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.The fundamental asymmetry between Israel andthe Palestinian Authority has long remained this: although there are ex-tremists in Israel such as the fanatical settlers on the West Bank who rejectany compromise, they are a decided minority; the vast majority of Israelis,including former Prime Minister Sharon and his successor, Prime MinisterOlmert, accept the idea of a two-state solution to the conflict.Under Arafatthe Palestinian leadership did not.In word and deed Israel has demon-strated that it will trade land when offered real peace.Menachem Begin, theLikud prime minister, pulled Israel out of the Sinai when Egyptian Presi-dent Sadat offered real peace.Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, fiveyears before Syria belatedly and begrudgingly withdrew under the pressurethat the American invasion of Iraq catalyzed.Under Ariel Sharon, Israelwithdrew from Gaza and built a wall that left 92 percent of the West Bankto the Palestinians.Confounding Walt s neorealist view that less American effort wouldachieve better results is the fact that one of the contributing factors to theThe Perils of Neorealism 45demise of the Oslo Accords and the surge in anti-American Islamic radical-ism was precisely the perceived erosion of American power and the willing-ness to use it that had crystallized in the minds of radicals in the region bythe end of the Clinton administration.American vacillations with Saddamduring the 1990s and the irresolution and pinprick responses to his floutingof UN resolutions; President Clinton s eagerness to accommodate Arafat,his most frequent foreign guest at the White House; the precipitous retreatfrom Mogadishu in 1993; the tepid American reaction to the bombings ofthe Khobar Towers, the embassy in Kenya, and the USS Cole: all interactedinsidiously to embolden American enemies in the Middle East.Read binLaden s own words in the fatwa he issued in the summer of 1996 declaringwar against the United States:Few days ago the news agencies had reported that the Defense Sec-retary of the Crusading Americans had said that  the explosion atRiyadh and Al-Khobar had taught him one lesson: that is not towithdraw when attacked by cowardly terrorists.We say to the Secretary of Defense that his talk can inducea grieving mother to laughter and shows the fears that have en-shrined you all.Where was this false courage of yours when theexplosion in Beirut took place in 1983 a.d.(1403 a.h.).You wereturned into scattered pits and pieces at the same time; 241 mainlymarine soldiers were killed.And where was this courage of yourswhen two explosions made you leave Aden in less than twenty fourhours!But your most disgraceful case was in Somalia; where aftervigorous propaganda about the power of the USA and its post coldwar leadership of the new world order you moved tens of thou-sands of international forces, including 28,000 American soldiersinto Somalia.However, when tens of your soldiers were killed inminor battles and one American pilot was dragged into the streetsof Mogadishu you left the area carrying disappointment, humili-ation, defeat, and your dead with you.Clinton appeared in frontof the whole world threatening and promising revenge, but thesethreats were merely a preparation for withdrawal.You have beendisgraced by Allah and you withdrew; the extent of your weaknessand impotence became very clear.It was a pleasure for the  heart46 In Defense of the Bush Doctrineof every Muslim and a remedy to the  chests of believing nationsto see you defeated in the three Islamic cities of Beirut, Aden, andMogadishu.58Contrast this erosion of American credibility during the 1990s to whathas happened since 9/11.Although the situation in Iraq remains difficultand the outcome in doubt, Walt and other critics pronouncing the BushDoctrine a failure have vastly underestimated its achievements.The UnitedStates succeeded brilliantly in toppling the Taliban regime in Afghanistan,creating the conditions for the first free elections in the country s history,and facilitating the victory of Hamid Karzai as president.Karzai, unlike hisTaliban predecessors, is not only a good man, but moderate, civilized, andpro-American, The military campaign in Iraq also succeeded brilliantly.Despite the difficult insurgency that still continues, Iraq has made sub-stantial political progress, holding free elections in which more than eightmillion Iraqis turned out in defiance of murderous terror, and forging aconstitution that stands a decent chance of transforming the nation into afederal democratic republic based on the rule of law.The Bush Doctrine also deserves considerable credit for keeping al-Qaeda on the run and thwarting its ambitions to mount another devastat-ing attack on the United States [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]