Wesley Clark on the Peace Process and Terrorism
November 17, 2003

Here's a piece from General Wesley Clark. He reiterates the principle of confronting radical Islamic terrorism -- al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as all their ideological imitators that blow up French ships or slaughter Hindu villagers or attack U.S. soldiers in Iraq or bomb synagogues in Istanbul.

He supports Israel's refusal to make concessions until the Palestinian leadership decides to arrest the terrorists in its midst. Israel has recently undertaken numerous measures to improve the living conditions of Palestinians under occupation. At the same time, as long as there exist a handful of well-funded groups who actively plan and carry out murderous terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians -- in what has been one of history's most sustained and brutal campaigns of terror, with hundreds dead and thousands permanently mutilated -- Israel will not and cannot make concessions like troop withdrawals that would lead to more attacks.

The fact of the matter is that only be having troops it the West Bank and Gaza Strip -- to arrest terrorist leaders and activists, close bomb factories, confiscate weapons and ammunition -- can Israel forestall terror attacks, and the first duty of every government, as Clark writes, is to protect its citizens. Right now, Israel estimates that it stops upwards of 85% of suicide bombings before they happen. If a reformed and responsible Palestinian leadership were to emerge -- and it looks more and more like this can only happen once Arafat is gone -- Israeli troops will be able to go home and Palestinians police and security officers will deal with the blood-thirsty radicals themselves.

Clark also agrees with the incontrovertible necessity of building the security fence as a last resort measure to keep suicide bombings out. Finally, he demands that Arab states stop undermining the peace process by supporting extremists and teaching rejectionism, but instead advance it by finally recognizing Israel. As it stands, out of twenty-two Arab nations, only two -- Egypt and Jordan -- recognize Israel.


Read "Throw Full Weight of Washington Behind Middle East Peace Process," by Wesley Clark, in The Forward, November 7, 2003.