What would American citizens say if President George W. Bush issued a broad release, pardoning convicted murderers, rapists and terrorists? That is what President Bush has ordered Israel?s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to do as a ?confidence-building gesture? to the Arab Palestinians, so they will trust that their newly appointed Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (a.k.a. Abu Mazen) can get concessions out of the Israelis.
When George W. Bush was Governor of Texas, he rarely pardoned convicted murderers or released other known, convicted criminals as a ?gesture? to the public.
What foolish leader would comply with the demand of another foreign country?s leader, who is acting to fulfill his own political election needs? What foolish leader would turn known, convicted terrorists loose on his own citizens? Arik Sharon has complied with the American Administration?s ?diktats? - as did Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Bibi Netanyahu in their own time. Massacred Israelis were the high price these corrupt and/or weak leaders made the citizens of Israel pay, with their own blood.
Since Oslo was signed on September 13, 1993 (as an ?experiment? in peace-making), more than 1,300 Israelis have been murdered, including more that 43 Americans, tens of thousands more have been injured - many maimed for life - and many children orphaned, murdered and maimed. Since the start of Yasser Arafat?s September 28, 2000, Rosh HaShanah War, "6,256 Arab Terrorists have been apprehended by Israel murdering people or for attempting to murder people in 18,546 Arab Terror attacks, which have occurred in less than three years. 822 people have been murdered by Arab Terrorists since September 28, 2000."(1)
What self-respecting nation would release known, convicted terrorists merely to accommodate the political leader of a foreign nation, even if that nation supplies needed financial and technical aid?
Would England?s Prime Minister Tony Blair issue a pardon for all of the Irish terrorists, convicted and in prison for shooting and blowing up British soldiers, police and civilians?
Would Russia?s President Vladimir Putin release the Muslim Chechnyans now in prison for the terrorism they committed against Russian citizens and soldiers?
Would President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt release the terrorists of the Muslim Brotherhood because America?s President Bush thought it would be a good ?gesture? to those terrorists dedicated to a radical Islam, now rampant in all Arab nations?
Would Peru release the terrorists of the Shining Path because President Bush thought it was a good idea?
Would the Germans release jailed members of the Baider-Meinhoff terror gang?
Would Bush dare to ask (or demand) that Syria or Iran release Terrorists who had attacked their government or their people?
President Bush, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, and the Arabist U.S. State Department have not offered a mass release of those prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who are Muslim Taliban, al-Qaeda and even some Americans who joined the terrorists of Afghanistan.
Do you think that Bush will release those Iraqis now killing American soldiers as a ?political gesture? of good will?
If your conclusion is no, or never - you would be correct. President Bush has forthrightly declared a war against global terrorism - with the exclusion of those terrorists who assault Israel daily.
But the Bush Road Map does not require Israel to release known and convicted terrorists. In fact, the first sentence of the Road Map?s Phase I demands that "the Palestinians immediately undertake an unconditional cessation of violence." The Road Map?s cease-fire is not contingent upon Israeli performance on any other issue. The Road Map requires that the "unconditional cessation of [Palestinian Arab] violence" include "dismantlement of terrorist capabilities and infrastructure," as well as "commencing confiscation of illegal weapons." There is no mention of Palestinian prisoners? release in any of the three phases of the Road Map. The only possible reference is to the [head of the CIA, George] Tenet Work Plan, calling upon Israel to release Palestinians "arrested in security sweeps, who have no association with terrorist activities."(2)
Yet, Sharon has been instructed by Powell and National Security Advisor Condolezza Rice - speaking for Bush - to release a mix of deadly terrorists, as a gesture of good will to the rampaging Arab Muslim Palestinians and their master - not Abu Mazen, but Yasser Arafat, who continues to run the entire irredentist PLO terrorist network from his ?protected? headquarters in Ramallah. (I say "protected" because Israel has long been instructed not to target this arch-criminal terrorist, lest the U.S. cut off any material assistance.)
By comparison, U.S. military and their various intelligence services have been instructed to locate such terrorist leaders as Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and his sons, with orders to kill them on sight. Be assured that there will be no ?circus? trials when or where the Muslim mobs will inevitably riot for their heroes.
Sharon, in releasing known, convicted terrorists has become the enabler for those released terrorists to kill or assist other killers to murder more Israeli citizens and soldiers. Bowing to the political election needs of President Bush, Sharon links himself to all subsequent atrocities committed by those he released as his ?gesture?. If there was ever true justice, those who knowingly command the release of killers into the population should stand trial in a Nuremberg Tribunal type of Court for aiding and abetting murderers.
American Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, speaking on the alarming increase of American soldiers being killed in Iraqi terrorist attacks said this: "For the first time, the attacks against American troops by remnants of Saddam?s Security Forces, Fedayeen fighters and Iraqi prisoners released before the 2001 Gulf War, were being coordinated, at least on a regional level and possibly on a national level." [emphasis added - E.W.](3) Rumsfeld, not a man to shy away from direct words, tells us that released criminals are part of the terrorist mix who are daily shooting American and British soldiers. The simple fact is that criminals, be they labeled terrorists, serial killers, rapists, torturers, et al are in prison (if caught, tried and convicted) because of what they have done and what they may do if they are set free.
President Bush has no right to beat Sharon into submission on the matter of releasing terrorists into the public. Sharon had no right to expose the population to more terror by setting loose terrorists who have proven they can and do kill - or even those who assist the murderers in their violent attacks. They promise they will continue their murderous terrorist attacks. No other nation would agree to sacrifice their own people, as Israel has, by accommodating the political needs of another nation?s leader.
In this writer?s opinion, neither leader should continue in office. One has no ethics and the other has no backbone. Both deserve no honor and should be forced from their high office by their electorate or should be impeached for these acts in support of murder.
George Bush and his family have clearly demonstrated that the disappearance of the Jewish State of Israel has absolutely no meaning for them. Arik Sharon, despite whatever great warrior and leader he once was, seems to have been utterly crushed and is now subservient to the political needs of the American President George W. Bush - even to the point of sacrificing the lives, safety and sovereignty of his own people. Sharon must be removed from office, to be replaced by someone who will defend the Jewish nation and resist the manipulation of America, the United Nations, the European Union and even Russia.
Perhaps it is merely coincidental that as long as President Bush was attacking global terrorism after 9/11, all went well for him. But, when he turned on Israel with the intention of dismembering the Jewish State as a ?good-will gesture? to the Arab Muslim nations, suddenly the American forces suffered unnecessary casualties. Now, Bush is under attack for lying to the American people about Saddam?s WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) as an imperative for bringing 200,000+ American and British soldiers into harm?s way, to make war against Iraq, a fiercely Muslim state that is hostile to Western, non-Muslim civilization. That Saddam successfully hid his WMD doesn?t prevent the political and media assault against Bush?s and Blair?s credibility. Is it a coincidence that these PR accusations are coming as the two leaders make a joint effort to dismantle the Jewish State of Israel? Perhaps, but I don?t think so.
--------------------------------------------------------
Emanuel A. Winston is a Middle East analyst and commentator with the Gamla and Freeman organizations.
Footnotes:
1. "Prisoner or Terrorist? Terminology Counts" by David Bedein (July 11, 2003), http://www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com
2. "Prisoner Release - Veering Off the Roadmap" by Eli Kazhdan, in Jerusalem Issue Brief Vol. 2 #31 (July 14, 2003), published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
3. "Rumsfeld Says Iraq May Need a Larger Force" by Eric Schmitt, New York Times (July 14, 2003).
When George W. Bush was Governor of Texas, he rarely pardoned convicted murderers or released other known, convicted criminals as a ?gesture? to the public.
What foolish leader would comply with the demand of another foreign country?s leader, who is acting to fulfill his own political election needs? What foolish leader would turn known, convicted terrorists loose on his own citizens? Arik Sharon has complied with the American Administration?s ?diktats? - as did Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Bibi Netanyahu in their own time. Massacred Israelis were the high price these corrupt and/or weak leaders made the citizens of Israel pay, with their own blood.
Since Oslo was signed on September 13, 1993 (as an ?experiment? in peace-making), more than 1,300 Israelis have been murdered, including more that 43 Americans, tens of thousands more have been injured - many maimed for life - and many children orphaned, murdered and maimed. Since the start of Yasser Arafat?s September 28, 2000, Rosh HaShanah War, "6,256 Arab Terrorists have been apprehended by Israel murdering people or for attempting to murder people in 18,546 Arab Terror attacks, which have occurred in less than three years. 822 people have been murdered by Arab Terrorists since September 28, 2000."(1)
What self-respecting nation would release known, convicted terrorists merely to accommodate the political leader of a foreign nation, even if that nation supplies needed financial and technical aid?
Would England?s Prime Minister Tony Blair issue a pardon for all of the Irish terrorists, convicted and in prison for shooting and blowing up British soldiers, police and civilians?
Would Russia?s President Vladimir Putin release the Muslim Chechnyans now in prison for the terrorism they committed against Russian citizens and soldiers?
Would President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt release the terrorists of the Muslim Brotherhood because America?s President Bush thought it would be a good ?gesture? to those terrorists dedicated to a radical Islam, now rampant in all Arab nations?
Would Peru release the terrorists of the Shining Path because President Bush thought it was a good idea?
Would the Germans release jailed members of the Baider-Meinhoff terror gang?
Would Bush dare to ask (or demand) that Syria or Iran release Terrorists who had attacked their government or their people?
President Bush, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, and the Arabist U.S. State Department have not offered a mass release of those prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who are Muslim Taliban, al-Qaeda and even some Americans who joined the terrorists of Afghanistan.
Do you think that Bush will release those Iraqis now killing American soldiers as a ?political gesture? of good will?
If your conclusion is no, or never - you would be correct. President Bush has forthrightly declared a war against global terrorism - with the exclusion of those terrorists who assault Israel daily.
But the Bush Road Map does not require Israel to release known and convicted terrorists. In fact, the first sentence of the Road Map?s Phase I demands that "the Palestinians immediately undertake an unconditional cessation of violence." The Road Map?s cease-fire is not contingent upon Israeli performance on any other issue. The Road Map requires that the "unconditional cessation of [Palestinian Arab] violence" include "dismantlement of terrorist capabilities and infrastructure," as well as "commencing confiscation of illegal weapons." There is no mention of Palestinian prisoners? release in any of the three phases of the Road Map. The only possible reference is to the [head of the CIA, George] Tenet Work Plan, calling upon Israel to release Palestinians "arrested in security sweeps, who have no association with terrorist activities."(2)
Yet, Sharon has been instructed by Powell and National Security Advisor Condolezza Rice - speaking for Bush - to release a mix of deadly terrorists, as a gesture of good will to the rampaging Arab Muslim Palestinians and their master - not Abu Mazen, but Yasser Arafat, who continues to run the entire irredentist PLO terrorist network from his ?protected? headquarters in Ramallah. (I say "protected" because Israel has long been instructed not to target this arch-criminal terrorist, lest the U.S. cut off any material assistance.)
By comparison, U.S. military and their various intelligence services have been instructed to locate such terrorist leaders as Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and his sons, with orders to kill them on sight. Be assured that there will be no ?circus? trials when or where the Muslim mobs will inevitably riot for their heroes.
Sharon, in releasing known, convicted terrorists has become the enabler for those released terrorists to kill or assist other killers to murder more Israeli citizens and soldiers. Bowing to the political election needs of President Bush, Sharon links himself to all subsequent atrocities committed by those he released as his ?gesture?. If there was ever true justice, those who knowingly command the release of killers into the population should stand trial in a Nuremberg Tribunal type of Court for aiding and abetting murderers.
American Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, speaking on the alarming increase of American soldiers being killed in Iraqi terrorist attacks said this: "For the first time, the attacks against American troops by remnants of Saddam?s Security Forces, Fedayeen fighters and Iraqi prisoners released before the 2001 Gulf War, were being coordinated, at least on a regional level and possibly on a national level." [emphasis added - E.W.](3) Rumsfeld, not a man to shy away from direct words, tells us that released criminals are part of the terrorist mix who are daily shooting American and British soldiers. The simple fact is that criminals, be they labeled terrorists, serial killers, rapists, torturers, et al are in prison (if caught, tried and convicted) because of what they have done and what they may do if they are set free.
President Bush has no right to beat Sharon into submission on the matter of releasing terrorists into the public. Sharon had no right to expose the population to more terror by setting loose terrorists who have proven they can and do kill - or even those who assist the murderers in their violent attacks. They promise they will continue their murderous terrorist attacks. No other nation would agree to sacrifice their own people, as Israel has, by accommodating the political needs of another nation?s leader.
In this writer?s opinion, neither leader should continue in office. One has no ethics and the other has no backbone. Both deserve no honor and should be forced from their high office by their electorate or should be impeached for these acts in support of murder.
George Bush and his family have clearly demonstrated that the disappearance of the Jewish State of Israel has absolutely no meaning for them. Arik Sharon, despite whatever great warrior and leader he once was, seems to have been utterly crushed and is now subservient to the political needs of the American President George W. Bush - even to the point of sacrificing the lives, safety and sovereignty of his own people. Sharon must be removed from office, to be replaced by someone who will defend the Jewish nation and resist the manipulation of America, the United Nations, the European Union and even Russia.
Perhaps it is merely coincidental that as long as President Bush was attacking global terrorism after 9/11, all went well for him. But, when he turned on Israel with the intention of dismembering the Jewish State as a ?good-will gesture? to the Arab Muslim nations, suddenly the American forces suffered unnecessary casualties. Now, Bush is under attack for lying to the American people about Saddam?s WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) as an imperative for bringing 200,000+ American and British soldiers into harm?s way, to make war against Iraq, a fiercely Muslim state that is hostile to Western, non-Muslim civilization. That Saddam successfully hid his WMD doesn?t prevent the political and media assault against Bush?s and Blair?s credibility. Is it a coincidence that these PR accusations are coming as the two leaders make a joint effort to dismantle the Jewish State of Israel? Perhaps, but I don?t think so.
--------------------------------------------------------
Emanuel A. Winston is a Middle East analyst and commentator with the Gamla and Freeman organizations.
Footnotes:
1. "Prisoner or Terrorist? Terminology Counts" by David Bedein (July 11, 2003), http://www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com
2. "Prisoner Release - Veering Off the Roadmap" by Eli Kazhdan, in Jerusalem Issue Brief Vol. 2 #31 (July 14, 2003), published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
3. "Rumsfeld Says Iraq May Need a Larger Force" by Eric Schmitt, New York Times (July 14, 2003).