Is This Peace or Deja Vu All Over Again?
Reader comment on item: Pipes criticises Middle East leaders

Submitted by Don Castella (United States), Feb 13, 2005 at 13:44

Regarding the "peace" process, I found this paragraph in a recent quote from our new US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice on the US Embassy, Tel Aviv website:

http://telaviv.usembassy.gov/publish/press/visits/february05/rice10.html

"We're continuing to work with the Israelis on these issues, but we do have a new opportunity to do something really quite dramatic, thanks to the Israeli decision to withdraw from the Gaza and from the West Bank. I just can't emphasize enough how historic a decision that is, how fundamental a decision that is -- that with all the going back and forth that we've done over the last thirty plus years, the return of territory is a major step forward. And we shouldn't lose sight of that in looking at all of the other issues, as important as they are, that we still have on the table."

Note that Secretary Rice says near the end of the paragraph, "...the return of territory is a major step forward." This statement presupposes that the Arabs somehow legally possessed this territory in the first place, that Israel somehow "took" this territory, and legitimizes the idea that its return is justified on some grounds, possibly legal, historical, or moral. This is yet another example of the diplomatic double-speak we are forced to endure from our "enlightened" government. When will our leaders face reality and stop enabling the erosion of israel's security?

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