Middle East Expert Advises Continued Talks with Israel, Questions Same with Iran
by Jim Brown
November 14, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A Middle East expert says five years after 9-11, the U.S. is not doing well in the war against radical Islamic terrorism.Heritage Foundation senior research fellow Dr. Ariel Cohen says the Middle East is in more chaos and uncertainty than it ever has been before, the Iraq war is not going well, and there is a possibility NATO will not hold the line in Afghanistan. All the more reason, he says, for the United States to continue consulting with Israel on foreign policy objectives.
President Bush met yesterday (November 13) at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Cohen says such talks are important because the U.S., western Europe, and Israel face a common threat.
"Iran is pursuing a not very concealed nuclear program that may give Iran ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads within two to five years," Cohen shares. "And that is a very bad development for the Middle East because Iran will be in a position to dominate the main oil-producing region of the world."
Cohen says he hopes President Bush reassured Prime Minister Olmert that the United States is not going to abandon Israel, because that would sent the wrong message to radical Islamic forces that are pushing for the U.S. to capitulate like the Spaniards did after the Madrid bombings in 2003.
According to Cohen, Robert Gates -- nominated to succeed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who resigned following last Tuesday's elections -- is likely to pursue a different policy in the Middle East. He notes that a Iraq study group headed by former Secretary of State James A. Baker and former Indiana Democratic congressman Lee Hamilton recommends engaging in talks with Iran and Syria. Cohen believes such an engagement will come at a price.
"And the price they may demand is the security, if not the very survival, of the State of Israel," says Cohen. "There are people close to Mr. Baker and others in Washington who also are advocating that Israel engages Hamas, the radical Islamic organization that is controlling Palestinian territories, ... in some kind of talks."
Cohen admits, however, that he is not clear how a nation can engage in talks with a terrorist organization that openly advocates for the destruction of that nation.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
