| Road to Nowhere |
5 May 2003
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US Roadmap to Mid-East Peace Unveiled
True to his word, Mr. Bush has handed out his "roadmap to peace" for the Middle East now that Abu Mazen has been confirmed as Palestinian Prime Minister. It reminds one of a joke, often told at the expense of an Irishman, about a traveler who stops to ask directions of a stranger. The stranger knows how to reach a certain place but says, "First off, I wouldn't start from here."
Peace in the Mid-East is, of course, a very easy thing to achieve. Get rid of the last 60 years of hostility in the communal hearts of the the people living there; put oil under all of it, so that everyone gets $1 million a year for doing nothing; have Moses, Jesus and Mohammed, blessings upon them, appear and tell the inhabitants that God himself wants them to stop the fighting. And revive Julius Caesar's Thenth Legion to enforce it all with mass crucifixion for those who won't get with the program.
Mr. Bush's plan is not as ambitious. He wants the Palestinian authority to halt the terrorism coming from its side. He wants the Israelis to pull their troops back and give up some settlements. Much of this has been seen before. What hasn't been seen before is an America willing to use the stick as well as the carrot. And this is where the policy falls short.
The US sends literally billions in aid to countries in the Mid-East as part of previous "peace" deals. This aid needs to be cut off until such time as a general settlement is made. All purchases by countries in the region must be cash-and-carry, no credit, no loan guarantees, no favorable terms of financing. That is the secret weapon America has in this, and it must be used. And it is fair to do so; after all, Washington has been paying for peace all these years, and it hasn't turned up yet. It's time to stop payment on the check for goods not received.