Why Is Rice Ga-Ga For Gaza?

At Contentions, Eric Trager points out that the US--and Condoleezza Rice--seem to be suffering from tunnelvision as Rice rushes off to Israel while ignoring a bigger crisis:

Indeed, a diplomatic breakthrough at this moment is so unlikely as to beg the question: why is Rice even bothering? After all, insofar as the current fighting in Gaza will likely be confined to the strip, relatively few strategic interests are at stake. In this vein, Egypt has reportedly doubled its Rafah border troops and permitted only four injured Palestinians to cross into Sinai amidst the fighting, while Hamas’ call for 50,000 Palestinians to breach the Erez crossing and storm into Israel failed miserably.

Yet the same cannot be said of the ongoing presidential crisis in Beirut, where the implications will likely be felt beyond Lebanon’s borders. For starters, Syria has been widely accused of interfering with Lebanon’s political process. Meanwhile, Hezbollah—which has stalled negotiations and demanded veto power in the next cabinet—has turned its attention abroad in the wake of Imad Mughniyeh’s assassination. In recent weeks, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has declared preparations for another war with Israel, while an al-Manar correspondent was recently arrested in Morocco planning attacks against Jewish targets with an al-Qaeda offshoot.

Before creating a country that never existed for a people manufactured by a terrorist, it may be worthwhile for the US to first deal with a real country with a real people suffering from a real problem that is not their own doing.

In the interests of the Bush legacy alone, Lebanon should take precedence:

Given the urgency of the situation in Lebanon and potential opportunities for advancing U.S. policy in this theater, Rice’s focus on the Israeli-Palestinian arena during her upcoming trip is severely misplaced. While Middle East peace would be the Holy Grail of any diplomat’s legacy, Rice’s failure to meaningfully pursue diplomatic channels regarding Lebanon might give her a very different legacy. Indeed, if Hezbollah follows through on its rhetoric while Israel battles Hamas in Gaza, it will mark the second two-front Arab-Israeli war of Rice’s tenure.

The fact that the Rice has been concentrating so heavily in dragging the Arabs--while pushing the Israelis--into a peace process without legs with bigger issues in the region is a testimony to the power of pro-Palestinian propaganda the apologists who brandish it.

Crossposted at Soccer Dad

Technorati Tag: Israel and Gaza and Lebanon.