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| Terror Networks |
| Sunni Arab View: From Iraq to Palestine |
| 2006-11-16 |
| Rhetoric shorn of conviction does not solve any problems. So, when British Prime Minister Tony Blair told a US panel on Iraq the other day that any solution to the current instability in the war-torn country should form part of a broader Middle East strategy, eyebrows were raised. And, understandably so. Did Blair mean Iraqi people should wait as long as a final solution to the Palestinian issue is found — an issue that has been hanging fire for half a century and more, and for which no serious effort is under way to find a settlement? If Blair is really keen on finding a solution to the Palestinian problem, wherein Palestinians will ultimately be able to live in their own state in peace, that is most welcome. Yet, linking Iraq to the Middle East’s oldest crisis is adding to the woes of Iraqi people, whose country has been turned into a living hell thanks to the invasion three years ago. There’s nothing wrong in the British Prime Minister offering help to the US on Iraq, though it is doubtful if Blair is in a position to influence the Americans. In fact, Blair’s plea to involve Teheran and Damascus in Iraq received a quick rebuff from Washington. Ideally, solutions should be found to the Iraqi and Palestinian problems without wasting any more time. It would, however, be more realistic if the Iraq and Palestine issues are not linked in the matter of a final settlement of the vexed problems, which are not directly related. |
| Posted by:.com |