Battle in Mideast Widens U.S.-Russia Rift
Tense Bush-Putin Relations at G-8 Summit
Complicate Diplomatic Response to Conflict
By YOCHI J. DREAZEN
July 18, 2006; Page A4
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- The U.S. and Russia differ sharply on the causes and cures for the outbreak of Middle East violence, complicating the diplomatic response and further straining relations between Washington and Moscow.
The tension between President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin hung over this year's Group of Eight summit here, as the two sides traded jabs over whether responsibility lay with Israel or the Lebanese-based Hezbollah militia. It also heralded further diplomatic strains, because Russia's proposals -- negotiating with Hezbollah, pressing Israel to halt its offensive and resisting efforts to lay blame on Syria and Iran -- run counter to those of the U.S.
Mr. Bush offered a blunt prescription during a lunch meeting yesterday with other G-8 leaders, when a microphone accidentally left on picked up the president using an expletive to illustrate his belief that Syria bore responsibility. In an exchange with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Mr. Bush said global powers had to "get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s-, and then it's over." Mr. Bush also told Mr. Blair he wanted to tell United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan "to get on the phone with [Syrian President Bashar] Assad and make something happen."
The divide came to a head during a tussle over a Russian attempt to have the summit formally condemn Israel's assault on Lebanon. After the U.S. blocked the move, Russia stymied a U.S. effort to include language specifically linking Syria and Iran to the violence. Ultimately, the G-8 statement on the Middle East expressed the leaders' "determination to pursue efforts to restore peace," but didn't address differences between the U.S. and Russian approaches.
Still, the U.S. and Russia have some common ground, with both expressing cautious support for an emerging proposal to send an armed international force to the Israel-Lebanon border. "The G-8 will ask the U.N. Security Council to consider sending an international peacekeeping force to Lebanon...and I hope the United Nations Security Council will take this decision," Mr. Putin said. He said Russia would consider sending troops to a U.N.-created force.
Disagreement over Mideast violence is a new irritant in the rocky ties between the U.S. and Russia. Despite round-the-clock negotiations, the two sides failed last week to reach agreement on a deal that would allow Russia into the World Trade Organization, a priority for Mr. Putin. The leaders also had tense exchanges about Russia's record on democracy and human rights. And Mr. Putin publicly mocked U.S. progress in Iraq.
Today's Mideast dispute reflects each country's positions on the decades-old Arab-Israeli conflict, but U.S. officials say it is being fueled by Russia's desire to challenge the U.S. on a variety of fronts to demonstrate its resurgence as a global power. A senior U.S. official said Russia's position also reflects Moscow's growing business and financial ties with Iran.
While the gap between the U.S. and Russia looks to be widening over the Middle East, the summit seemed to chart new agreement between the U.S. and its European allies, who often find themselves on opposite sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
None of the European countries backed Israel as strongly as the U.S., and several mixed condemnations of Hezbollah with expressions of concern about the scope of the Israeli offensive. Still, the public statements of most G-8 leaders seemed closer to Mr. Bush's than Mr. Putin's.
French President Jacques Chirac, in an appearance with Mr. Bush, emphasized the need for "to-the-letter implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559," which calls for Hezbollah to be disarmed. Mr. Blair echoed American language accusing Iran and Syria of contributing to the violence through military and financial support of Hezbollah.
Mr. Putin's denunciation of the Israeli offensive could open him up to charges of hypocrisy in his views in the war on terror, given Russia's crackdown on Chechnya, where Russian forces battling Islamic separatists have killed thousands of civilians. Mr. Putin's public statements make clear that he sees Hamas's and Hezbollah's battles with Israel as predominantly political in nature, while he sees the Chechens' attacks on Russia as religiously inspired terrorism.
The U.S. has rejected Arab and European appeals to pressure Israel to halt its counteroffensive and has condemned Syria and Iran for supplying arms and financial aid to the Shiite militia. The U.S. wants Lebanon to fulfill the U.N. resolution calling for Hezbollah to be disarmed and has called for international pressure on Syria and Iran to curtail support for the group.
"For the first time we've really begun to address with clarity the root causes of the conflict...and that is terrorist activity -- namely, Hezbollah, that's housed and encouraged by Syria, financed by Iran, are making these moves to stop the progress of peace," Mr. Bush said.
Russia argues that the root cause of the current violence is Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory in the West Bank and Syrian territory in the Golan Heights. Moscow has criticized Hezbollah for abducting Israeli soldiers and striking northern Israel, but it broke with the U.S. by condemning the Israeli military attacks as excessive and disproportionate. Mr. Putin also said that there is no definitive proof that Syria and Iran have continuing ties to Hezbollah.
Mr. Putin's government also has laid out a different set of responses. Speaking to reporters in recent days, Mr. Putin has said his government has held back-channel talks with Hezbollah and would be willing to hold formal negotiations with the group, as it does with the Palestinian militant organization Hamas.
--Guy Chazan contributed to this article.
Original
Complicate Diplomatic Response to Conflict
By YOCHI J. DREAZEN
July 18, 2006; Page A4
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- The U.S. and Russia differ sharply on the causes and cures for the outbreak of Middle East violence, complicating the diplomatic response and further straining relations between Washington and Moscow.
The tension between President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin hung over this year's Group of Eight summit here, as the two sides traded jabs over whether responsibility lay with Israel or the Lebanese-based Hezbollah militia. It also heralded further diplomatic strains, because Russia's proposals -- negotiating with Hezbollah, pressing Israel to halt its offensive and resisting efforts to lay blame on Syria and Iran -- run counter to those of the U.S.
Mr. Bush offered a blunt prescription during a lunch meeting yesterday with other G-8 leaders, when a microphone accidentally left on picked up the president using an expletive to illustrate his belief that Syria bore responsibility. In an exchange with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Mr. Bush said global powers had to "get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s-, and then it's over." Mr. Bush also told Mr. Blair he wanted to tell United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan "to get on the phone with [Syrian President Bashar] Assad and make something happen."
The divide came to a head during a tussle over a Russian attempt to have the summit formally condemn Israel's assault on Lebanon. After the U.S. blocked the move, Russia stymied a U.S. effort to include language specifically linking Syria and Iran to the violence. Ultimately, the G-8 statement on the Middle East expressed the leaders' "determination to pursue efforts to restore peace," but didn't address differences between the U.S. and Russian approaches.
Still, the U.S. and Russia have some common ground, with both expressing cautious support for an emerging proposal to send an armed international force to the Israel-Lebanon border. "The G-8 will ask the U.N. Security Council to consider sending an international peacekeeping force to Lebanon...and I hope the United Nations Security Council will take this decision," Mr. Putin said. He said Russia would consider sending troops to a U.N.-created force.
Disagreement over Mideast violence is a new irritant in the rocky ties between the U.S. and Russia. Despite round-the-clock negotiations, the two sides failed last week to reach agreement on a deal that would allow Russia into the World Trade Organization, a priority for Mr. Putin. The leaders also had tense exchanges about Russia's record on democracy and human rights. And Mr. Putin publicly mocked U.S. progress in Iraq.
Today's Mideast dispute reflects each country's positions on the decades-old Arab-Israeli conflict, but U.S. officials say it is being fueled by Russia's desire to challenge the U.S. on a variety of fronts to demonstrate its resurgence as a global power. A senior U.S. official said Russia's position also reflects Moscow's growing business and financial ties with Iran.
While the gap between the U.S. and Russia looks to be widening over the Middle East, the summit seemed to chart new agreement between the U.S. and its European allies, who often find themselves on opposite sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
None of the European countries backed Israel as strongly as the U.S., and several mixed condemnations of Hezbollah with expressions of concern about the scope of the Israeli offensive. Still, the public statements of most G-8 leaders seemed closer to Mr. Bush's than Mr. Putin's.
French President Jacques Chirac, in an appearance with Mr. Bush, emphasized the need for "to-the-letter implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559," which calls for Hezbollah to be disarmed. Mr. Blair echoed American language accusing Iran and Syria of contributing to the violence through military and financial support of Hezbollah.
Mr. Putin's denunciation of the Israeli offensive could open him up to charges of hypocrisy in his views in the war on terror, given Russia's crackdown on Chechnya, where Russian forces battling Islamic separatists have killed thousands of civilians. Mr. Putin's public statements make clear that he sees Hamas's and Hezbollah's battles with Israel as predominantly political in nature, while he sees the Chechens' attacks on Russia as religiously inspired terrorism.
The U.S. has rejected Arab and European appeals to pressure Israel to halt its counteroffensive and has condemned Syria and Iran for supplying arms and financial aid to the Shiite militia. The U.S. wants Lebanon to fulfill the U.N. resolution calling for Hezbollah to be disarmed and has called for international pressure on Syria and Iran to curtail support for the group.
"For the first time we've really begun to address with clarity the root causes of the conflict...and that is terrorist activity -- namely, Hezbollah, that's housed and encouraged by Syria, financed by Iran, are making these moves to stop the progress of peace," Mr. Bush said.
Russia argues that the root cause of the current violence is Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory in the West Bank and Syrian territory in the Golan Heights. Moscow has criticized Hezbollah for abducting Israeli soldiers and striking northern Israel, but it broke with the U.S. by condemning the Israeli military attacks as excessive and disproportionate. Mr. Putin also said that there is no definitive proof that Syria and Iran have continuing ties to Hezbollah.
Mr. Putin's government also has laid out a different set of responses. Speaking to reporters in recent days, Mr. Putin has said his government has held back-channel talks with Hezbollah and would be willing to hold formal negotiations with the group, as it does with the Palestinian militant organization Hamas.
--Guy Chazan contributed to this article.
Original
posted by enemycombatant at 11:19 AM
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