World of Opinion
On the AIPAC Policy Conference 2008: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) 2008 Policy Conference which concluded Wednesday in Washington is an expression of all that is wonderful about America and about the US-Israel relationship. …
And because this is an election year, the presumptive Republican and Democratic presidential candidates both gave defining speeches at the conference. …
A bleary-eyed Barack Obama was warmly greeted by an audience that knew he had just made the historic journey to becoming the first African American nominated by a major party. He began by both acknowledging, then deriding a negative e-mail campaign about him circulating within the Jewish community. Then, “speaking from the heart,” Obama offered a stirring oration that repeatedly brought the audience to its feet.
John McCain came to AIPAC with far less political baggage, yet aware that no matter what he said, most US Jews would maintain their historic allegiance to the Democratic Party. …
The senator from Arizona and former POW was welcomed warmly by the AIPAC audience, which included his friend Sen. Joseph Lieberman. Looking relaxed and confident, McCain identified himself with the legacy of senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson, beloved in the Jewish world, noting that he made his first trip to Israel with Jackson in 1979. …
The campaigns will now be shifting into lower gear until the respective party conventions at the end of the summer. Meanwhile, for the Jewish state – and its neighbors – this year’s policy conference underscored that the America-Israel relationship is a bipartisan affair.
On the global food crisis:
The world is confronted with an emergency that is worthy of the label “food shock.” Skyrocketing prices of wheat, soybeans, rice and other major grains have triggered riots in impoverished countries in Africa and Asia by hungry mobs. Nations increasingly are moving to safeguard their own domestic food supplies.
To address the mounting crisis, the High-Level Conference on World Food Security, sponsored by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, met for three days in Rome during the past week. The heads of 50 countries, including Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, attended to speak out on this pressing global issue. …
The real problem is that the soaring prices do not appear to be a passing phenomenon. Experts are of the view that even if speculative money flowing in from financial markets abates, grain prices will continue to remain high. …
This is precisely why hopes were high that the conference would define an international order to address the emerging era of food shortages. It is regrettable, therefore, that the gathering primarily served to accentuate the points of disagreement on this front. …
The long-running food glut is quickly becoming a shortage, generating a critical need for revisions that address the changing times. We look forward to speedy preparations to tackle this issue at next month’s Group of Eight summit at Lake Toyako in Hokkaido.
On the war in Afghanistan:
When British troops joined US forces in Afghanistan almost seven years ago, there was little doubt, and even less controversy, about the mission. It was to capture Osama bin Laden, the presumed mastermind of the September 11 attacks on the US, destroy the camps where the 9/11 attackers had trained and prevent Afghanistan from ever sheltering terrorists again. …
The task of foreign forces was clear: it was to help Afghans rebuild their ravaged land and transform it into a law-governed state. It was a task of peacekeeping and reconstruction that enjoyed widespread international support. The notion that it might become a long-term combat operation was very far from anyone’s mind. Last weekend, with the deaths of three British servicemen at the hands of a suicide bomber, the number of British casualties reached 100. The vast majority were killed in the past two years.
It is, of course, invidious to treat the 100th death as more significant than any other. … But the day on which British casualties reached three figures inevitably prompts reflection, not only on the human cost of the Afghanistan mission to date but on the likely cost of our involvement into the future. This is not an operation whose end is anywhere in sight. …
Now is not the time to end our commitment to Afghanistan. But it is a time to review what has been achieved, and what can realistically be achieved in the months to come. Commenting on the 100th military death yesterday, the Prime Minister said this of British casualties in Afghanistan: “They have paid the ultimate price, but they have achieved something of lasting value.” We wish that we could share his confidence.
On the Iraq war:
It’s been five years since the US moved into Iraq, driving Saddam Hussein out of power and plunging the country into a crisis that is yet to end and is unprecedented even from the Middle Eastern standards. …
The Iraqi government and both Sunni and Shia political players in the country have voiced their concerns over the total control the US will continue to have over the country’s security establishment, especially the continued presence of US troops in the country into an indefinite future. …
Having invaded and wrecked Iraq, the US can’t just cut and run. It has to do its best to stabilise and rebuild Iraq.and put a stable and self-reliant government in Baghdad before pulling out. But this cannot come at the expense of Iraq’s sovereignty and unity. The US may have to stick around in Iraq for some years to come but its role must be that of a facilitator, not an occupier and overbearing master.
This is why the Nuri Al Maliki government is right to insist on the condition that the US troops in future would be confined to their bases and that private security players would be governed by the Iraqi law. This is necessary if the US wants to continue a healthy relationship with Iraq and its people, similar to what the Americans had with post war Germany and Japan. This is all the more important given the blunders the US has repeatedly made in Iraq since the invasion. This is essential to regaining the confidence of Iraqi people, and that of the Arab and Muslim world.
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