Zombie
4th June 2003, 08:30
Naharnet.com
Beirut, June 2, 2003
International silence toward the rise of the "new Rome" has given George W. Bush more leverage to impose the road map to peace with a political cover from America's Arab allies – Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, Ghassan Tueni opined Monday.
In his front-page editorial in An Nahar, Tueni referred to a "road map of summits," noting Bush's stops in Saint Petersburg and Evian before heading to the Middle East for a meeting with Arab leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh and later with the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers in Aqaba.
The Arabs need not reject the road map and be blamed for another missed opportunity for peace. Israel's own reservation might offer a way out.
The Arabs, Tueni insisted, have long since exhausted all their resources that would have fortified their steadfastness- "steadfastness, not suicide," he stressed.
And now, the Arabs have to "remain positive, and must not allow our pessimism to be blamed for a failed peace effort," Tueni wrote.
"The tragedy is that the Iraqis are the ones who might determine the fate of the Arabs after Saddam's dictatorship had denied them a decision-sharing role," he said.
This in Tueni's view could be achieved through a "democratic revolution against the imperial American dream."
If the Iraqis reach a consensus on a new system of rule, this would spoil for the Americans their guardianship role, he wrote. "It would spoil it positively, not negatively, like our rich past of suicidal tendencies."
The United States, said Tueni, would not be able to stop the Iraqis from "building a new truly democratic regime," and this in itself would be the first step on "a road map, going in the opposite direction."
"This would restore to the Arabs a semblance of their lost historical glory, and recover some respect that could encourage the world to stand by their side," he said.
This would probably encourage Ariel Sharon to rebel against pressures applied by Washington to implement the road map and consequently "lead Israel to the abyss," and end America's pursuit of an "imaginary empire."
Tueni sternly cautioned the Arabs against "acting as Israel would wish us to act," meaning providing Sharon with an excuse to bring Washington to reduce pressure on the Jewish state. This, Tueni opined, also would discourage even the small measure of influence the rest of the world still enjoys on Washington.
Source (http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/getstory?openform&653E9BD68A45D25442256D3900363974)
Beirut, June 2, 2003
International silence toward the rise of the "new Rome" has given George W. Bush more leverage to impose the road map to peace with a political cover from America's Arab allies – Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, Ghassan Tueni opined Monday.
In his front-page editorial in An Nahar, Tueni referred to a "road map of summits," noting Bush's stops in Saint Petersburg and Evian before heading to the Middle East for a meeting with Arab leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh and later with the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers in Aqaba.
The Arabs need not reject the road map and be blamed for another missed opportunity for peace. Israel's own reservation might offer a way out.
The Arabs, Tueni insisted, have long since exhausted all their resources that would have fortified their steadfastness- "steadfastness, not suicide," he stressed.
And now, the Arabs have to "remain positive, and must not allow our pessimism to be blamed for a failed peace effort," Tueni wrote.
"The tragedy is that the Iraqis are the ones who might determine the fate of the Arabs after Saddam's dictatorship had denied them a decision-sharing role," he said.
This in Tueni's view could be achieved through a "democratic revolution against the imperial American dream."
If the Iraqis reach a consensus on a new system of rule, this would spoil for the Americans their guardianship role, he wrote. "It would spoil it positively, not negatively, like our rich past of suicidal tendencies."
The United States, said Tueni, would not be able to stop the Iraqis from "building a new truly democratic regime," and this in itself would be the first step on "a road map, going in the opposite direction."
"This would restore to the Arabs a semblance of their lost historical glory, and recover some respect that could encourage the world to stand by their side," he said.
This would probably encourage Ariel Sharon to rebel against pressures applied by Washington to implement the road map and consequently "lead Israel to the abyss," and end America's pursuit of an "imaginary empire."
Tueni sternly cautioned the Arabs against "acting as Israel would wish us to act," meaning providing Sharon with an excuse to bring Washington to reduce pressure on the Jewish state. This, Tueni opined, also would discourage even the small measure of influence the rest of the world still enjoys on Washington.
Source (http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/getstory?openform&653E9BD68A45D25442256D3900363974)