DATE=04/12/02

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

TITLE=TURMOIL IN THE MIDDLE EAST

NUMBER=6-125634

BYLINE=JOHN GUCHEMAND

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

INTRO: This weekend, U-S Secretary of State Colin Powell is meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and may meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat . Despite Mr. Powell's presence in this war-torn region, the United States is still hashing out the role it should play to in stemming the escalating bloodshed. There are many who remain sure that there will be no peace in the Mideast until Israeli soldiers completely pull out of Palestinian areas. Others believe that both sides have a responsibility to put an end to this war. Still others argue that the U-S should not get involved in the conflict at all.

Here with a sampling of U-S editorial comment is V-O-A's __________.

TEXT: The Boston Globe sees the U-S as a last minute healer, attempting to close deep wounds in the Middle East.

VOICE: For Powell to succeed, he will have to cope with two harsh realities. One is that the bloodletting has gone on unchecked for a year and a half, and by now those Israeli and Palestinian majorities that were enthusiastic for peace in the aftermath of the 1993 Oslo accords have taken on some of the rage and despair of the fanatics. When grief and vengeance overcome reason, decent people on both sides begin to think and act emotionally, scorning political pragmatism.

The second harsh reality is that the difference between what Sharon and Arafat are willing to cede to the other side in a political compromise appears an unbridgeable chasm.

...All Powell's considerable skills and all America's power must now be mustered to save Israelis and Palestinians from the demons they have loosed on themselves.

TEXT: The Christian Science Monitor writes that it takes two to commit to peace. Both the Israelis and the Palestinians must take responsibility for the horrors they've carried out, and continue to carry out daily, in the Mideast.

VOICE: The trip to Israel and the West Bank by Secretary of State Colin Powell should not be only for peace. It must also hold both sides to account for atrocities. Yassar Arafat should admit he's failed to jail or hand over bomb plotters to Israel, and failed to tell Palestinians -- in Arabic -- that violence against Israeli civilians must stop. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, too, must face a reckoning by the U-S and others for the Israeli Army's two-week assault on West Bank cities.

...The devastation of major Palestinian cities went way beyond the army's goal of simply uprooting "the infrastructure of terror."

...Failing to see these wrongs will only hinder their (Israelis and Palestinians) ability to create the right peace.

TEXT: The New York Times, while arguing that Israel's actions may be justified, points out that Israel is heading to deepening problems with its treatment of Palestinian citizens.

VOICE: Israel's long-term interest lies in nurturing Palestinian development, not demolishing it. While Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's determination to strike back at terrorists is understandable, Israel's destruction of Palestinian homes, businesses and public utilities is not.

...Several years ago, promising signs of improvement appeared, helped by aid from the United States, the European Union, the Arab League and international organizations ... These gains have been obliterated by the past 19 months of conflict, with the greatest damage concentrated in the past two weeks. Yasir Arafat bears much of the blame. Now Israel claims to have proof that he has not only failed to oppose terrorism but has directly authorized it. Still, Israeli military tactics are responsible for much of the civilian destruction.

...Mr. Sharon needs to make it clear to his commanders that Palestinian civilians are not Israel's enemy and that their lives, livelihoods and property deserve respect. Better yet, with Secretary of State Colin Powell in Israel, Mr. Sharon should belatedly heed President Bush's call for immediate withdrawal.

TEXT: The Baltimore Sun observes that, even in the face of Bush's repeated calls for withdrawal, Israel still argues that it is merely defending itself. The Sun believes Israel's current victories do not count for much in the long-run.

VOICE: Mr. Sharon has not been moved by criticism from the European Union, Russia and the United Nations; Germany's suspension of arms sales; or the European-proposed trade sanctions against the Jewish state, whose once robust economy is sinking. The reason may well be this: The desire of Israelis to live without the daily threat of suicide attacks outweighs any threat of isolation from the greater international community.

...For Mr. Powell, Israel and the Palestinian territories are the ground zero of his peacemaking mission. Mr. Powell has already conceded that a cease-fire is not essential, but the secretary of state is not going to go home empty-handed. His reputation is at stake, and more importantly, so is Mr. Bush's.

In the week since Mr. Bush offered Israelis and Arabs his tough-love version of the path to peace, he may have realized that resolving this conflict will require him to apply pressures he is not yet prepared to use.

TEXT: Finally, The Wall Street Journal says that Mr. Bush is risking his credibility by his involvement in the Mideast.

VOICE: When President Bush took his plunge into the Arab-Israeli conflict last week, we worried that he was heading into a quagmire. Judging from a week's worth of evidence, maybe we were optimists.

Mr. Bush has tossed his prestige into the Mideast bazaar, and the region's traders are already selling it at a discount. Neither side is listening to his declarations, each one hoping to coax him further in its direction.

...We sympathize with Mr. Bush, who was urged by all of elite opinion to enter this maw. Now that he can't work miracles, they find him at fault. Alas, the price for this will be paid not by those who urged Mr. Bush on but by the President himself in lost credibility.

TEXT: That concludes today's sampling of U-S newspaper editorial pages.

NEB/TG/RH/MEM