As U.S. tanks rolled through Baghdad in what looks to be the
last phases of the Iraqi war, a group of UCLA students and
community members were already gathering with a renowned Middle
East expert to discuss its aftermath.
Martin Indyk, who served two terms as the United States
ambassador to Israel, spoke to an audience of about 120 on what
steps the United States must take to secure peace in a post-Hussein
Iraq and what effect the war will have on the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.
“April 9, 2003 with go down in Middle Eastern history as
the day an Arab dictator was toppled by United States military
power,” he said.
Indyk said the war will have a “profound effect” in
the Middle East that has seen almost four decades of unchanging
Arab regimes in Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, a quartet
Indyk dubbed: “The Four Dinosaurs.”
Indyk feels the United States now has the opportunity to thaw
these unchanging “frozen regimes” as the Iraqi war
draws to a close.
“If we move quickly to establish an interim government
that is representative of all the people in Iraq … that can have
a profound impact on the other three dinosaurs,” he said.
With the balance of power in the Middle East radically changed
and an unprecedented U.S. presence in the region, the situation may
also be ripe for an Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Historically, he said, Middle Eastern wars have been followed by
great steps forward in peace. After the 1973 Israeli-Arab Yom
Kippur war, American brokerage led to an Israeli-Egyptian peace
treaty.
And after the Gulf War in 1991, United States negotiations laid
the groundwork for the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords and an
Israeli-Jordan peace treaty.
“If history is a precedent, this war, if it creates
sustained American engagement, could very well generate the
opportunity for an Israeli-Palestinian peace process,” he
said.
Leadership will also play a key role. Both governments of the
Israelis and Palestinians have changed since the Palestinian
uprising began two and a half years ago.
Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, finds himself in
charge of a right-wing coalition that is largely skeptical of the
creation of a Palestinian state.
And Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has recently designated
Mahmoud Abbas to replace him as prime minister, a significant step
towards peace considering both the United States and Israel refused
to negotiate with Arafat as long as he was prime minister.
Abbas, however, faces the formidable challenge of organizing a
new cabinet and disarming Islamic militant groups in order to move
toward peace.
Indyk said the United States alone has the power to help solve
these problems and bridge the Israeli-Palestinian divide.
“Only the United States, which has the trust of Israel and
the influence over the Arab world, can lead the two to the promised
land,” he said.
Response to the presentation was generally warm and receptive.
Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, director of UCLA Hillel, called the
forum “level-headed,” and “hopeful.”
“It presents the possibility of reconciliation and hope,
and that’s what I promote,” he said.
Amy Jamison, a graduate student in African studies, said she
felt Indyk presented a “good diplomatic solution” to
the Middle East conflict but said he didn’t take into account
all the perspectives.
“In my personal feelings, he didn’t seem to make the
consequences of these actions out as devastating as they could
be,” she said.
Indyk ended the discussion by urging the United States not to
abandon the Iraqi people and to be prepared for a long-term
investment in the Middle East.
“If we fail to live up to the promise we have made to the
Iraqi people … we will have squandered the opportunity, and the
loss of life will not be justified,” he said.