Fun With Idiocy: You Don't Need to Know Anything About the Middle East to Have a Plan for Solving All its Problems

Barry Rubin
The Rubin Report
19 June '10

You don't need to know anything about the Middle East to have a PLAN for solving all its problems. You only need to know something if you are going to produce a strategy that works.

Everyone has a solution for the Gaza Strip and, of course, for the Israel-Palestinian and Arab-Israeli conflict in general. I remember how at some distinguished panel in Europe an erstwhile British think-tanker had the brilliant idea of having NATO troops patrolling the West Bank and Gaza Strip, never engaging with the point that I made: What do they do when either dissatisfied or radical Palestinians started shooting at them for doing something (like stopping attacks on Israel?) they didn’t like?

We have seen the dramatic failure—well, not dramatic since it is generally ignored outside of Israel—of the grand UN scheme of 2006 to keep Hizballah from rearming and returning to south Lebanon. They fail, and fail, and don’t keep their promises, then wonder why Israelis aren’t willing to pin their survival on such gimmicks.

And you may have noticed my pointing out that the Obama Administration wrecked Israel-Palestinian talks for 15 months by unilaterally raising the idea that all Israeli construction on settlements stop. Now Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has explicitly confirmed how damaging the U.S. policy was:

"Abbas blamed the hold-up in talks on the White House, noting that they had raised the issue of settlements: `They are the ones who requested for the Israelis to stop settlements, what do you expect of me? Less than them?' he was quoted saying in paraphrase."

Note: Apparently the Obama Administration understandably--and correctly--has urged Abbas to move up to direct talks with Israel. Let's see if Abbas complies or ignores Obama. And if he ignores Obama, will the United States do or say anything to pressure him? I doubt it but let's watch and see.

If I were to design an ecumenical prayer for these circumstances it would go like this: “Oh, Lord, please keep the ignorant and arrogant from interfering with my life and foisting their schemes on me.”

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