January 31, 2003

“After the War with Iraq”

Looking ahead I see serious problems. Let’s assume American forces war with Iraq and enjoy a swift and decisive victory. Will the Arab kings, autocrats, and popular masses jump for joy at the defeat of one of their own despots? Will President Bush wave his finger in warning to the Arab people and their leaders telling them it’s time for change and that the end has come to Jew and Christian hatred—to approbating terrorists by calling them martyrs and heroes?

I expect the opposite to happen. President Bush will pat his old friends along the Persian Gulf on the back and tell them, “I did this for your own good, now you are free to govern as in the past.” I fear the United States will attempt to reassure all Arabs of its great friendship, and to support these words President Bush will forcibly put the Quartet’s roadmap for Mideastern peace back on the table.

The Quartet—the United States, United Nations, the European Union and Russia propose the establishment of a Palestinian State by the end of this year with undetermined borders. Their plan calls for a cease-fire and for the Palestinian Authority to undertake a number of reforms. The plan is not a workable path to peace. Good relations between friendly nations depend upon the integrity and the skills of their leaders. The Palestinians have yet to present a trustworthy leader or a capable one. They are all mini-Saddams and Saddam himself is a microcosm of Yasir Arafat, the ultimate liar, crook and buffoon.

Saddam is also a phenomenon created by the United States. He was a precious ally, and Presidents Carter, Reagan and Bush, Sr. coddled him when they believed him to be the buffer between American friends in the Persian Gulf and Iran. Only Menachem Begin and his successors knew the intentions of the Iraqi dictator. Israel’s leaders warned against support for Saddam, but were told to mind their own business.

Secretary of State Colin Powell speaking recently in Switzerland said, “Israel must offer Palestinians more than a phony state diced into a thousand different pieces.” Were Israel to comply, it would have to dismantle many large settlements, cede the Jordan Valley and bring Arab sovereignty to the door of Tel Aviv. It would legitimately bring across its borders tanks and warplanes and, guess what, weapons of mass destruction. These weapons would come from Syria across the Jordanian desert into the West Bank. They would be the same weapons the UN inspectors cannot find in Iraq because Saddam hid them in Syria. Bashar Assad, the mad ruler of Syria, would happily gift them to the Palestinians.
The two-state plan, like any other, requires a reacculturation for the Palestinians. It would have to begin at the entry of elementary school, in the television stations and in the rest of the media where today, Jews and Israel are portrayed as villains. Suicide murderers are called martyrs to the point that the Arab mentality is laden with hate towards the West and most especially the United States and adoration for Bin-Laden and all the other cursed terrorists. Failing to do this makes the establishment of a state a reward for terrorism and deception.
An American decisive victory against Saddam could be a great benefit to the Arab world and all of humankind. America could begin a process of democratization and education in the Middle East. This process would bring peace between Israel and its neighbors.
If, heaven forbid, Saddam is not decisively defeated, President Bush and his administration will have to exercise great care not to pacify or retreat in its opposition to terrorism and rogue states. Giving in under such circumstances would be worse than losing the war. It would devastate western economies and leave the free world to the mercy of the Saddams and the Bin-Ladens, the Assads and the Arafats and certainly not to exclude the fakers who lead Saudi Arabia.
Americans are mostly smitten by President Bush and his personal warmth, fairness and common sense. This President won his way into the hearts of most Americans and many Jews. I pray the President has the hand of G-d upon his shoulder guiding him in his leadership of the greatest nation known since creation. His helping hand to Israel and just friendship will assure him of the Divine guidance he desperately needs at this critical time in human experience.

Shabbat Shalom