Anger at 'governor' Garner's pro-Israel stance
ALEX MASSIE
HE IS the man tasked with rebuilding Iraq and uniting the ethnic and religious factions that divide the country. But before he has even started, General Jay Garner has come in for a storm of criticism from Arab and Muslim groups who claim his pro-Israeli views make him the wrong man for the job.
Gen Garner has been involved with the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), has visited Israel, and once signed a statement defending Israel and accusing Palestinians of filling their children with hate.
"I honestly think when Iraqis find out [about the statement] they are going to be genuinely appalled," said Hussein Ibish, a spokesman for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
Gen Garner, who will run an interim Iraqi authority, was one of more than 40 retired US military leaders to sign his name to a letter two years ago when the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, declared a new intifada against Israel.
The letter strongly supported Israel, praising Tel Aviv for exercising "remarkable restraint" and placed the primary blame for the crisis on Palestinian leaders.
A Palestinian tactic to "use civilians as soldiers in a war is a perversion of military ethics", the statement said. Palestinian leaders taught children the mechanics of war while "filling their heads with hate", and Palestinian police and military commanders were "betting their children's lives on the capabilities and restraint" of the Israeli defence forces, the statement added.
The Palestinians are "callously using the inevitable casualties as grist for their propaganda mill", it said.
Gen Garner, who 12 years ago oversaw US efforts to aid Kurds in northern Iraq after the first Gulf war, is among more than 250 retired US military officers who have travelled to Israel with JINSA over the years.
Some Arab critics suggest that Gen Garner's selection for the reconstruction job will be met with strong objections in the Middle East. "There have been well over 2,000 Palestinians killed in the past two years and the Iraqis know who killed them," said Professor Rashid Khalidi, who specialises in Middle Eastern history at the University of Chicago.
Sarah Eltantawi, the spokeswoman for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, in Washington, called the choice of Gen Garner "very unwise - it will not reinforce among the Iraqis the sentiment that their leadership is representative".
JINSA, whose aims include educating the public about US defence policy and officials about Israel's importance to it, said the statement and Gen Garner's travel to Israel should have no bearing on his new job.
"A distinguished general spends 31 years of his life in the military and because he spent 10 days of his life in Israel, they question his ability to serve the president in Iraq," Jim Colbert, the JINSA spokesman, said yesterday.
Pentagon officials insisted that Gen Garner's support for Israel had no bearing on his current responsibilities.
Richard Murphy, the assistant secretary of state for Near East and South Asian relations, during Ronald Reagan's presidency, said: "The assumption, unfortunately in Iraq and in the region, is that we're in Iraq to seize oil and push it to sign a peace treaty with Israel."
That assumption is "a challenge to all of the people sent out there", including Gen Garner, said Mr Murphy.
Gen Garner is still in Kuwait where he has been preparing his 200-strong team in the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) to move into Iraq and begin the process of constructing an interim Iraqi authority to administer the country. He is expected to move to Baghdad within the next week.
Just how big a task Gen Garner faces became evident yesterday when the United Nations warned that restarting Iraq's oil-for-food programme will not be the simple task that many have assumed, and could take longer and cost far more than first thought.
According to a study for the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, repairing existing oil export installations will require $5 billion and rebuilding the electric power infrastructure could cost a further $20 billion.
<http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/international.cfm?id=418322003> ***** -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://solidarity.igc.org/>