A Unifying Theory

Bush has made a Faustian bargain. He has sold America’s soul, Israel, to the devil, Saudi Arabia. What is that bargain?  I’ll give you Palestine, you give me Iraq.

By Ted Belman Apr 21, 2003

We’ve been had. After George Bush’s June speech, we rejoiced. We were home free. No such luck.

Bush has made a Faustian bargain. He has sold America’s soul, Israel, to the devil, Saudi Arabia. What is that bargain? I’ll give you Palestine, you give me Iraq.

Lately we have been reading that the US has been planning a regime change in Iraq for over a year now. To accomplish this, they felt they needed the Arabs on board. To achieve this end, the following incomprehensible actions were taken by the US administration:

– Israel was restrained from defending itself after the spate of suicide bombings last spring. Yasser Arafat was protected at all costs;
– The groundwork was laid for the Road Map by saying that the Palestinians needed ?hope? and by arguing the need for international observers;
– The so-called Saudi Peace Plan was taken out of the drawer and released through the New York Times, which the administration did not reject out of hand;
– The administration started to make speeches that reaffirmed that the settlements were an obstacle to peace;
– Bush made his June “vision speech”, in which he sugar coated his vision of a Palestinian State with all kinds of safeguards for Israel, to make it easier for Israel to swallow the poison; and

In September, the Quartet released the first draft of the Road Map.

The Road Map was negotiated while the US attempted to get UN approval for the war in Iraq. France and Germany proved intransigent, but not the Arabs. The final draft was released in December, but not published, ostensibly because of the Israeli elections and then until a government was formed. The administration also wanted Labour in the government of Israel so that it would be easier to get Israel to travel the Road Map. Sharon tried hard, but didn?t succeed.

The Road Map was also held back as a trump card to ensure Arab support for the Iraq war, which had not yet started. As part of their bargain, the Arabs attempted to get agreement on ending the terror, but didn?t succeed. No matter.

Throughout this period of time, when it was negotiating with Saudi Arabia, the State Department came often to the defense of Saudi Arabia, describing them as a friend of the US. In fact, a Saudi representative was invited to Bush?s ranch. Much was made of the number of times Sharon met with Bush. Sharon rightly assumed great coordination of aims and often remarked that he and Bush saw ?eye to eye?. But unfortunately, he was blind.

As cover for the bargain, Blair became the fall guy and started pushing for a Palestinian state and the Road Map in his assigned role. In fact, this was a smoke screen for the deal that had been cut with the Arabs. The Administration made it appear that they were paying a debt to Blair to hide the deal with the Arabs.

While the whole world was rejecting the war, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt came out in support of regime change. Saudi Arabia allowed the use of the US airbase in their country and allowed overflights and safe passage for men and equipment. Kuwait was allowed everything. It was incomprehensible until now.

The US kept stalling approval of the nine billion in aid and guarantees Israel was requesting so that it would have leverage to get Israel to comply. The defection of Turkey and the rejection by France and Germany made Arab cooperation all the more important and necessary. Then, the State Department kept Saudi Arabia off the list of intolerant religious countries and put Israel on the list of abusers of human rights.

The Palestinians did their part by agreeing to reforms and even appointing Abu Mazen as prime minister. Never mind that he was a long time crony of Arafat?s, that he did not have full authority, that he was in favour of ?resistance? and was a Holocaust denier, it was good enough for the US and they started a campaign to whitewash him. He was just Arafat?s fig leaf.

Once Arab cooperation was assured and the war launched, the gloves came off of the Road Map. Nothing else can explain why the Road Map is to be released before the dust settles in Iraq. It was irrelevant that the UN and the EU were given a role after screwing the US on the UN approval for the war in Iraq, because the Road Map was a concession to the Arabs, not to France.

There you have it. This is not a conspiracy theory. It is a unifying theory.

The Road Map must be resisted at all cost.