Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, June 2003, pages 6-7, 93

Special Report

 

U.S. and Israel's Interests Converge in Iraq

 

By Rachelle Marshall

We are happy to be rid of injustice, but we fear the Americans' intentions.

—Sayyid Abu Murtadah al-Yasiri, Iraqi religious leader, New York Times, April 10, 2003.

Just as Israeli leaders have destroyed all bridges of trust and confidence between the Palestinian and Israeli people by their ill-fated and shortsighted policies, the Bush administration has taken the U.S. back in history to the despised era of colonialism and imperialism.

—Jerusalem Times editorial, March 28, 2003.

With a display of raw power that sent thousands of tons of bombs raining down on Iraq, U.S. and British forces took less than three weeks to lay waste to the center of the city of Baghdad, oust Saddam Hussain, and reduce Iraq to a state of anarchy. Bush administration officials tried to avoid gloating, but clearly were jubilant at the victory of the world's most powerful military force over a weak and impoverished country of 25 million people. But those who remember the Israelis celebrating the victory of their army over the armies of Egypt, Jordan and Syria in 1967 know that such sweeping victories can come at a high price.

For the Iraqi people the price already has been high. The U.S. attack killed thousands of Iraqis, both military and civilian, sent thousands more to crowded, under-equipped hospitals, and left millions of people without adequate food or water. In several cities looters took over the streets, ransacking even hospitals and museums. In the north, Kurdish forces revenged themselves for past mistreatment at the hands of Iraqis by driving Arab families from their homes. In the south feuds between rival Shi'i factions led to more killings. Columnist Arianna Huffington wrote on April 17 that "The Arab world…is seeing American forces leaving behind a wake of destruction, looting, hunger, humiliation, and chaos."

It was evident almost immediately that the Pentagon experts who had meticulously planned every step of the military operations had made no provision for restoring order or guarding Iraq's priceless antiquities. Marines were immediately sent to guard the Ÿil Ministry, but Iraqi civilians went for weeks without such basic essentials as clean water, sanitation, or electric power. The same administration that launched a war on Afghanistan, then left much of the country to the mercy of violent warlords, demonstrated similar lack of interest in providing for the needs of ordinary Iraqis.

Few Iraqis were sorry to see the end of Saddam Hussain, but his overthrow raised questions of what kind of regime would take his place, what action the Bush administration will take next in its effort to "reshape" the Middle East, and how the upheaval in Iraq will affect the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Unless wise policies prevail, the chief victims of the war could well be Iraq as a unified nation, the Palestinian people, and peace in the Middle East.

A major obstacle to restoring stability in Iraq may turn out to be the Bush administration's failure to involve a broad spectrum of Iraqi opposition groups in its decision-making process. Middle East specialist Judith Kipper commented in early April that "What is amazing to me is that this is a made-in-the-USA war, that there is no Iraqi face to this war, no Iraqi partner, and we haven't seen a single administration official meeting with Iraqis." It is now evident, however, that Bush's chief goal was not "liberating the Iraqi people" and establishing democracy in Iraq, but extending U.S. military supremacy throughout the region.

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice declared early on that "having given life and blood to liberate Iraq," only the U.S.-led coalition had the right to determine the interim governing authority in Iraq. In order for the administration to carry out its plans, the new Iraqi government has to be a friendly one. The Pentagon said in mid-April that it would maintain four permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq. Because of their strategic locations, these bases will allow U.S. forces to be stationed just over the border from Syria, and, in combination with American bases in Afghanistan and Central Asia, leave Iran surrounded by a U.S. military presence.

The Pentagon moved quickly to install its hand-picked Iraqi leader on April 11 by flying Ahmad Chalabi into northern Iraq, along with his private army of "Free Iraqi Fighters." A week later Chalabi's representive, Muhammad Zobaidi, declared himself mayor of Baghdad. Chalabi, a wealthy banker who left Iraq 48 years ago, had to flee Jordan in 1992 after he was convicted of embezzling millions of dollars from his bank in Amman. He is strongly supported by Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and Rumsfeld's deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, but opposed by State Department and CIA officials, who say Chalabi never fully accounted for the U.S. aid money he received as head of the London-based Iraqi National Congress. An anonymous State Department official called him "a charlatan," with little support in Iraq. Even with Pentagon backing, Chalabi faces a difficult job. As he was moving into an elegant Baghdad mansion, guarded by heavily armed U.S. soldiers, thousands of angry Iraqis marched through the city carrying banners saying, "Americans, leave our country."

Although Iraqis may not like him, Chalabi is a favorite of American pro-Israel organizations, especially the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA). The Northern California Jewish Bulletin reported on April 25 that Chalabi is involved in talks with Washington and Jerusalem about Iraqi recognition of the state of Israel and plans for constructing an oil pipeline from Mosul in northern Iraq to a terminal in Haifa. He will run Iraq as part of a triumvirate that includes two other strongly pro-Israel Americans, former CIA chief James Woolsey and retired Gen. Jay Garner. Garner traveled to Israel in 2000 as a guest of JINSA and afterward signed a statement praising the Israeli army for its "remarkable restraint" in responding to the intifada. Since 1997 he has been president of SYColeman, the military contractor that helped Israel develop the Arrow missile-defense system. As director of reconstruction efforts, one of Garner's new duties will be to dole out lucrative contracts for rebuilding Iraq's oil fields. One such project may well be the reopening of the oil pipeline between Mosul and Haifa that was closed in 1958 when Iraq's king was overthrown.

Woolsey, the third member of the governing group, was a Cold War hawk who now names Iran, Syria, and Islamic militants as the enemies. According to Woolsey, Iraq was only the opening chapter of what he calls the "Fourth World War"—and sure enough, even before U.S. forces rolled into Baghdad, Bush, Rumsfeld, and Secretary of State Colin Powell began threatening Syria. With a gravity more appropriate to the discovery of a shipment of nuclear weapons, Rumsfeld accused Syria of providing the Iraqis with ight-vision goggles. When it appeared that goggles were not changing the course of the war, Bush said "there are chemical weapons in Syria" and accused the Syrians of providing refuge for enior Iraqi officials. The administration even suggested that the reason no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq is that they had been smuggled into Syria.

Syria's possession of chemical weapons as a deterrent against Israel's powerful military has long been known in Washington, and the other accusations are also smokescreens. The U.S. decision to shut down the vital oil pipeline between Iraq and Syria and impose additional penalties if Syria did not "cooperate," followed strong urging by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz that Washington force the Syrians to dismantle Hezbollah, the organization that drove the Israelis out of southern Lebanon in 2000.

When it comes to moving against Syria, the Israelis have willing allies in the Bush administration, among them Defense Undersecretary Douglas Feith and David Wurmser, chief aide to Assistant Secretary of State John Bolton. Feith, who prepared a report on½Syria's support for "terrorist groups," co-authored with Wurmser and fellow neocon Richard Perle a policy statement for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in 1996 that called for abandoning the Oslo peace process and reasserting Israel's claim to the West Bank and Gaza. Sharon and Mofaz have provided Washington with a steady stream of intelligence reports on Syria.

½he Sharon government has already reaped considerable benefits from the U.S. attack on Iraq. The Pentagon not only made extensive use of Israeli-made missiles and other technology, but hired Israeli military experts to brief officers on the measures used by Israeli occupation forces in crowded Palestinian neighborhoods. According to New York Times reporter James Bennett, the Americans adopted from the Israelis such tactics as checkpoints, storming homes to search for weapons, bulldozing trees and houses to improve lines of fire, and firing on anyone who wandered into off-limit areas. Army officials were especially interested in Israel's use of tank rounds to blast holes through walls of closely packed houses so that soldiers could avoid the streets.

 

Seizing the Opportunity

With attention focused on Iraq, Israel seized the opportunity to intensify its violence in the occupied territories. The scenes of Iraqi marketplaces turned to rubble, mothers holding dead children, dismembered bodies, and people weeping in front of their demolished homes were replicated on only a somewhat smaller scale in Gaza. A Washington Post report in early April said that "Hospital officials were overwhelmed by the flood of mangled, bloodied bodies delivered in ambulances and private automobiles," referred not to Iraq but to the aftermath of an Israeli missile strike on central Gaza City. On April 19 soldiers accompanied by dozens of tanks and helicopters attacked Rafah, killed five people, including a photographer for AP, and wounded at least 35 others. Witnesses said Israeli snipers took deliberate aim at journalists wearing brightly colored vests saying "Press."

Israeli forces also began targeting members of the International Solidarity Movement, volunteers in bright orange vests who act as unarmed intermediaries between the army and Palestinian civilians. While family and friends were still mourning the death of ISM member Rachel Corrie, who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in late March, soldiers shot Brian Avery and Tom Hurndall as they tried to herd children out of range of the gunfire. The scores of other innocent victims included George Saadeh and his family, who were driving to a supermarket when soldiers opened fire on their car. Saadeh and three members of his family were wounded, and his 12-year old daughter was killed. Saadeh is principal of Shepherd's School in Bethlehem, where lessons in peace and democracy are part of the curriculum.

With the likelihood that Bush would turn his attention to the "road map to peace" he outlined nearly a year ago, Ariel Sharon did his best to make certain it could not be implemented. While the Israeli army was killing an average of five and six Palestinians a day, bulldozers were demolishing Palestinian homes. Sharon offered to dismantle two settlements as a concession to the Palestinians, but Peace Now spokesman Dror Etkes pointed out that the Sharon government had not dismantled any of the more than a hundred illegal settlements built in the last few years, and continues to seize Palestinian land for more settlement housing.

In early April, over objections from the Bush administration, Sharon allowed a hundred Jewish families to move into the Arab neighborhood of Ras al-Amoud in East Jerusalem, the first inhabitants of a settlement that will eventually have 130 housing units. The new apartments cut off Palestinian access to the holy sites in Jerusalem and could make a shared capital in Jerusalem impossible. That is its purpose, the project's leader, Arieh King said. "[It] connects the Israeli settlements around the Old City. If we create a strong enough presence here, it makes the division of the city impossible."

Two current proposals before the Knesset could be even more fatal to the road map, which calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005. Sharon wants to build a north-south fence along the Jordan Valley so as to create a corridor for settlers along the Jordan border, and Defense Minister Mofaz wants to move the fence now being built along the Israeli border much deeper into Palestinian territory, with the result that 40,000 settlers and 3,000 Palestinians would be left on the Israeli side. Even less territory would be left for a Palestinian state.

As the fighting in Iraq ended, the Bush administration showed support for the Palestinians' newly named prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, by asking the Israelis to consider a partial troop pullback, an easing of checkpoints and other restrictions on travel and work permits, and the turnover of more tax revenues to Palestinian authorities. Sharon said he would grant these concessions once Abbas made substantive efforts to stop Palestinian violence, but he refused to endorse the road map itself. The Israelis have submitted 14 objections to the plan, and a U.S. official said "I suspect we will have to accept less than 100 percent delivery." Sharon also insists that before he will negotiate any peace agreement the Palestinians must give up their demand for the right of return for refugees.

Prime Minister Abbas faces obstacles on several fronts. His proposed cabinet angered Yasser Arafat because it excluded several Fatah veterans who are part of Arafat's old guard, so even though many of them have been accused of inefficiency and corruption, parliament may vote down their replacements. But even if Abbas gets the authority he wants, he will face the much larger problem of extracting meaningful concessions from an intransigent Israeli government backed by a Bush admininistration that refuses to pressure it.

The road map offers the Palestinians an easing of their extreme misery but it does not assure true independence. The plan calls for a Palestinian state but is vague on what powers the new state would have, or what its boundaries would be, and Bush has said the two sides must work out the final details themselves. Sharon has already offered the Palestinians a "state" on 40 percent of the West Bank, with Israel retaining control of its borders, water, and air space, an offer the Palestinians could never accept. Abbas, therefore, is faced with the challenge of persuading Palestinian militants to give up violent resistance without concrete assurance that Israel will withdraw from all of the occupied territories or even fulfill any promises it makes. Meanwhile the Israeli army is making Abbas's task even more difficult, with constant arrests, house demolitions, assassinations, and indiscriminate killings.

It is remarkable that the Palestinian people have not given up hope and that a majority remain dedicated to laying the foundation of a democratic society. With a new prime minister and a draft constitution that protects basic freedoms, they now have a chance to do so, but first they will need the support of Europe, Middle East countries, and the United States. In his two-plus years as president, George Bush has waged two wars and extended U.S. military supremacy across the globe. His challenge now is to make peace.

Rachelle Marshall is a free-lance editor living in Stanford, CA. A member of the Jewish International Peace Union, she writes frequently on the Middle East.

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