"Secretary of State James Baker and the Iraq Study Group revealed their proposals to the nation last week. The result is outrageous.
The Baker-Hamilton group proposes to:
We must ask President Bush not to reward Iran by allowing them to enter into the peace talks regarding the future or Iraq.
The most disturbing of the ISG's suggestions are that Israel be excluded from the Middle East peace efforts. If you recall, Ahmadinejad has threatened to “wipe Israel off the map” and has stated that Israel has no reason to exist, and indeed, will cease to exist.
An official speaking on the ISG proposal said, “As Baker sees this, the conference would provide a unique opportunity for the United States to strike a deal without Jewish pressure.”
According to the official, Baker’s proposal has the backing of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, and national Intelligence Director John Negroponte.
The proposal has gained momentum since a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney to Saudi Arabia in November. Most of the meetings with Saudi government officials were rife with the accusation that Israel is the main cause of instability in the Middle East, not Iran.
The ISG proposed that a conference be arranged to discuss Iraq’s future and “other Middle East issues.” The aim of the conference would be to win Arab support in Iraq. To secure cooperation, the U.S. would agree to pressure Israel to leave the West Bank and Golan Heights, and to give the PLO East Jerusalem. This would certainly give something to everyone – except Israel, which would be the big loser in the security arena.
ISG's suggestions were met with alarm by the Defense Department. Officials there warned against enlisting the aid of Iran and Syria at Israel’s expense.
A spokesperson for the Center for Security Policy has said, “The regional strategy is a euphemism for throwing Free Iraq to the wolves in its neighborhood: Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia. If the ISG regional strategy is adopted, we will prove to the world that it is better to be America’s enemy than its friend. James Baker’s personal hostility toward Jews is a matter of record and has endeared him to Israel’s foes in the region.”
I, in fact, was the first to challenge then-Secretary of State James Baker over Jerusalem at the first Madrid Peace Conference. I asked Baker, “Why can’t America recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital?” Baker was incensed by my remarks and said he refused to be entangled in a fruitless debate, and that the status of Jerusalem should be determined by negotiations.
As a result of Israel’s guarantee not to retaliate against Hussein (who fired 30 SCUDS into Israel during the war), Israel was to be rewarded. Instead, Baker froze $10 billion in loan guarantees that had been allocated to provide housing for Russian Jews living in tents in Israel and forced Israel to the bargaining table at Madrid. It appears that he is doing that again.
Now with President Ahmadinejad holding a conference, questioning the existence of the Holocaust, it is quite clear that Iran has one primary objective, as it relates to the Jews of the World."