Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, is a busy person these days. She's flying across the globe, quite literally.The 52 year old, former Stanford professor, now America's top diplomat is on an important mission to diffuse the West Asian crisis. From Washington to Beirut to Tel Aviv to Ramallah to Rome and now to Kuala Lumpur, Secretary Rice is on a whirlwind tour. This of course follows Israel's recent offensive against Lebanon which has sent senior US officials into a tizzy. At the UN Security Council meet, the US vetoed a resolution condemning Israel's actions and a call for an immediate Israeli ceasefire in Lebanon. While the world came together in criticizing Israel's actions , the United States resolutely stood behind Israel, calling for the complete disarmament of the Hezbollah, in order to achieve "durable peace in the Middle East". Though America called upon Israel to exercise "utmost restraint", as many as 425 civilians have died as a result of the 17 day military operation in South Lebanon. This includes the death of four UN peace-keepers. This is indeed unacceptable. Nothing can justify the cold-blooded murder of innocent Lebanese civilians including women and children in the name of "holing' out the terrorists. Israel has to learn to respect the lives of civilians other than its own.
The Israeli actions follow the abduction of two of its soldiers by the Hezbollah and rocket attacks on its northern cities. This is in fact consistent with the Jewish State's policy of "Not having any negotiations with terrorists". Well, though India may take a leaf out of this policy, many world leaders made no bones of the fact that Israel's reaction was grossly inappropriate and incommensurate to the initial provocation. This was the sense that one got from the G-8 Summit in St.Petersburg.
Though Israel has full sovereign rights to defend itself, this mindless and blatant use of military force in civilian areas can lead to a regional conflagration.
As Condoleezza Rice prepared to undertake her Middle-East mission, she knew that she was on a crucial mission. Rice, as the architect of US foreign policy had to play the Great Balancing Act. On one hand, she had to allay Arab fears of America trying to shield Israel, thus inviting the ire of millions of Muslims across the world. On the other hand, she had to make sure that America's vital security interests in the region were not undermined. As she shuffled across various places meeting Lebanese PM Siniora, Israeli PM Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas, one thing remained clear. America and Israel were on the same boat, both seeing it as a good opportunity to root out the Hezbollah in perpetuity.It could have been a good idea had it not resulted in the loss of hundreds of innocent civilians. Israel cannot and must not use the American shield and get away with this. The United States too finds itself isolated on this issue.
This was evident at an important conference in Rome, where the foreign ministers of 15 governments, including many Arab ones, failed to reach an agreement on ways to resolve the crisis. Almost everyone saw one person as an impediment to the reaching an agreement. Secretary Rice stood her ground saying that a ceasefire would only succeed once the Hezbollah had disarmed. The United States was buying enough time for Israel to finish its military offensive. In tandom, it promised a humanitarian assistance of $ 30 million to Lebanon. This is simply not enough. America should join the international community's calls to Israel for the immediate declaration of a ceasefire. Killing innocent civilians and destroying civil infrastructure in an impoverished country is no way to deal with terrorists. This will only escalate the levels of violence.
How things will turn out in this never ending West-Asian saga, in the days and weeks ahead is something difficult to fathom. Will Israel let go of this opportunity to root out Hezbollah? Will America continue to stand by its ally giving unstinted support? Will Lebanon be nothing more than a mere onlooker in the overall scheme of things? Lot of questions and too little answers. But that is what International Relations is all about, the rich and powerful always get away with things.
In the meantime, Dr. Rice arrived in Malaysia on the final leg of her Eurasian tour, for the ASEAN Regional Forum's Ministerial meet in Kuala Lumpur. ARF is Asia's primary security forum with 25 countries as its members. Though, there is little doubt as to what would dominate its agenda, Dr.Rice seems to have decided to chill out a bit. She will perform a piano recital at the the meeting. The high-flying life of the world's most powerful woman will be in full display as she plays the tunes of America's Foreign Policy at the meet.
America being the global cop, I'm sure the world will be watching with bated breath.
6 comments:
i think america is totaly screwd up as far as wars are concerned. neither do they have the military sense nor the political sense to carry out something completely and with proper mangement.
even then i feel that what israel is doing in lebanon is not necessarily correct. i kno that there have been many deaths and loss of innocent lives - but the fact remains that in any war there will be loss of lives. wasn't the secon world war justified bcoz it led to hitler's end - even though innumerable people lost there lives in the war
israel is not wrong! it is simple retaliating for whatever wrong was done to it - and this is not only against hizbollah but also a war against all terrorist organisations which have constatnly been hurting israel.
people around us keep telling us that fighting such wars will only fuel more terror and give them a justification. but the fact remains that even a country like india which has not taken any military action against terrorists - continue to face terrorist strikes. inspite of our ' never ending peace process' we are still faced with terror threats
so isnt israel doing a better thing than us. at least they are fighting against a force as opposed to us indians, who are just sitting and waiting for peace to come and hope that some international action will be taken. if we are so sure of our intelligence, then y cant we take out those bloody camps across the pok? y do we hav to wait for eternity for the world to giv us approval? y cant we act instead of waiting forever
well I do agree with a lot of ur views. Israel is justified in seeking a military solution against terrorists. But at some point of time, it will have to declare a ceasfire especially after the killing of 37 children in Qana.It it is only being able to do so, because of the American support it enjoys.However,India,will never dare to cross over to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and start airstrikes against the terrorist camps there because of two reasons-a) It may escalate to a nuclear war. b)India lacks diplomatic support.
But one thing remains clear, India or Israel, there should be no negotiations with terrorists of any kind.
As far as the kashmir issue is concerned, there must be complete cessation of terror in the valley before settling the issue of Kashmir...this has been India's position as well. And yes, India must have a full-time foreign minister who doesnt have the NAM/Cold War mindset.He must represent the India of the 21st century, an India that is a rising political,military and economic powerhouse which can flex its muscles in Asia.
Its shockin that India doesnt have a foreign minister since Oct 2005 when Volckergate happened.
As far as US and Chinese positions are concerned, there is a noticeable shift in their policies towards India and Pakistan. The US is exasperated with Pakistan for its non-cooperation to tackle Al-Qaeda terroe modules on the pak-Afghan border. Also, its growing strategic partnership with India has meant that it is more even-handed in its South Asia approach...Condi Rice has been the driving factor for Indo-US ties.Unlike her predecesssor, Colin Powell, she has made sure that US foreign policy is more consonant with its goals in the 21st century...the emergence of China has meant that the US has to cultivate a strategic partner in Asia...and India was the first choice.India's boomin economy also provides a huge opportunity for US companies, somethin that the US govt. can hardly overlook.
China is a totally different ball game.Though both India and China embarked on a strategic partnership last April, China continues to pose the single-largest threat to Indian interests.This threat is larger than the threat posed to us by pakistan.Pakistan is nothin without China's covert and overt help.China's policy vis-a-vis India is that of a "strategic encirclement of India".It wants to limit India's growing clout...it has done so by lobbying against the US-India nuke pact and India's candidature for a permanent seat on the UNSC.It also made sure, tha at the East Asia summit in malaysia last year, India was kept out of the core group of members.China is also buildin a huge naval base right next to the Andamans at the great Coco Islands.Through financial assistance and other soft loans, China is cultivating better ties with Africa(which has huge reservoir of oil)...thus being far ahead of India in the great petroleum race....China recently unveiled to the world the great Tibetan railway...it has also developed the roads leadin to the boredr with India...This is a massive security threat...the Indian govt. must wake up to these facts...and act upon it.
Though we can never contain China, we must engage it effectively and make sure that the trauma of 1962 is not repeated.
thats true...Pakistan is not Lebanon and India is not Israel...the circumstances in both regions differ. And India can never muster the kind of support Israel has managed to get...though that support is largely American.
yar it is high time that u write something on the nuclear issue. it has reached a critical stage and the bill is due to be passed in the US legislatures. Thus u must write it asap and giv peopl an opportunity to express their views on this crucial issue. anyway i hav postd sumthng on my community and u must chek it out
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