Condoleezza Rice has apparently lost her way: consults Carter, Clinton, Albright and Kissinger on Mid-East Peace Initiative
What can a bright, articulate and learned Secretary of State glean from the two politicians who may have been the root cause of the rise of Islamo-Fascism or ex-officials with dodgy diplomatic records?
Carter, who failed to support the Shah of Iran and enabled the rise of Khomeini and Clinton who failed to provide an appropriate response to their attacks on America and her assets abroad.
Reuters is reporting...
"Anxious not to repeat mistakes of past Middle East peace-making, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has turned to former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter for tips ahead of her own conference this year."
"Rice invited Carter, a vocal critic of Bush administration policies, to the State Department on Wednesday where the two discussed his Arab-Israeli peacemaking efforts in the 1970s, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Friday."
"A Soviet specialist, Rice also telephoned another former Democratic president, Bill Clinton, who tried, and ultimately failed, in his eight years in office to bring the Israelis and Palestinians together."
"'She's trying to draw on the historical record and the experiences of others to see -- see what she can glean and how that may be applicable to the current day,' McCormack said."
"'She is a student of history and has a keen appreciation for how we can apply the lessons of history, what we can learn from those who have gone before us,' he said."
"Other sources of advice have been former U.S. negotiator Dennis Ross and ex-secretaries of state James Baker, Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright. Rice meets frequently for lunch with Albright, whose father taught Rice at Denver University."
"Rice has made clear she will devote all her energy in the Bush administration's final 14 months to get what others have failed to attain in the past -- a viable, independent Palestinian state living side by side with a secure Israel."
A few questions...
What could these failed politicians offer in the way of advice? Arafat is gone -- much of the money provided as "humanitarian aid" siphoned off before it reached the people who so desperately need it.
Will the United States sacrifice Israel's relative peace and tranquility for a Presidential Legacy?
What pressure will the United States attempt to exert on Israel to give up a portion of its land or control over disputed areas?
What makes Secretary Rice or any other politician believe that the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Hezbollah or any of the other terrorist and anti-American groups will control their own people after tens of years of indoctrination of hatred against the Jewish state?
The one man who can provide honest and effective advice...
If Secretary Rice needs to seek any guidance in protocol or regarding a potential United States diplomatic posture, she should be running away from Carter, Clinton, Albright and Kissinger to speak with the one man who did achieve a stalemated peace with the opposition. Binyamin "Bibi" Netanyahu!
First, consider his academic credentials:
Netanyahu earned a B.S. degree in Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1975, and an M.S. degree from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 1976 and has studied political science at Harvard and MIT.
Second, he does have some business experience:
After graduate school, Netanyahu worked at The Boston Consulting Group located in Boston, Massachusetts.
Third, he does have some military and intelligence experience...
Netanyahu served in the elite Special Forces known as the Sayeret Matkal, General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, a unit of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) tasked with counter-terrorism, deep reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. A side note: the unit which mounted Operation Thunderbolt (The Raid on Entebbe) lost only one man, the unit's commander, Yonatan Netanyahu, his older brother.
Fourth, he has a little political experience:
Deputy Chief of Mission at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. in 1982. Subsequently, he became Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, serving from 1984 to 1988. He was elected to the Knesset in 1988 and served in the governments led by Yitzhak Shamir from 1988 to 1992.
And fifth, there was this...
He was the Prime Minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999. A period of relative peace and calm
Of course he hasn't been silent on the issues of Israel and terrorism:
- A Durable Peace: Israel and Its Place Among the Nations (Warner Books, 2000)
- Fighting Terrorism: How Democracies Can Defeat Domestic And International Terrorism (Diane Pub Co, 1995)
- A Place Among the Nations (Bantam, 1993)
- Terrorism: How the West Can Win (Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1986)
And he does have a "day job:"
Netanyahu currently serves as the Leader of Israel's Opposition Party, the Likud.
In the final analysis, an amazing man and an amazing career which is not over. Especially when considering the credentials and experiences of some of our past presidents.
What can YOU do?
Realize that the Mideast conflict is not about religion so much as it is about political power, money and control of natural resources. It is also about certain Middle Eastern nations like Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran and others diverting the attention of an oppressed population towards a common enemy, Israel, so that the severe restrictions and maltreatment of the citizenry does not lead to a revolt. The overthrow of their corrupt and cruel dictatorships where the rulers and their friends live in indescribable splendor while the citizens live off political largess or in abject poverty.
Realize that our own humanitarian funds and oil revenues have enabled many of these hostile nations to buy arms and promote global terrorism. Some, primarily Saudi Arabia, seem to have made a deal with the devil: offering support to terrorists for a pledge not to attack the kingdom's rulers or holdings.
After years of relentless indoctrination into hating Israel and the Jewish religion, peace will most certainly require a multi-generational effort and a strong Israel to counteract all of the venom which has inoculated Israel's sworn enemies against all reason and acceptable behavior.
It is my personal view that a Mideast peace settlement is not possible or probable until one deals firmly with those states who demand that Israel be destroyed or who covertly sponsor terrorism. There is a reason that the other Middle Eastern nations do not want to have anything to do with the Palestinians -- and it has nothing to do with Israel.
Demand that the United States support Israel without an conditions which would result in the diminishment of their nation. Israel is our only real ally in the Middle East and can often counted upon to take preventative actions which frighten our leaders.
Let us not succumb to "political correctness" and offer solutions which will only blossom into further trouble.
As for the President's legacy: let it be simply that he maintained good peace and order in the United States. He probably will be judged by history as the second worst president of the modern era after Jimmy Carter. And, I cannot even begin to imagine what could improve his image. Selling out to illegal aliens to secure a "human rights" legacy? Nationalizing the healthcare industry as per Hillary Clinton? Fixing social security? There is almost no way he will be able to "fix" the Middle East and be eligible for the Nobel Peace Prize -- but then again, considering that they gave it to Arafat, Carter and Gore -- it may be possible after all...maybe after building a thousand or so homes for the poor.
Wish the President and his Administration well and set about re-building the Republican party in the conservative mold of Ronald Reagan.
Wish Secretary Rice well and hope she consults with proven leaders not has-beens in search of reflected glory. Albright's legacy was the nuclearization of North Korea. Kissinger's was Vietnam... let them both retire and teach at left-wing prestigious universities where they can no longer foul up American diplomacy or the affairs of other nations.
Do not vote for any candidate or current politician who is willing to subvert the safety, security and sovereignty of the United States or limit an individual's right of self-defense for personal power, prestige or profits.
-- steve
A reminder from OneCitizenSpeaking.com: a large improvement can result from a small change…
The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius
Reference Links:
Rice taps Clinton, Carter for Middle East advice - Yahoo! News
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“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius “A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell “Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar “Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS