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CNN Live At Daybreak
International Wrap, Eye on World
Aired October 06, 2003 - 06:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Our senior international editor, David Clinch, is here now to look at the big picture in this escalating Mideast crisis.
A lot going on, especially with Iraq and Afghanistan, and the White House...
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Right. Absolutely. Well, we were talking earlier about the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, Israel having attacked Syria over the weekend for a suicide bombing, how difficult it is to predict what's going to happen there next, how difficult it is to see what, if any, role the United States, the Bush administration can have there.
It seems to me that it boils down to two U.S. policies clashing: the war on terror clashing with the road map for peace. And in my view, and I think in the view of the Bush administration, the war on terror trumps the road map for peace.
And by that, what I mean is, the United States, the Bush administration does not want to put itself in a position in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict of coming in to protect Syria, to somehow condemn Israel for attacking Syria, a country the U.S. has accused of aiding terrorism. The U.S. does not want to put itself in the position of going into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with empty gestures, trying to get everybody to sit down, but without any realistic proposals on the ground, since the road map is not going anywhere.
So what happens? Well, I think if we're looking for clues, we look at the story that's in "The New York Times" today, where we see the Bush administration reportedly reorganizing completely the way in which the conflict in Iraq, the military, the civilian, the reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan will be run, channeling everything back to the White House, to Condoleezza Rice. We see her walking here with President Bush.
Basically, Condoleezza Rice being quoted by "The New York Times" as saying that after talking with President Bush over the summer and with Donald Rumsfeld and other Bush administration leaders, it was agreed this is a vital effort in Iraq and Afghanistan, and with an election year coming, the White House has to have a hands-on role in both of those areas.
Now, it will be interesting to see, and I think to be completely cynical, as we journalists are sometimes, there is obviously a political element there. Iraq and Afghanistan have such a high profile the Bush administration cannot afford to leave them to anybody else, even just to the military.
Very interesting to see whether the Israeli-Palestinian conflict becomes a political element in an election year. At the moment, it's not. But, of course, critics say that it is that very Israeli- Palestinian conflict that fuels the conflict in Iraq, that fuels all of the things that are behind the war on terror.
So, it may end up being a political element for the Bush administration. We shall see.
COLLINS: And another element in all of this, too: Iran...
(CROSSTALK)
CLINCH: Absolutely. It scares me when you hear Israel or anybody else talking about Iran and Syria. It's a very frightening part of the world right now.
COLLINS: A lot of work to be done, no question about that.
CLINCH: Right.
COLLINS: Senior international editor David Clinch, thanks so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired October 6, 2003 - 06:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Our senior international editor, David Clinch, is here now to look at the big picture in this escalating Mideast crisis.
A lot going on, especially with Iraq and Afghanistan, and the White House...
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Right. Absolutely. Well, we were talking earlier about the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, Israel having attacked Syria over the weekend for a suicide bombing, how difficult it is to predict what's going to happen there next, how difficult it is to see what, if any, role the United States, the Bush administration can have there.
It seems to me that it boils down to two U.S. policies clashing: the war on terror clashing with the road map for peace. And in my view, and I think in the view of the Bush administration, the war on terror trumps the road map for peace.
And by that, what I mean is, the United States, the Bush administration does not want to put itself in a position in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict of coming in to protect Syria, to somehow condemn Israel for attacking Syria, a country the U.S. has accused of aiding terrorism. The U.S. does not want to put itself in the position of going into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with empty gestures, trying to get everybody to sit down, but without any realistic proposals on the ground, since the road map is not going anywhere.
So what happens? Well, I think if we're looking for clues, we look at the story that's in "The New York Times" today, where we see the Bush administration reportedly reorganizing completely the way in which the conflict in Iraq, the military, the civilian, the reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan will be run, channeling everything back to the White House, to Condoleezza Rice. We see her walking here with President Bush.
Basically, Condoleezza Rice being quoted by "The New York Times" as saying that after talking with President Bush over the summer and with Donald Rumsfeld and other Bush administration leaders, it was agreed this is a vital effort in Iraq and Afghanistan, and with an election year coming, the White House has to have a hands-on role in both of those areas.
Now, it will be interesting to see, and I think to be completely cynical, as we journalists are sometimes, there is obviously a political element there. Iraq and Afghanistan have such a high profile the Bush administration cannot afford to leave them to anybody else, even just to the military.
Very interesting to see whether the Israeli-Palestinian conflict becomes a political element in an election year. At the moment, it's not. But, of course, critics say that it is that very Israeli- Palestinian conflict that fuels the conflict in Iraq, that fuels all of the things that are behind the war on terror.
So, it may end up being a political element for the Bush administration. We shall see.
COLLINS: And another element in all of this, too: Iran...
(CROSSTALK)
CLINCH: Absolutely. It scares me when you hear Israel or anybody else talking about Iran and Syria. It's a very frightening part of the world right now.
COLLINS: A lot of work to be done, no question about that.
CLINCH: Right.
COLLINS: Senior international editor David Clinch, thanks so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
