Bush Administration, declared in the New York Post that Obama is "bad news for Israel." Why? According to the Israeli ultra-right Arutz Sheva media network, because of the administration's thinking that "Arab-Israeli peace is the key to Mideast stability." Bolton says that Obama and his advisors have "adopted the theory that the overwhelming bulk of other Middle Eastern grievances, wholly or partly, stem from Israel's founding and continued existence." Bolton's evidence for this is the appointment of George C. Mitchell as Mideast envoy, and Clinton's statements supporting a two-state solution that has to be put in place "sooner rather than later."

Arutz Sheva—which has been repeatedly banned in Israel because of its incitement to violence against Palestinians, and has operated as an outlaw offshore radio station—has a statement attacking Clinton for her "pressure on Israel." It quotes Morton Klein, the head of Zionists of America (Jabotinskyite fascists); Mort Zuckerman, owner of US News and World Report and the New York Daily News; New York City Council member Dov Hikind, former member of the Jewish Defense League terrorist group; and the Unity Coalition for Israel, run by the Christian Zionists and settler terrorists, which is launching a letter-writing campaign against Clinton.

These Israeli fascists (who supported former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassin, Yigal Amir) warn that "the United States continues to drop hints that it will accept nothing less than a Palestinian state aside Israel west of the Jordan River," calling this a "dangerous option."

They were especially incensed about an interview of Clinton on a Palestinian TV program for "teens," in which she said, when asked what she would do if her daughter had been born under an occupation, "Well, I would do what so many parents here in the West Bank and in Gaza do. I would love her. I would get the best education I could for her. I would never give up on the dream of a Palestinian state."

LaRouche on Tariq Aziz Prosecution: 'Enough Is Enough!'

March 12 (EIRNS)—Lyndon LaRouche declared, "Enough is enough!" in response to the March 11 sentencing of former Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz to 15 years in prison for "crimes against humanity."

LaRouche stated: "Tariq Aziz played a very good role in Iraq. He played a role as a servant of his government. He didn't do anything I know of that was beyond serving his government. Are we going to hang people because they served the Bush Administration? It would be inappropriate to have a trial to hang Bush, who probably committed greater crimes than Tariq Aziz did. What does this mean for both Bush Presidents? Let's get out of the Bushes. The prosecution of Tariq Aziz sounds like a Bush-League operation."

The prosecution argued that Aziz was guilty, solely because he sat on the Revolutionary Council.

Syrian, Egyptian, Saudi Leaders Meet

March 11 (EIRNS)—Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak are being hosted today by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, in the latest effort to re-establish unity within the Arab camp following the Gaza War. This summit is preparing for an Arab League summit in Doha on March 30. Syrian sources report that the Obama Administration will be waiting for important signals to come from that summit.

Obama Will Make State Visit to Turkey

March 9 (EIRNS)—U.S. President Barack Obama will be making an official visit to Turkey in April, as was announced while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Ankara. It will be the first bilateral state visit by President Obama, as opposed to visits in the context of international summits, including the G20 in London, the NATO summits in Germany and France, and the EU meeting in the Czech Republic.

According to senior Obama Administration sources quoted by the Washington Post, the visit will demonstrate the importance of bilateral relations between Turkey and the United States. "This visit is not about healing some EU-NATO rift. This is about underscoring our deep alliance with Turkey, that it is an important part of Europe and that it is an important voice in the Muslim world."

Although a date has not been set, Zaman reports that it is hoped that Obama will attend the meeting of the United Nations-sponsored Alliance of Civilizations on April 6-7.

Although Obama said recently that he would visit a Muslim country within the first 100 days of his administration, Clinton said that Turkey is not that country. Nor is U.S. using the Islamophobic phrase "moderate Islamic country," coined by the Bush Administration, and which the Turkish government rejects, since Turkey is a secular state.

Clinton told CNNTurk.com, "We support the regional and global leadership role Turkey plays in major issues." She discussed Turkey's potential role in helping to mediate Israeli-Palestinian and Israel-Syrian peace talks. The forthcoming Obama visit, she said, is a "reflection of the value we place on our friendship with Turkey."

Turkey had been making efforts throughout the region to mediate conflicts, not only the Arab-Israeli conflict, but also those involving Georgia-Russia and Azerbaijan-Armenia.

Turkey Can Play Role in Opening U.S./Iran Channel

March 10 (EIRNS)—Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and President Abdullah Gul will be in Iran March 14-15, amid reports that Turkey could help create channels between the United States and Iran.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's comments that the U.S. would ask Turkey to help push forward President Barack Obama's desire to engage Iran, followed earlier efforts by Iran to seek Turkey's assistance in talks with the United States. Turkey has direct access to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and also to spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, both of whom Gul will be meeting when he is in Tehran for a summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization. Babacan will meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki.

Although the Turkish leaders will not be delivering any letters from Obama or Clinton, they will encourage Iran to seize the opportunity to settle the nuclear issue through direct engagement with Washington. Babacan also said they would brief Clinton during the NATO summit on April 3-4, and meet with Obama when he visits Turkey later that month. Babacan added that Turkey is ready to serve as an official mediator, if asked by Iran and the U.S.

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