"For four decades, successive American administrations have failed to halt Israel's colonisation of the occupied territories. With Washington's redoubtable Israel lobby openly calling for an attack on Iran, the besieged President probably feels it would be safer to follow its lead than confront Israel over its refusal to enter into final status talks on a settlement to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The tragedy of the present course, however, is that it might be letting slip America's last opportunity to secure Iran's co-operation in the pacification of Iraq and a two-state settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict based on the establishment of a viable and pro-Western Palestinian state."
So writes Michael Shaik, the public advocate for Australians for Palestine, in his response [an op-ed piece in The Age] to a piece by Martin Indyk published in The Age.
Shaik goes on to write "....it is not too late to learn from past blunders and deny al-Qaeda its first victory over the world's only superpower by revisiting the report presented to Congress by the Iraq Study Group last December.
The report, prepared by a committee of elder statesmen, Middle East experts and retired intelligence analysts, warned that there was no military solution to the conflict and that a US defeat in Iraq could lead to a broader regional war, a drop in global oil production and a loss of public support for future military deployments in defence of America's global interests.
Crucially, it noted that all the key issues in the Middle East — Iraq, Iran, terrorism and the Arab-Israeli conflict — were inextricably linked and that America would not be able to achieve its goals in the region unless it dealt with the Arab-Israeli conflict."
The tragedy of the present course, however, is that it might be letting slip America's last opportunity to secure Iran's co-operation in the pacification of Iraq and a two-state settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict based on the establishment of a viable and pro-Western Palestinian state."
So writes Michael Shaik, the public advocate for Australians for Palestine, in his response [an op-ed piece in The Age] to a piece by Martin Indyk published in The Age.
Shaik goes on to write "....it is not too late to learn from past blunders and deny al-Qaeda its first victory over the world's only superpower by revisiting the report presented to Congress by the Iraq Study Group last December.
The report, prepared by a committee of elder statesmen, Middle East experts and retired intelligence analysts, warned that there was no military solution to the conflict and that a US defeat in Iraq could lead to a broader regional war, a drop in global oil production and a loss of public support for future military deployments in defence of America's global interests.
Crucially, it noted that all the key issues in the Middle East — Iraq, Iran, terrorism and the Arab-Israeli conflict — were inextricably linked and that America would not be able to achieve its goals in the region unless it dealt with the Arab-Israeli conflict."
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