[Peace-discuss] USA takes orders from Israel

[Randall Cotton]

Bravado? Are you suggesting, Carl, that Olmert is fabricating this quite
detailed storyline about how he single-handedly induced the President,
mid-lecture in Philadelphia, to overrule Rice and sabotage the
effectiveness of the UN cease-fire resolution (allowing Israel to more
easily dismiss it)? You disregard this too easily, I think. Here's another
account:

***

The Security Council resolution passed on Friday calling for an immediate
cease-fire in Gaza was a source of embarrassment for US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, who helped prepare it but ultimately was ordered to back
down from voting for it and abstain, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said
Monday.

Rice did not end up voting for Resolution 1860, thanks to a phone
conversation Olmert held with US President George Bush shortly before the
vote, the prime minister told a meeting of local authority heads in
Ashkelon as part of a visit to the South.

Upon receiving word that the US was planning to vote in favor of the
resolution - viewed by Israel as impractical and failing to address its
security concerns - Olmert demanded to get Bush on the phone, and refused
to back down after being told that the president was delivering a lecture
in Philadelphia. Bush interrupted his lecture to answer Olmert's call, the
premier said.
America could not vote in favor of such a resolution, Olmert told Bush.
Soon afterwards, Rice abstained when votes were counted at the UN.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231760642497&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

R

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "C. G. Estabrook" <galliher at uiuc.edu>
To: "Ron Szoke" <r-szoke at illinois.edu>
Cc: "Morton K. Brussel" <mkbrussel at comcast.net>; "peace-discuss Discuss"
<peace-discuss at anti-war.net>
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 9:17 AM
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] USA takes orders from Israel


: Probably bravado by the feckless Olmert.  He undoubtedly knew the story
of the
: Bush administration's slap-down of the Iran hit was about to break.
Remember
: Sharon had said after 9/11, "First Iraq, then Iran."  Olmert leaves
office
: having failed at the grand design.
:
: Remember too that the US primary role all along (as in 2006) has been to
keep
: the UN (and the "int'l community") off the back of the Israelis as they
continue
: their diry business. The US has used the veto threat to do that, and had
here
: crafted an innocuous resolution that could maintain the lie of US
even-handedness.
:
: If Rice was traduced in the event, it probably has more to do with
faction
: fights in the Bush administration (the neocons hate Rice for staging the
: ineffective coup against Hamas in 2007) than the laughably small
influence of
: the departing (and indictable) PM of Israel.  He's pretty erratic
anyway -- see
: the famous interview with Yedioth Aharonoth -- and is not even running
the war
: in the final days of his premiership. He tries to insist he's not
totally
: irrelevant and leave his successor (Netenyahu?), who'll be dealing with
a new
: gov't in DC anyway -- to overcome the embarrassment. --CGE
:
: ============
:
: Last update - 19:44 29/09/2008
: ANALYSIS / Olmert's epiphany is too little, too late
: By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent
:
: At the age of 63, just moments before his departure from premiership,
Ehud
: Olmert has reached an extraordinary epiphany. In order to make peace
with the
: Palestinians and the Syrians, Israel must withdraw from "nearly all the
: territories, if not all." As he told Yedioth Aharonoth in a holiday
interview,
: even East Jerusalem must be given to the Palestinians.
:
: Whoa.
:
: What an epiphany: In order to make peace with the Arabs, we must give
them land.
: How come we never thought of that before? And where was Olmert when the
Israeli
: left, and the whole international community, was repeatedly exhausting
this
: claim? Was he really among the screaming spokesmen for the camp opposing
all
: agreements and all compromises? Or was that just the evil child within
him, and
: not actually the real Olmert?
:
: Olmert is repenting now for his sins: For 35 years, he said, "I was not
prepared
: to see reality in all its depth." Now he is regretting his vote in
Knesset
: against a peace agreement with Egypt, as well as his stubborn refusal to
annex
: even a millimeter of Jerusalem's wide border. But most regretfully, he
has
: reached this realization too late for it to have any influence.
:
: In his words, agreements with the Palestinians and the Syrians are "very
close."
: If he were to stay in his post, he could fulfill them, could "bring the
State of
: Israel to a decision." But then this mishap occurred, and the State of
Israel
: brought about his dismissal, with just "one dubious witness, no trial
and no
: substantial evidence."
:
: So now it's clear who is to blame for dragging out this state of war and
: preventing peace: the state prosecutor, key witness Moshe Talansky, the
justices
: who decided to hear his testimony, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak who
coerced
: the prime minister to resign.
:
: Olmert fell, he says, due to the lust for power of unrestrained clerks,
who did
: not like his tendency to initiate and to make decisions. He would not
discuss
: the suspicions and investigations against him, but was rather insulted
by the
: criticism against him. A hedonist? Olmert? All he did was smoke some
cigars.
:
: Olmert believes so strongly in himself and in his self-righteousness,
that he is
: trying to make us forget a few of the details that don't fit into his
new image
: as prophet of peace.
:
: First of all, his negotiating partners have been painting an entirely
different
: picture altogether - if not opposite - of peace progress. Palestinian
President
: Mahmoud Abbas has said the Palestinians would never accept Olmert's
proposal for
: "partial peace." Syrian President Bashar Assad has still not agreed to
direct
: negotiations with Israel, even at a low level. This does not mean that
they are
: right and he is wrong. It is clear that there is a huge difference of
opinion
: when it comes to the chance for an agreement.
:
: Second, let's assume that Olmert is right and he soon signs an agreement
with
: Abbas. What could be done with this agreement? Should it be hung on the
wall?
: Who would execute it and when? And what would happen on the ground in
the meantime?
:
: Third, Olmert's attitude toward the settlers raises doubts about his
: trustworthiness. Olmert disparages Ariel Sharon in the interview, saying
that he
: spoke only of vague concessions without detailing what they would be.
Olmert is
: willing to be specific. "What I am saying, no other Israeli leader has
said
: before me," Olmert boasts.
:
: Sharon really was vague, but he was the only leader willing to stand up
to the
: settlers and evacuate them from their homes. Actions, not words. Olmert
is a
: hero in a newspaper interview, but in reality has been a marionette of
the
: settlers just like the leaders who preceded him.
:
: Olmert knew full well that settlement expansion would be an obstacle to
any
: peace agreement in the West Bank, and had said as much in the past.
However,
: after the bloody 2006 evacuation of the Amona settlement outpost during
his
: early days in office, Olmert became fearful of any confrontation or
friction
: with the settlers. And when extremist settlers became increasingly
violent
: toward their Palestinian neighbors and Israel Defense Forces soldiers,
Olmert
: did not even try to curb it. What was he waiting for? Why did he decide
to add
: thousands of housing units to settlement blocs that only add to their
rivals'
: propaganda, even if they are ultimately absorbed into Israel? And why
did he
: leave the outposts where they are?
:
: The conclusion that emerges is that Olmert is an excellent commentator,
but he
: lacks the firmness to execute his ideas. The interesting parts of the
interview
: touch on security issues. Olmert expresses doubts about a potential
attack on
: Iranian nuclear facilities, and he strongly opposes a new incursion into
Gaza -
: something he was unwilling to say during the barrage of Qassam rockets
into
: Israel, when the topic was at the center of public discussion.
:
: But Olmert also acts like a politician: He ignores the only political
agreement
: reached during his tenure with the Palestinians - the truce with Hamas
in Gaza -
: because that accomplishment is credited to his rival Barak.
:
:
: Ron Szoke wrote:
: > Olmert says called Bush to force change in U.N. vote
: >
: > Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:52pm GMT
: >
: > JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said a
telephone call
: > he made to U.S. President George W. Bush last week forced Secretary of
State
: > Condoleezza Rice to abstain in a U.N. vote on the Gaza war, leaving
her
: > "shamed."
: >
: > Pouring on political bravado in a speech late Monday, Olmert said he
: > demanded to talk to Bush with only 10 minutes to spare before a U.N.
Security
: > Council vote Thursday on a resolution opposed by Israel calling for an
: > immediate cease-fire.
: >
: > "When we saw that the secretary of state, for reasons we did not
really
: > understand, wanted to vote in favour of the U.N. resolution ... I
looked for
: > President Bush and they told me he was in Philadelphia making a
speech,"
: > Olmert said.
: >
: > "I said, 'I don't care. I have to talk to him now,'" Olmert said,
describing Bush,
: > who leaves office on January 20, as "an unparalleled friend" of
Israel.
: >
: > "They got him off the podium, brought him to another room and I spoke
to
: > him. I told him, 'You can't vote in favour of this resolution.' He
said, 'Listen, I
: > don't know about it, I didn't see it, I'm not familiar with the
phrasing.'"
: >
: > Olmert said he then told Bush: "'I'm familiar with it. You can't vote
in favour.'
: >
: > "He gave an order to the secretary of state and she did not vote in
favour of it -
: > - a resolution she cooked up, phrased, organised and manoeuvred for.
She was
: > left pretty shamed and abstained on a resolution she arranged," Olmert
said.
: >
: > Fourteen of the Security Council's 15 members supported the
resolution, which
: > has failed to halt Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip and Hamas's
cross-border
: > rocket fire.
: >
: > Olmert, under police investigation over alleged corruption, resigned
as prime
: > minister in September but is serving in a caretaker capacity until a
new
: > government is formed after Israel's February 10 parliamentary
election.
: >
: > (Writing by Jeffrey Heller, Editing by Alistair Lyon)
: > _______________________________________________
: > Peace-discuss mailing list
: > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
: > http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss
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