War — America's first resort
By Fahed Fanek, Jordan Times, November 4, 2002
THOSE WHO say that they don't hate America, only its foreign policy, have to think again. America no longer has a foreign policy; it has a defence policy or, to be more precise, a military and war policy. Time was when America saw war as a last resort. Now, war has become the first resort. The diplomats of the State Department have to make way for the hawkish warmongers of the Pentagon. In 1990, when Iraq was occupying Kuwait and America was in the process of massing its troops in Saudi Arabia, President George Bush senior made Iraq offer after offer to leave Kuwait peacefully. Now, under George W. Bush, the US is trying its best to close all avenues that might avert war.

An improper appointment
Editorial, Ha'aretz, November 4, 2002
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is expected to ask the Knesset today to confirm his appointment of Shaul Mofaz as defense minister. The Knesset would serve Israeli democracy by opposing this appointment. Without making judgements about his personal qualities or his suitability for the position, Lt. Gen. (Res.) Mofaz, for now, is unfit for this position for reasons of principle. These reasons relate to the structure of government in developed democracies and the rules of the game by which these democracies operate.

Don't say, 'We didn't know'
By Akiva Eldar, Ha'aretz, November 4, 2002
The experience of the past 18 years teaches that right-wing governments, mistakenly called "unity governments," do not die; they merely recycle.
Shortly after the Labor Party's ministers submitted their resignations, Likud Minister Tzachi Hanegbi was predicting that on November 20, if Benjamin Ben-Eliezer wins the Labor leadership primary the previous day, he will rush to regain the Defense Ministry. Yes, this alluring ministry has indeed been conquered by former chief of staff Shaul Mofaz in the meantime; but we have already learned that the opposition benches can turn even the unnecessary Ministry for Regional Cooperation into a small temple for a senior Israeli statesman who was once prime minister. Those who brandish the banner of "Rabin's legacy" had no problem sharing the cabinet table with transfer advocates who honored them with the title, "the Oslo criminals."

Netanyahu’s Conditions Threaten Palestinians, Bush ‘Vision’ and Quartet Road Map
Palestine Media Center, November 4, 2002
Likud-party-leadership-hopeful Benjamin Netanyahu has set conditions to join Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government as foreign minister that would change the government's policy platform and move Israel into a collision course with its major US ally and the Quartet peace mediators, but more importantly would have grave consequencies on the Palestinian people. Former Israeli primer minister Netanyahu opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, contrary to US President George W. Bush’s vision of a two-state solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He has also been an outspoken advocate of the ouster of President Yasser Arafat. Moreover, he opposes the Quartet’s ‘road map’ to embody Bush’s vision, supports the expansion of Jewish settlement activities in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian Territory, and is an ally of the ultra-extremist National Union-Yisrael Beitenu led by MP Avigdor Lieberman, who advocates Palestinian transfer. Furthermore, Netanyahu demanded early elections as the central condition fo accepting the foreign ministry portfolio.

Israel Has Too Many Things On Its Plate
By Richard H. Curtiss, Palestine Chronicle, November 2, 2002
WASHINGTON - Retired four-star General Anthony Zinni, speaking at an Oct. 10 Middle East Institute forum in Washington, cited some of the reasons why the United States should not enter into a war on Iraq unless absolutely necessary. In a list of 10 necessities for waging a successful war, Zinni described the fourth necessity for any US action as the requirement that there be no Israeli military attack. Zinni made it clear that if the Israelis got involved militarily, all bets were off. Israeli participation would be a catastrophe for the US, Zinni said, because all of the Arab countries would then feel compelled to join into the fray, insofar as would be feasible. The possibility that, for their own domestic purposes, the Israelis would join the battle is perhaps the single greatest dilemma facing Washington. Inevitably, moreover, Israel will exact a steep price for exercising restraint, in order to alleviate its own economic difficulties.

Every soldier's a chief of staff
By Gideon Levy, Ha'aretz, November 3, 2002
"Where?" asked the soldier. "To Qalqiliya, to the hospital," said the Palestinian. "What for?" asked the soldier. "My wife's having a baby," said the Palestinian. "Boy or girl?" asked the soldier. "A daughter." "Girl. Okay, go." That absurd dialogue took place last Saturday near the checkpoint at the entrance to Qalqiliya. Who should a soldier ask about the baby's gender? No reason. Why should a Palestinian who wants to go from his village to a nearby city be asked about the purpose of his journey? Just to prove how unlimited is the power in the hands of the soldier, who can determine the fate of any Palestinian he encounters.

Russian and U.S. economies desire opposite outcome in Iraq
By Erich Marquardt and Matthew Riemer, Yellow Times, October 31, 2002
(YellowTimes.org) – With his fate presumably in the hands of the Bush administration, Saddam Hussein is doing what he does best: surviving.
The Iraqi leader, realizing that American intervention could bring his rule to an end, has been winning friends in Western Europe and Russia by offering large, generous oil deals to powerful countries who are in a position to make a U.S. invasion more difficult. Iraq has 110 billion barrels of oil reserves, second largest only to Saudi Arabia. Iraq's granting of large oil deals to politically important countries is cutting American companies out. While U.N. sanctions do not allow foreign companies to invest in Iraqi oilfields, companies are still allowed to enter into deals with Iraq that will go into effect once the sanctions have been lifted. Worried about losing market share, American oil companies are pushing the Bush administration to remove Saddam from power. By removing Saddam from power, the new U.S. supported regime will give the most lucrative oil deals to American oil firms rather than European and Russian firms.