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Sabotaging Baker and his Report

Hardly surprisingly AIJAC, and its shrill counterparts overseas, have had published in the press here and abroad articles "attacking" James Baker and his ISR for asserting that in order to achieve piece in the Middle East, including Iraq, the Israel-Palestinian conflict must be resolved.

The Guardian has this op-ed piece by Peter Preston [re-published today in The Age] on the subject:

"This injunction couldn't be clearer. "The United States will not be able to achieve its goals in the Middle East unless it deals directly with the Arab-Israeli conflict. There must be a renewed and sustained commitment by the United States to a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace on all fronts." Notice that "must" word. Tony Blair says it again and again. If you don't cut out the cancer of hatred, loss and retribution, then nothing good will happen. There will be no rest for Iraq, no spread of democracy, no rapprochement with Tehran - and no breakthrough in the campaign against terrorism (including, Blair might add, the wild and woolly recruitment of suicide teenagers from Leeds to Lahore).

Dig deeper in the Baker report text to discover what such "commitment" involves. "For several reasons, we should act boldly: there is no military solution to this conflict. The vast majority of the Israeli body politic is tired of being a nation perpetually at war. No American administration - Democratic or Republican - will ever abandon Israel. Political engagement and dialogue are essential in the Arab-Israeli dispute because it is an axiom that when the political process breaks down there will be violence on the ground."

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