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American Morning
Sen. George Mitchell Discusses Middle East Violence
Aired April 01, 2002 - 08:12 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The Israeli forces this morning entered the biblical town of Bethlehem and two other villages in the West Bank. The military operation follows the latest suicide bombings yesterday that killed at least 14 Israelis. Prime Minister Sharon yesterday declared war against terror and promised a relentlessness offensive against Palestinian militants.
Despite the escalating violence, U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni remains in the region, still hopeful, if not optimistic, that diplomatic efforts can somehow turn back both sides or actually turn them back in the direction of peace.
Joining us now is the author of one Mideast peace plan, the Mitchell Plan, former U.S. Senator George Mitchell. Good to see you again. Always glad to have you back.
GEORGE MITCHELL, FORMER U.S. SENATOR, MIDEAST PEACE PLAN AUTHOR: Good morning.
ZAHN: Unfortunately when we tend to talk with you it's during times of crisis. We apologize for that.
Yesterday on CNN former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski called for a vigorous U.S. response to the crisis in the Middle East. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: What we are not hearing is any sense of direction from the United States. The president spoke casually yesterday in a rather relaxed fashion, in fact, focusing in on the one issue, terrorism. And the secretary of state made an appeal for restraint. But the fact is that unless the United States steps in and insists that the U.N. resolution for which the United States itself verdict is respected and is respected immediately, the situation will gravely deteriorate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Is the U.S. position as inconsistent as Mr. Brzezinski says it's here?
MITCHELL: There has been a general increase in U.S. involvement in recent weeks and I think that will continue in the coming days. I think there's a recognition that obviously a higher level of participation is necessary. I don't know when or under what circumstances it will occur, but I the secretary of state will become more deeply involved.
ZAHN: That's a pretty generous way of answering that.
MITCHELL: Yes.
ZAHN: Because Mr. Brzezinski actually was pointing to a hypocrisy, he said, in the fact that the United States joined the U.N. in voting for the security resolution to get Israel out of there and then several hours after that action you have the president basically saying we stand by Mr. Sharon's demand to defend himself.
MITCHELL: Well, of course, the resolution didn't just say the Israelis should get out of there. It called upon the Palestinians to stop the attacks, as well. I think the problem is a political one, obviously, in each society among the Palestinians, among the Israelis, and here in the United States as well.
I think what's needed is the, Israelis want security. They want an end to violence. The Palestinians want a meaningful process that will lead to a state. Bridging the gap between those two demands, an end to violence on the one hand, a meaningful political process that will result in a Palestinian state on the other, is the challenge to diplomacy now. And I think it will happen, hopefully soon.
ZAHN: What signs do you see that that's even a remote possibility now?
MITCHELL: Just look at the pictures on your television screen. Life has become unbearable for the members of both societies. It is now a regular feature on American television of Israeli civilians being killed by a suicide bomber and Palestinians being killed in the retaliatory action by the Israeli military. And, of course, tremendous devastation. The Palestinian economy has been destroyed. The Israeli economy has been seriously hurt.
I think they will come to recognize that the alternative of continued conflict is far worse than the painful alternative of negotiation and political compromise.
ZAHN: You just made the important point that the U.N. resolution not only told Israel to withdraw, but told the Palestinians to stop the violence. You have people like Hanana Shawari (ph), a Palestinian legislator out there, saying that Yasser Arafat cannot control these people, that his ability to communicate has been degraded and not only that, there's so much hopelessness in these communities that people have no reason to live so they're going to continue to blow themselves up. Is that, is she right?
MITCHELL: Our commission recommended that there be a 100 percent effort by Arafat to control the violence. That language was proposed to us by the government of Israel. The Israeli official told us that we know he doesn't have complete control, but he hasn't made a complete effort, and I think that is the reality. He does not have complete control, but he has not made a complete effort within the control that he does have.
ZAHN: We were, in the last hour spoke with Martin Indyk, who was a former U.N. ambassador to Israel. And he basically said that if Yasser Arafat wanted to control these people, all he had to do was pick up his phone and he'd be on the line with nine different security agencies. Does he have more control, perhaps, than people think he does right now?
MITCHELL: Well, that's a relative judgment. He may well have more control than some people think. He may have a lot less control than other people think. I doubt that he could stop it completely and I don't think Martin intended to say that Arafat had such total control that he could stop every potential violent action. I think that's simply not the case.
He could do much more and he could make a much greater effort than has been made. But from his standpoint, he doesn't want to do that unless he's assured that there's a political process that will follow that will result in a Palestinian state and that's the gap that I talked about earlier. The objectives are not identical. The Israelis have a state, they want security. The Palestinians don't have a state, they want one.
ZAHN: There is frustration even within Ariel Sharon's own government about what the end game is here. Has Ariel Sharon gone too far?
MITCHELL: Well, any government in these circumstances would have to retaliate no matter where it was and no matter what the form of government, democracy or otherwise. The problem is, of course, that the stated objective repeatedly by Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Sharon, is to prevent terror. And it hasn't worked in the past year and a half. Terror has increased.
That reflects the reality that there is no military solution to this conflict on either side. The only way to resolve this is through negotiation and an agreement which provides the Israelis with the security they need and the Palestinians with the state that they want.
ZAHN: And you really believe we're close to the point where negotiations may start up again?
MITCHELL: Well, I've been saying that for a few weeks and I haven't...
ZAHN: I know. Come on, Senator.
MITCHELL: I haven't been right so far.
ZAHN: You keep on teasing us here.
MITCHELL: Well, I obviously hope it will happen. Every life lost is a tragedy and I've been disappointed that it hasn't. We were very pleased by the response to our report, which was very positive, including by the Israelis and the Palestinians.
ZAHN: Sure.
MITCHELL: And we've been tremendously disheartened by the absence of any action to implement it. We obviously keep hoping it will happen soon.
ZAHN: All right, good of you to join us. Thank you again for your time this morning.
MITCHELL: Thank you, Paula.
ZAHN: Senator George Mitchell.
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