Jerusalem Cloakroom #155

President Bush: Beware of the Gaza Trap

by Yoram Ettinger
yoramtex@netvision.net.il

April 12, 2004

The following are excerpts from an article by Rand Fishbein, Ph.D., President of Fishbein Associates, former Special Ass't to Senator Inouye and Professional Staff Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee:

1. "President Bush cooperation in [Sharon's Gaza Withdrawal Plan] may  put him in jeopardy of violating anti-terrorism statutes... US national security could be significantly undermined. The political cost to the President could be enormous...
    

2. "An Israeli withdrawal from Gaza will leave the territory effectively under the control of the most radical elements [including Hamas, which] is included on the State Dep't list of foreign terrorist organizations... No US citizen, business or agency of government may engage in any activity, which directly or indirectly supports or sustains a relationship with these organizations. This includes the President... It might even be the case that the use of US appropriated funds to support the Bush-Sharon diplomatic initiative falls within the prohibition...
    

3. "President Bush could be seen as assisting in the establishment of a terrorist haven in the heart of the Middle East. Without the President's agreement and promises of aid, it is unlikely that Sharon would be willing to go forward with his initiative... President Bush may find it difficult to explain why it was important to destroy the terrorist infrastructure in Afghanistan and Iraq while permitting it to flourish in Gaza... A host of US statutes expressly prohibit Americans from giving assistance to terrorist states and organizations [e.g. The US Patriot Act of 2001, The Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996]... It is not simply a question of intent, but rather a matter of what the practical effects would be. And those effects are both clear and foreseeable...
    

4. "Sharon's plan is likely to facilitate the ascendancy and political cohesion of Gaza's terrorist organizations, enhancing their prestige, bolstering their recruitment and reinforcing their belief that future gains are possible in their war against Israel and the US... Sharon is helping to create the perception, albeit unwittingly, that the US is an accessory to terrorism, not its fiercest opponent...
    

5. President Bush could find himself in a situation remarkably similar to that faced by President Reagan during the Iran-Contra scandal...  Though it was US policy not to deal with terrorist states or their surrogates, Reagan and his aids found themselves doing just that when they sold US weapons to Iran... It may have been the Administration's purpose to open relations with Teheran and to raise funds for the Contras, but these goals could not obscure the fact that it had engaged in a transaction with a state sponsor of terrorism..." (www.israelinsider.org).