Mideast News Digest
Is Sharon Plotting Terrorist Options Against President Bush's Road Map Effort?
Lyndon LaRouche has called for the investigation of credible, but as yet uncorroborated, reports received from Israeli sources, that Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in collusion with elements of the Hamas organization, is scheming to sabotage the Road Map initiative for Israeli-Palestinian peace, through a series of planned terrorist actions in the Middle East, and, possibly, inside the United States.
The source report centered on four actions, now purported to be in the planning or implementation stages.
1. Mossad chief Meir Dagan, a longtime Sharon accomplice in criminal activities, has reportedly reached a secret deal with some Hamas leaders, to stage a series of terrorist disruptions of President Bush's peace initiative. These actions will, in turn, trigger counter-moves by Israeli intelligence and security forces, to create a cascading cycle of violence, and, thus, kill the Road Map implementation. Already, the attacks two weekends ago on Israeli Defense Force units in the Gaza Strip, and the June 10 "retaliatory" assassination attempt, in Gaza City, against Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi, fit this all-too-familiar profile. On June 10, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said that President Bush was "deeply troubled" by the IDF missile strike on the car carrying Rantisi and his family.
2. Both Hamas elements involved in the Dagan deal, and underground cells of Jewish settlers, are reportedly plotting the assassination of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas/Abu Mazen, as well as the elimination of Palestinian National Authority President Yasser Arafat. The assassination of either man, particularly if the killing were to be traced to Jewish settlers, would set off an immediate violent conflict in Israel and the P.N.A.
3. The same sources report that the IDF has been pre-positioning the needed infrastructure, in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, to facilitate mass relocation of Palestinians, in line with the long-stated policy of some of the radical rightists in Israel for "mass transfer" of the 3 million Palestinians living in the occupied territories. This policy is otherwise known as "Jordan is Palestine." The Israeli sources reported that Prime Minister Sharon was deeply disturbed by the obvious close relationship between U.S. President Bush and Jordanian King Abdallah II, during the recent summit meeting in Aqaba, Jordan.
4. An "Arab-designated" terrorist attack on U.S. soil is also reportedly being set in place by Sharon's longtime partner in crime, "Dirty" Rafi Eytan, the former Mossad official and chief of the Lekem spy unit that recruited and deployed Jonathan Jay Pollard during the early and mid-1980s. According to both Israeli and American law enforcement sources, Eytan has made several covert trips to the United States over the past 12 months, travelling under an assumed name and forged passport, to put such an "Arab" terrorist option in place.
Deal in Works for Israeli Pullout of Gaza, Bethlehem
The Los Angeles Times reported June 21 that discussions between U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas/Abu Mazen on the previous day, concerned an Israeli pullout from Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank city of Bethlehem. This pull-back, if it goes through, will be larger than is stipulated in the Road Map.
In his press conference following his meeting with Powell, Abu Mazen reiterated his demands for an end to assassinations, for dismantling checkpoints, and for release of the thousands of prisoners Israel holds, most of whom have not been charged.
While playing down expectations for the outcome of his trip to the Mideast, Powell said that a Palestinian state within provisional borders is possible by the end of this year, if initial steps are taken now under the road map. Powell promised "much more engagement" from the U.S. in the future. He also mentioned that he and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice had told Sharon's Chief of Staff Dov Weisglas the difference between hot pursuit of terrorist "ticking bombs," vs. assassinations of such leaders as Rantisi, whom he did not name. Powell said, "The Israelis now understand this."
Powell said that the Israeli-Palestinian security talks now under way involve withdrawal not only from Gaza, but from Bethlehem as well.
Weissglas had been sent to Washington to get the U.S. to stop pressuring Israel over the Road Map, but Sharon's ploy did not work. During his June 17 meeting with Dr. Rice, she demanded that Israel stop assassinations of militants altogether, and even warned Weisglass "to think twice" before Israel launches an assassination. Weisglass is said to have complied.
Israeli sources, quoted in the Israeli paper Ha'aretz, claim that a formal "understanding" will be drafted and would have a six-week limit allowing for Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas to consolidate his position and control the violence. But according to security sources quoted by Reuters, this is not true. "This is not for a set period of time, nor is it linked to any action or inaction on the part of the Palestinian Authority."
Rice is expected to visit the region next week, as a follow-up to Colin Powell's visit. She will stop in London to speak at the International Institute for Strategic Studies on June 26.
Israel and Jordan Resume Talks on Red Sea/Dead Sea Canal
Such a project would involve building a canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, in order to bring sea water to the Dead Sea, which is about 400 meters below sea level and in danger of drying up. The canal would take advantage of the 400-meter drop in order to produce electricity which would be used to desalinate 100 million cubic feet of water, among other uses.
According to Israeli Infrastructure Minister Yosef Paritzky, the Jordanians believe that the World Bank would supply financing for the project.
The Red Sea/Dead Sea canal project was prominently featured in EIR's January 1997 Special Report, "The Eurasian Land-Bridge: The 'New Silk Road'Locomotive for Worldwide Economic Development."
Shimon Peres Elected Temporary Chairman of Labor Party
Shimon Peres, who led the Israeli Labor Party to historic lows and near-liquidation, because of his 18 months of "rubber stamp" participation in the Sharon government, was elected temporary chairman of the Party. He was opposed by Ephraim Sneh, a retired IDF general who had served as Sharon's Transportation Minister, and by Danny Atar, chairman of a regional council, who is considered one of the "next generation."
Amran Mitzna, the Haifa Mayor who ran for Prime Minister against Sharon in this past January's election, cast a "white" protest ballot against all three candidates; Mitzna resigned from his chairmanship of the Labor Party, accusing the Labor "old guard" bureaucracy of sabotaging everything he was trying to do to oppose Sharon's policies.
Netanyahu in Washington With Cheney, Rice, and Rumsfeld
Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held meetings in New York starting June 16, and in Washington on June 18-19, where he met Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Treasury Secretary John Snow, and Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan.
Although this trip was supposedly aimed at drumming up investment for Israel and presenting his economic plan, Netanyahu was organizing against the Road Map.
He also opposed the idea of accepting any ceasefire with the Palestinian groups, charging that it would simply "allow the terrorist groups to organize and get stronger." Netanyahu insisted, instead, that the Palestinian National Authority must "dismantle the terrorism infrastructure," which is code language for crushing Hamas, the result of which would be a civil war among the Palestinians. Bibi was also seeking support for a "Berlin Wall"-type fence around Palestinian areas designated as a "state," which is not part of the Road Map, nor is it supported by the Palestinians or the Quartet (U.S., EU, Russia, UN) which drafted the Road Map.
Will Bush Pressure Sharon To Release Barghouti?
Palestinian sources are reporting that State Department official David Satterfield has proposed that Palestinian Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who is currently on trial for terrorism in an Israeli court, be released from prison as a goodwill gesture in the context of the Road Map. There is even talk that he could be released in exchange for AzzamAzzam, an Israeli who is in prison in Egypt as a spy.
Barghouti is a key leader who has been instrumental, despite the fact that he is sitting in an Israeli prison, in trying to secure a ceasefire with Palestinian militants. The release of Barghouti would represent a major achievement for the Palestinians.
Barghouti is one of the last Palestinians Prime Minister Sharon wants to see back in circulation. Israeli Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein wrote a letter to Sharon saying that Barghouti should not be released.
Call for International Peacekeepers in Israel Intensifies
In a speech before the Foundation for Middle East Peace in Washington June 16, Akiva Eldar, a journalist for the Israeli paper Ha'aretz, told his American audience that Sharon is not to be trusted, because of the presence in his Cabinet of Ministers Effi Eitam and Avigdor Lieberman, who stand for only one policythe transfer of Palestinians out of the occupied lands, to make the Jordan River the eastern border of Israel.
Eldar had written on June 10 a detailed report on how Sharon was stunned at the Aqaba summit by Bush's anger at the Israeli insistence that they would not work with Abbas/Abu Mazen and Security Minister Mohammed Dahlan. President Bush slammed Sharon for withholding PNA fundsabout $1 billion.
Eldar added more insightand blunt warnings that probably would not see their way into print in Israel because of the censorship lawsin his remarks. He said that Sharon's attorney Dov Weissglas, who has made repeated trips to the White House to scuttle, delay, or rewrite the Road Map, is one of Sharon's "mistakes." Up until the Road Map was actually delivered on April 30, Wiessglas was telling Sharon that it was a meaningless document. Weissglas, who had been able to depend on the Cheney/Wolfowitz cabal to derail any motion toward equity for Palestinians, found himself in different waters, as the blowbackorganized by Democratic Party Presidential pre-candidate Lyndon LaRoucheagainst Cheney and the Iraq war Chickenhawks escalates.
Eldar said another Sharon "mistake" was to believe that Yasser Arafat was never going to give up any of his power. Bush must keep up the pressure on Sharon, Eldar stressed.
And like many others in favor of peace, including UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Eldar says that without international peacekeepers, there is no way to root out terrorism in the Palestinian territories. Eldar suggests the Road Map become a UN Security Council Resolution, with "Chapter 7" (binding) provisions for military forces to be sent. He says that with 25% of Palestinians now supporting Hamas because of the brutality of the occupation, there is no military solution. If troops are not sent to help the PNA, then the world will "regret it," in a few months.
Powell Pushed Road Map at AADC National Convention
Speaking at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's National Convention banquet on June 14, in Arlington, Va., Colin Powell emphasized that he will use what leverage he has as U.S. Secretary of State to push through the Road Map: "If our Arab brothers and sisters are to travel the road to a more hopeful future, they will need supportsupport from the American government, support from other friendly governments, and from concerned citizens such as you.... As the President has proclaimed, we are at a time of great and hopeful change in the Middle East. But we need to be realistic. There will be bumps along the road. So I ask for your patience, and I ask for your support, as we work with our Arab and Israeli friends to overcome the obstacles we face." Powell asked the audience, "what is the alternative?" and then he vowed, "And the United States will not get weary. We will not waver. We will not stop. We will not step aside."
Powell Rejects Rumsfeld's 'No Talks With Iran' Posture
Secretary of State Powell rejected the 'no talks with Iran' position announced by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld several days before his June 18 interview with the Washington Post's Glenn Kessler. Asked about the demonstrations in Teheran, Powell said that the U.S. will "encourage people to demonstrate for their views," but said "we are not out there inside Iran fomenting them." Asked if "talks are still suspended indefinitely," which Rumsfeld had indicated, Powell said, "I never said that. Others have said it.... I'm not going to tell you if there are plans for talks with the Iranians anytime soon."
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, however, charged that Iran clearly is developing nuclear weapons, since "when a nation is awash in natural resources, such as Iran's oil and gas, why they would want to develop, as they claim, for peaceful, civilian purposes, nuclear energy? When they have abundant oil and gas, they don't need nuclear energy."
Iraq Tensions Escalate, U.S. Troop Morale Fading
The insanity of the occupation of Iraq becomes more evident each day, as the troops face growing hostility from the civilian population in central Iraq. U.S. troops respond to ambush attacks with sweeps through people's houses, looking for weapons and explosives, and arresting people wherever they find caches. Lt. Gen. David McKiernan has said that the attempt to wipe out "pockets of resistance" will follow a pattern of "action, reaction and counter-reaction," and will take time. Iraqis respond by arguing that the American response, which includes surprise raids involving hundreds of troops and the use of heavy ground fire in the case of specific ambushes, is a recipe for a cycle of violence. In the town of Khaldiyah, 45 miles west of Baghdad, American troops raided six homes and arrested nine men, while confiscating weapons, explosives, and money. One angry resident said, "The Americans come here just to provoke. This only causes more trouble." (See INDEPTH for report of Congressional grilling of Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz on the Iraq crisis.)
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