Not that it wasn't bad enough to begin with.
Today's hefty dose of disengagement disillusion is here.
Israel is mistaken in believing that, by withdrawing from Gaza, the international community will tolerate all types of military retaliation against rocket fire originating from Gaza, a senior western diplomatic official said Wednesday.
Meryl already has that part covered. What she said.
But keep reading. Because there's more.
The official said that the international community did not accept Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's interpretation that the first stage of the road map was sequential, with the Palestinians obligated to dismantle terrorism before Israel had to freeze all settlement construction and remove the unauthorized settlements. Rather, the official said, the Europeans believed that the steps must be taken in parallel. This position was also endorsed by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a recent press briefing.
Where have we heard this before? Oh, yes. From Condi's own lips.
No, I'm not talking about a sequencing here because the roadmap is assiduously not sequencing one step after another. It gives, in parallel, certain obligations to both sides.
It's "assiduously not sequencing." Not even minutely sequencing. No sequencing whatsoever. So, when the actual text of the Roadmap, Phase I (scheduled to be completed by May, 2003, BTW), says stuff like "As comprehensive security performance moves forward..." and "based upon the above measures," (not about settlement "freezes," but certainly about other things) no sequencing was intended. That was just a mirage.
I'm taking a break for a few days. Maybe when I get back things will make more sense. But I doubt it.
