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	<title>FrontPage Magazine &#187; Daniel Mandel</title>
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		<title>Disband the Mideast Quartet</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2011/danielmandel/disband-the-mideast-quartet/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=disband-the-mideast-quartet</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2011/danielmandel/disband-the-mideast-quartet/#respond</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Jan 2011 04:01:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Mandel]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Why does the U.S. cling to an alliance that has produced no results in nearly eight years? ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/zx500y290_875972.gif"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-82089" title="zx500y290_875972" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/zx500y290_875972.gif" alt="" width="375" height="313" /></a></p>
<p>The  Israeli-Palestinian so-called &#8220;peace process&#8221; has now ground to a halt,  by the common admission of all the parties involved. In the <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47571.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #800080;">words</span></a> this week of an anonymous administration adviser, matters are “utterly  stuck … there is no pretense of progress.” President Barack Obama’s  tortuous, two-year long road to direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations  that collapsed shortly after the point of commencement only underscores  the following: the Israeli/Palestinian issue has proceeded for years on  the wrong track.</p>
<p>How did we arrive here? By following a flawed vision: the 2003 &#8220;Roadmap&#8221; peace plan.</p>
<p>And  how will we get out? By, among other things, disbanding the group that  devised it – the Middle East Quartet (European Union, Russia, the U.N.  and the U.S.).</p>
<p>It  is highly unusual for the U.S. to subordinate the formulation of U.S.  policy to a multilateral group, let alone one largely composed of a  mixed bag of autocracies. Yet, in the wake of 9/11, that is precisely  what the Bush administration did.</p>
<p>Why? Then-Secretary of State Colin Powell afforded a clue when he <a href="http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/FC11356048C273B285256BC3007093BD" target="_blank">said</a> in May 2002, “How important it was for me to have this unified body of opinion and thought behind me” in working for peace.</p>
<p>In  other words, the Bush administration formed the Quartet to insulate  itself from blame for diplomatic failure and unilateralism. Perhaps it  thought that, by forming the Quartet, it could steer the Europeans to  support its policy. In fact, the Quartet has steered the U.S. to support  a European policy.</p>
<p>For proof, just <a href="http://www.meforum.org/556/four-part-disharmony-the-quartet-maps-peace" target="_blank">compare</a> George W. Bush’s June 2002 peace vision and the April 2003 Roadmap which supplanted it and which we have followed since.</p>
<p>In  June 2002, Bush correctly wrote-off Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman  Yasser Arafat’s regime as being central to the problem. Its replacement with a regime untainted by terrorism and corruption was, in contrast, part of the solution, one that  would be met with Israeli concessions as hostilities ended.</p>
<p>In contrast, the Roadmap – without explanation – reversed the sequence. It ordained swift Israeli moves in response to untested Palestinian reforms.</p>
<p>Instead  of a sequence of verifiable reforms leading to a provisional  Palestinian state, the Quartet skipped the reforms in favor of a  schedule leading to a fully sovereign Palestinian state with provisional  borders.</p>
<p>When  the Bush administration caved and adopted the Roadmap, it all but  assured us that there would be no new Palestinian leadership untainted by  terror and corruption.</p>
<p>And so it has proven. Both the <a href="http://www.zoa.org/sitedocuments/pressrelease_view.asp?pressreleaseID=298" target="_blank"><span style="color: #800080;">Bush</span></a> and Obama administrations have dealt with, praised, promoted, and &#8212; above  all &#8212; funded the same occasionally reshuffled deck of Mahmoud Abbas and  other Arafat/PA loyalists – the same PA that <a href="http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&amp;doc_id=2709" target="_blank">honors terrorists</a> like Dalal Mughrabi. Mughrabi led the Fatah terrorists that carried out  the 1978 coastal road massacre in which 37 Israelis, including a dozen  children, were murdered.</p>
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		<title>Nicaragua&#8217;s Iranian Connection</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/danielmandel/nicaraguas-iranian-connection/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=nicaraguas-iranian-connection</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Aug 2010 04:04:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Mandel]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[The Mullahs' goal of streaming agents through Mexico into the U.S. becomes a reality]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/ortega.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-67865" title="ortega" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/ortega.jpg" alt="" width="375" height="356" /></a></p>
<p>It appears as though history is repeating itself in Latin America. Democracies continue to be subverted by ruthless tyrants who show no respect for the constitutions of their own societies. Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, is one such example, but now the Sandinistas’ Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua is carrying on the trend. Ortega is seeking to overturn the constitutional ban on his running for reelection next year by intimidating and subverting the judiciary. He has now threatened to sack judges opposing his plans. This development spells disaster for Nicaragua and danger for the United States.</p>
<p>Many Nicaraguans and international observers disregarded the risks posed by Ortega’s return to power in 2007. “Left-wing radicalism … had little to do with Mr. Ortega’s comeback,” asserted Peruvian writer <a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/html/compose/static_files/%20http:/www.nytimes.com/2006/11/13/opinion/13llosa.html?pagewanted=print" target="_blank">Alvaro Vargas Llosa</a> in the <em>New York Times</em>. <a href="http://www.nationalinterest.org/Article.aspx?id=12962" target="_blank">Sean R. Singer</a>, writing in the <em>National Interest</em>, felt so moved as to describe Ortega as a “born-again free trader.” And the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-ortega12nov12,0,7476912.story?coll=la-opinion-leftrail" target="_blank"><em>Los Angeles Times</em> </a>editorialized that under Ortega “Nicaragua is no security threat to the United States.”</p>
<p>Unfortunately, these individuals were gravely mistaken. Within two months of returning to office, Ortega confided to perennial Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi his plans to emulate the Libyan model of “direct democracy” &#8212; the standard euphemism for the top-down, febrile populism of third world dictatorships.</p>
<p>Since returning to power, Ortega has opposed every American and democratic interest.  Nicaragua, for instance, was the first country after Russia to recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the two Russian-backed break-away republics within the Republic of Georgia.</p>
<p>While Iran has been defying international demands to curtail its nuclear program, the two countries have signed numerous energy and trade agreements. Indeed, Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was present at Ortega’s inauguration and Ortega <a href="http://www.payvand.com/news/07/jun/1102.html" target="_blank">told</a> the press during Ahmadinejad’s stay that the “revolutions of Iran and Nicaragua are almost twin revolutions.”</p>
<p>Iranian funds have poured into the country, but little visible development has occurred, indicating that the funds have had other, less reassuring uses. On a visit to Iran in 2007, where he was extended the <a href="http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-22/0706110803162455.htm" target="_blank">unprecedented honor</a> of being greeted at the airport by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ortega addressed a mass meeting entitled &#8220;World Resistance Forum,&#8221; in which he <a href="http://www.payvand.com/news/07/jun/1102.html" target="_blank">trumpeted his admiration for Iranian-backed terrorists</a>, shouting with clenched fists, “Viva Iranian nation, Viva Islamic combatants, Viva Latin American and Asian nations until ever-lasting freedom and victory!”</p>
<p>Over the years, Iran has deployed its own agents and Hizballah terrorists to attack its enemies &#8212; Jews, Israelis, Iranian exiles, anti-Tehran activists &#8212; under the diplomatic cover of its embassies.</p>
<p>It was these operatives who, in 1994, murdered hundreds in the bombings of the Israeli embassy and a Jewish community center in Argentina. But Argentina is distant from the U.S. In contrast, Nicaragua lies immediately south of Mexico, with its oil and gas industries lying close across the border; excellent terrorist targets in themselves.</p>
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		<title>Palestinians Glorify a Terrorist</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/danielmandel/palestinians-glorify-a-terrorist/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=palestinians-glorify-a-terrorist</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/danielmandel/palestinians-glorify-a-terrorist/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Mar 2010 04:01:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Mandel]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Administration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[building]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[capital]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Coastal Road]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[construction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Czech Republic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dalal Mughrabi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Axelrod]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eastern Jerusalem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hillary Clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Honduras]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Lebanon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mahmoud abbas]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[nothing]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Oslo]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Secretary of State Hillary]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Vice President Joseph Biden]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=55362</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[And Obama denounces Israel for building homes.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>
<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/dalal.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-55363" title="dalal" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/dalal.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="428" /></a></p>
<p>Does building  homes threaten peace? Or does holding a ceremony honoring as a hero and role  model a terrorist who murdered dozens of civilians? Last week, Israel announced  it would be doing the former. Palestinians did the latter. The Obama  Administration condemned the Israeli words; it ignored the Palestinian  deeds.</p>
<p>What could be  wrong with building 1,600 homes for Jews in eastern Jerusalem?  Nothing, except  for Palestinians who do not accept Israel’s existence and intend as a first step  towards ending it to set up their own Jew-free state and divide Israel’s capital  in the process.</p>
<p>What could be  wrong with the Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority (PA) publicly honoring Dalal  Mughrabi, who led the 1978 coastal road terror attack that killed 37 Israeli  civilians? Everything, where peace is concerned but, apparently, nothing where  the Obama Administration is concerned.</p>
<p>Visiting  Vice-President Joseph Biden condemned the Israeli building project. Secretary of  State Hillary Clinton called it “an insult to the United States.” Senior Obama  adviser David Axelrod described it as “destructive” and an “affront.” But no  such words – in fact, no words at all – issued from this Administration over the  PA publicly glorifying Mughrabi, which also occurred during Biden’s  visit.</p>
<p>The Obama  Administration has noisily opposed Jewish construction in the West Bank and  eastern Jerusalem. But last year even it accepted Israel’s unilateral concession  (unreciprocated by the PA) of a ten-month building freeze in the West Bank,  excluding Jerusalem. Indeed, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton welcomed this  concession and called it “unprecedented” – which it was.</p>
<p>After all,  throughout the Oslo process, Israel built homes for existing Jewish communities  without Palestinians breaking off talks, and little wonder: an Israeli  commitment to cease building such homes does not feature in the Oslo agreements.  The use of such a pretext for walking out of talks could only have gone so  far.</p>
<p>However, last  year, the Obama  Administration arrived on the scene.</p>
<p>Since loudly  demanding a Jewish construction freeze, the only result has been that the PA now  refuses to negotiate until Israel accedes to it. This lands an Administration  &#8212; that has made a priority about restarting peace talks without inquiring into  whether Palestinians actually want peace &#8212; in a self-made mess.</p>
<p>Having no-where  else to turn and unable to acknowledge responsibility for the results of its own  posturing, the Obama Administration has scrambled for an alibi to account for  its failure by turning on Israel for doing something it had previously accepted.</p>
<p>This fit of  pique is likely to be as counter-productive for the Obama Administration as it  will be inconsequential for Israel’s Netanyahu government. Israelis do not like  other people telling them to divide their capital and they will not turn on the  Netanyahu government for opposing steps that could lead to it.</p>
<p>The Obama  Administration has already abandoned Obama’s original, sonorously proclaimed  goal of swift, direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks due the very Palestinian  refusal to participate which it has incited. Now it may come to witness the  disintegration of its painstakingly-orchestrated fall-back, proximity talks –  basically the U.S. acting as messenger between the two sides – before they even  begin.</p>
<p>Worse, this  high-handedness with a friend will ultimately dismay other American allies – as  other Obama stunts have done with the Czech Republic, Honduras and Poland, to  name a few – while emboldening rivals and enemies.</p>
<p>Obama promised  the Czechs and Poles that he would keep faith with his predecessor’s agreement  to provide a missile defense shield, before telephoning both countries on the  70<sup>th</sup> anniversary of World War Two to tell them he had changed his  mind at the behest of their worst nightmare, Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Honduras  removed from office in accordance with its constitution a lawless president  seeking to remain there and was rewarded with U.S. condemnation and the cutting  off of military aid. Now Israel announces a housing project that Palestinians  don’t like and the Administration reacts with rancorous hyperbole.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the  Administration presses ‘reset’ buttons with Russia, which sells the technology  for nuclear weapons development to Iran. It  restores an ambassador to Syria, having abandoned holding it accountable for the  murder of Lebanon’s Rafik Hariri or dispatching jihadists to kill Americans in  Iraq. And Obama personally bows before Saudi and Chinese despots who  export the technology and ideology increasingly threatening America and its  allies.</p>
<p>The Obama  Administration fiddles about Israeli apartments while the Middle East  burns.</p>
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