Winning While Losing

22 September 2003


Syrians Outfox Yanks at UN

The United States vetoed a UN resolution drafted by Syria and other Arab states demanding that " Israel , the occupying power, desist from any act of deportation and cease any threat to the safety of the elected president of the Palestinian Authority." Setting aside for a moment the fact that Mr. Arafat's term has expired, the US had nothing to lose by voting for this resolution. Instead, the Bush administration decided to give its tattered credibility another rip.

The official US reason for the veto was the absence of any language condemning the suicide bombings against Israel and the organizations that commit them. One would think by now that the White House would know that Arab governments wouldn't dare put in such language for fear of troubles at home. Moreover, the US should also know that language to that effect will have no affect anyway.

Instead, the US should have sponsored the resolution along with Syria, and irritated the Israeli government for its downright stupid statement about "removing" Mr. Arafat. Since they decided to telegraph their punch, they deserve to have it deflected. And the US would have been able to demand something in return from the Arabs, like help with Iraq. As it is, all the Bush administration got was a quiet conscience.

What the Bush administration failed to understand was that win or lose, the Syrian won simply by tabling the resolution. If the thing had passed, they would have had a UN resolution supporting Mr. Arafat. Having lost to a US veto but getting 11 out of 15 votes for it (Germany, Bulgaria and Britain abstained), the Syrians walk away with a huge PR victory and have tarred the Americans as biased. In soccer, its called an "own goal."

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