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February 23, 2004
Tenet of Arafat?
Initially, I was quite puzzled by this report about the deportation of Palestinian democracy activist Issam Abu Issa. I like to think that our government would support freedom-loving Arabs, especially those in dialogue with such figures as Natan Sharansky. A few choice excerpts: Mr. Abu Issa’s experience is par for the course when it comes to the way America treats profreedom, Western-oriented Arabs.Why would American authorities behave in such a manner and side with a murderous tyrant like Arafat? Because Arafat is seen as "our guy," that's why. Just as the CIA failed to forestall fatal terrorist attacks on US embassies in Nairobi and Daar es Salaam in 1998, it failed again to prevent the bombing of American guided missile destroyer USS Cole in Aden harbor last month.Hey, that was written before Bush was president. Read the whole thing, as they say. And if you're not ready to weep, because the DEBKA story is too old, or if you think DEBKA is unreliable, consider the remarkable continuity in United States policy: Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erakat welcomed Cheney's remarks and said he hoped a deal could be struck soon to implement the Tenet plan.Blah blah blah. That was in 2002 (after September 11), when CNN characterized the Arafat-Tenet alliance as "encouraging." Hey, there's also the Saudi plan! "We" need "stability." "We" need to back our "allies." Even when they're undermining Iraq? We (meaning Tenet) even appear to be giving Arafat regular intelligence briefings. Jim Hoagland offers a similar insight: The Bush administration now faces an acute dilemma in unraveling the confusion and complexities created by U.S. intelligence taking on responsibilities that are deeply operational and political. Operating under an intelligence "finding" signed by President Clinton, the CIA has helped train and equip Yasser Arafat's security forces. HipperCritical links to a tantalizing article in The New Republic which may shed light -- although I'm too cheap to pay for it. Plus, I suspect it would only confirm what none of us want to know about. But here's a sneaky excerpt, quoted by the very leftie Nation: "the Agency's reluctance to confront Saddam dates back to the aftermath of the Gulf war, when the CIA grew opposed to assisting the Kurdish and Shia rebellions against the dictator."I can't say the CIA is entirely Bush's fault, because I don't think he has the power to do anything about it. (Perhaps nobody does.) Besides, presidents who dare to cross the CIA tend historically to have a bad time of things. So, while I agree with Glenn Reynolds that pro-democracy Arabs deserve better treatment by the U.S., it doesn't appear likely that they're going to get it. posted by Eric on 02.23.04 at 10:41 PM |
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Unfortunately, our government has had a history of selling out our friends, beginning, I think, with the State Department under John Foster Dulles in 1956 betraying our allies Britain and France and allying with the Soviet Union in order hand the Suez Canal over to Muslim-occupied Egypt. That was the same year we stood by and watched Soviet tanks roll into Budapest to crush the revolt there. Hungarian schoolgirls were packed in boxcars and sent to Siberia. Later, the State Department under Kissinger granted recognition, trade, and aid to Communist China in the name of "detente" -- and betrayed our Free China. Our government is still betraying Free China. We keep sending out the message that it doesn't pay to be an ally of the United States, you'll just get kicked in the teeth. We're not despised because we're too strong and aggressive but because we're too weak and appeasing of our enemies.