fantasy

[/ dave /]

Israel has intensified their military activity and warlike stance since
Tuesday's disaster, and on top of it Ariel Sharon has pulled Israel out
of a meeting with Yasser Arafat, a move that is is in direct opposition
to the stated wishes of Colin Powell and by extension the U.S.
Administration, at a very delicate time.

What's more, it goes without saying that Israel's behavior undermines
Washington's ability to obtain favorable treatment from Pakistan and
other states in the area (which, in the case of Pakistan, is absolutely
essential to the succesful prosecution of Washington's aims in rooting
out Osama bin Laden), to the extent that the U.S. is perceived by those
states as being associated with Israel.

The brutality of the terrorist attack and the resultant, almost
unprecedented "closing ranks" amongst many states that have otherwise
been thought of as beligerents and foes would seem to place Israel in an
odd position of isolation, given that their behavior is widely seen as
working against these forces, and not least the specific aims of the
United States - at a time when the U.S., the hegemon, can least afford
it. One has only to examine the delicate give-and-take, the respectful
spoken words, between the Pakistanis and Colin Powell to see what's at stake.

So is it remotely possible that this whole incident could see a
diminishing of Israel's stature in the eyes of the U.S. government and
other western states, perhaps even giving the Israel dissenters within
those governments a long-awaited foot-in-the-door toward a more
realistic and humanitarian stance vis-a-vis the Palestinians?

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/  dave  /