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Subject: 
Re: Conflict in the Middle East
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.off-topic.debate
Date: 
Tue, 2 Apr 2002 23:15:32 GMT
Viewed: 
1092 times
  
In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Lindsay Frederick Braun writes:
> In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Fredrik Glöckner writes:
> > Now is the time for the American authorities to give a crystal clear
> > message to the Israeli authorities that the violence and the occupation
> > must end.  I think that is the only short term solution for the conflict
> > right now.
> 
>   Just to start the flamethrowers:
> 
>   I don't think this White House is going to do that.  It would jeopardize
>   their rhetorical position, which wants so desperately to be black-and-
>   white about states vs. terrorism that they can't see how grey the scale
>   really is.  Frankly, the only person with the balls to do that would be
>   Powell, and he's severely outnumbered by the hawks who are firmly behind
>   the Israelis.  And yes, I still think Bush is an idiot.
> 
>   I agree with your reading, Fredrik.  The money needs to stop flowing.
>   The settlers' expansion must end.  But Bush can't possibly concede those
>   things without losing his rhetorical position, Sharon couldn't accept it
>   without forfeiting his life, and so forth.  This is an excellent moment
>   for the EU as a unit to break from the US line and send a powerful message
>   *itself* that the world isn't an American plaything.  This is one moment
>   for which I'm convinced Gore would have been a better chief executive.
>   But somehow I don't think the EU could agree on what to do--its federal
>   organs are still too weak.
> 
>   Frankly, I'm becoming more and more convinced that only mainland China
>   has little enough invested in the conflict or the alliances therein to
>   serve as an arbiter (they're annoyed with both Islam and the US circle).
>   But the catch is that they don't *want* to, and in that, they're smart.
> 
>   Just my two cents.

If those were two euro-cents, it would have been me saying it. ;-)
I share this oppinion entirely - especially what you say regarding the
Chinese stand, I think that is a pretty clever reading of the situation (but
then again, China has historically been isolationist outside the immediate
east asian context).


Pedro



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Conflict in the Middle East
 
(...) Just to start the flamethrowers: I don't think this White House is going to do that. It would jeopardize their rhetorical position, which wants so desperately to be black-and- white about states vs. terrorism that they can't see how grey the (...) (24 years ago, 31-Mar-02, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

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