Bush’s Flawed Middle East Peace Plan
President Bush’s call for a conference of “moderates” to promote an Israeli-Palestinian peace demonstrates once again how intertwined the region’s problems are. So it is a fantasy to believe that peace can be concluded without the participation of Hamas and Syria.
That a summit in Damascus of the Middle East’s “axis of evil” – Iran, Hezbollah, Syria, and Hamas – was convened immediately following President George W. Bush’s call for a conference of “moderates” to promote an Israeli-Palestinian peace demonstrates once again how intertwined the region’s problems are. The Damascus meeting reflects Iran’s view of Israeli-Arab peace as a major strategic threat, because it would condemn it to isolation in a hostile Arab environment free of its conflict with Israel. The Iranians also sought the meeting to forge an alliance against a possible US attack on their country’s nuclear installations.
That a summit in Damascus of the Middle East’s “axis of evil” – Iran, Hezbollah, Syria, and Hamas – was convened immediately following President George W. Bush’s call for a conference of “moderates” to promote an Israeli-Palestinian peace demonstrates once again how intertwined the region’s problems are. The Damascus meeting reflects Iran’s view of Israeli-Arab peace as a major strategic threat, because it would condemn it to isolation in a hostile Arab environment free of its conflict with Israel. The Iranians also sought the meeting to forge an alliance against a possible US attack on their country’s nuclear installations.