Military

DATE=04/01/02

TYPE=US OPINION ROUNDUP

TITLE=BUSH/MIDDLE EAST DIPLOMACY

NUMBER=6-125626

BYLINE=FRED COOPER

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

INTERNET=

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The escalating violence between Israel and the Palestinians is prompting calls in a number of United States newspaper editorial columns for President Bush and his administration to intervene more directly to put an end to the fighting. The Administration has said top-level officials have been deeply engaged in efforts to find a solution, but that it continues to support Special Envoy Anthony Zinni's mission in the Middle East. While Secretary of State Colin Powell says he would travel to the region if it would be useful, he did not indicate that he plans to do so at this time. Here with a sampling of U-S editorial comment on the matter is V-O-A's________________.

TEXT: Several editorial writers in the United States are calling for the direct involvement of Secretary of State Colin Powell or President Bush, saying anything short of a full United States effort will be insufficient to end the escalating bloodshed. The Los Angeles Times puts it this way:

VOICE: . . .The administration needs to dive in and separate the Israelis and Palestinians -- and with fear and rage pounding through both combatants' veins, it is going to take a higher-ranking referee than Anthony C. Zinni to make that happen. . . . It is time to send in Secretary of State Colin L. Powell with a plan recognizing that military and political talks can and must go on at the same time.

TEXT: The Los Angeles Times goes on to suggest that although they wish it were otherwise, U-S presidents always find there is no way the United States can extricate itself from the Middle East:

VOICE: /// OPT /// President Clinton plunged in personally and came close to bringing [Palestinian leader Yasser] Arafat and then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to an accord. Yes, [Mr.] Arafat burned [Mr.] Clinton at the last minute by rejecting a reasonable plan. But surely [President] Bush understands that geopolitics is a brutal game; leaders have to play with whoever is on the field, and at the moment that means [Mr.] Arafat. . . what is happening now is increasingly tragic. Until the world's sole remaining superpower assertively intervenes, the already ugly fight will continue escalating toward something even more gruesome. /// END OPT ///

TEXT: In Texas, the Houston Chronicle says it is not clear that any third party can do anything at the moment to stem the violence. And while it expresses disappointment the president's position on the current violence could be clearer, it notes:

VOICE: White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said [President] Bush would step in himself to hold face-to-face meetings "if it becomes the president's judgment that that is the final step that would achieve something that leads to peace." But the onus for ending the violence is on the two parties themselves, [Mr.]Fleischer said. "The Israelis and the Palestinians have to want peace, seek peace and work to create peace. And in so doing they will always have the United States standing at both sides' shoulders in order to achieve peace."

TEXT: But another Texas newspaper, the Dallas Morning News is calling for direct involvement of both Secretary of State Powell and U-N Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

VOICE: Like it or not, the only lasting answer will come from effective diplomacy that builds upon both sides' strategic interests. Hence the need for the Bush administration to insert Secretary of State Colin Powell, instead of envoy Anthony Zinni, more into the daily negotiating loop. And hence the need for United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to play a more direct role in controlling the violence. Mr. Annan particularly could help through getting nations like Saudi Arabia to not reward families of suicide bombers. Mr. Powell also should make this a priority. The madness will not stop if fanatics are rewarded. For starters, Mr. Powell and Mr. Annan need to maneuver both sides toward the cease-fire arrangement that C-I-A Director George Tenet worked out, sadly, almost one-year ago.

TEXT: The views of the Dallas Morning News. In Southern California, an editorial in the San Jose Mercury News also urges the Secretary of State to step in:

VOICE: Mr. Powell has respect on both sides. His traveling to the region would underscore an American resolve to stretch its involvement in order to break the impasse. . . the assignment would be risky in terms of personal safety and in the potential for

failure. But something more is needed to drive home to both sides the need for restraint.

TEXT: Similarly, in the capital of Massachusetts, The Boston Globe says:

VOICE: The antagonists need to be saved from their furies by a dramatic diplomatic intervention. The Bush administration, in concert with the many governments that attended the first Madrid conference in 1991, should convene a second international conference that can offer a viable state to the Palestinians and an internationally guaranteed right to live within secure and defensible borders to Israel. Only such a comprehensive resolution of the conflict is likely to end the Mideast's dance of death.

TEXT: The New York Times says that although he may not want to step up American involvement, President Bush has no choice. It adds the president is the only leader with the "authority and influence to make a difference at this perilous hour." The Times is urging the Bush administration to both press forward with U-S Envoy Zinni's efforts and a new initiative by the Secretary of State:

VOICE: Mr. Bush should also send Secretary of State Colin Powell to mobilize international backing for a new peace effort. He should enlist support from President Vladimir Putin of Russia, Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain and Arab leaders like Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah of Jordan, and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.

TEXT: A comment from the New York Times, concluding this round-up of U-S editorial opinion on U-S involvement in stopping Israeli-Palestinian violence.

NEB/FC/RAE