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American Morning

Removing Arafat

Aired September 12, 2003 - 09:17   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. government telling Israel that it would -- quote -- "not be helpful" to try and remove Yasser Arafat. Remove is the word that the Israeli security cabinet is using right now in a resolution dealing with the Palestinian leader. It did not define, though, exactly what was meant by that. Former Senate majority leader George Mitchell, a veteran of the Middle East process, our guest now from Chicago.
Good to see you, senator. Good morning there in Chicago.

GEORGE MITCHELL, FMR. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Thanks, Bill.

HEMMER: What do you -- what's your take on this? Even if you're able to get Yasser Arafat physically removed out of the region, does that advance the cause for peace, do you think?

MITCHELL: Nobody knows that. That's why the Israeli cabinet has debated this without action for more than a year now. That's why I think there's still some uncertainty about whether it will actually occur. It's maddeningly frustrating, of course, but the reality is that no one knows whether his removal will make things more difficult or less difficult. The United States, and all of the other road map partners, the U.N., the European Union and Russia, are opposed to this, so presumably an Israeli decision on this, to act on this, would be the final nail in the coffin of the road map.

HEMMER: We were speaking earlier today with the former ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk. His theory goes like this: Go ahead and remove Arafat and try to move the peace process forward. In exchange, the Israelis dismantle a number of settlements in the West Bank. Is that plausible to you?

MITCHELL: Well, of course, the Israelis committed to take action on the settlements as part of the road map process. I think that's going to have to happen at some point. Whether or not it can be done in conjunction with the removal of Arafat, I think remains to be seen.

I don't think the Israelis have made a decision to act. I think what they're doing is responding to domestic pressure to do something, and arming themselves with this option, getting the prior cabinet approval so they can implement it swiftly if it proves necessary in the future.

HEMMER: We're looking at a live picture from Fort Stewart in the state of Georgia. The president just arriving onboard Air Force One. He will meet with a number of members of the 3rd Infantry Division, part of the team that helped the U.S. military lead that assault on Baghdad. So as we watch those pictures, senator, let's continue our discussion.

Some people have cited already this case in Liberia where all this international pressure started to surround Charles Taylor, and eventually led to his ouster. Do you see a scenario in the Middle East today where you can bring international pressure to bear against Yasser Arafat, give the Palestinians, those who are moderate on that side, to bear, as well, and collectively, take up this cause and convince Yasser Arafat to leave? Is that even a possibility?

MITCHELL: It's unlikely, because, of course, in this case, all of the international community is opposed to removing Arafat. The Europeans have certainly made their position clear on that. The United Nations, the Russians, even the United States, so you have a reverse situation in Liberia. All of the international community was united in seeking the removal of Charles Taylor. In this case, while Israel says they want to remove him, the international community is united in opposition to that action. So I think that's very unlikely that there will be a unified international community urging Arafat's removal.

HEMMER: There is an equation out here, a plus b equals c. The Israelis don't want to negotiate with Arafat. The U.S. says it won't deal directly with him either. If you put those two together, have we reached yet another dead end on this Middle East road map to peace?

MITCHELL: Well, until you get an agreement, it will always be seen as a dead end. As I told you before, Bill, when I was in Northern Ireland, we had 700 days of failure and one day of success when we got an agreement. And each of the 700 days, the press rightly branded the process a failure. You have to keep at it until you get an agreement.

The problem with the prior prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, is that he was seen among Palestinians as the American and the Israeli choice. He didn't have broad support among the Palestinian people. You're going to need someone who has that support, and who can demonstrate some tangible improvement in the lives of the Palestinian people in order to get the credibility necessary to take on Hamas and Islamic Jihad as must occur.

HEMMER: It's so often you come on our program and repeat that same theme. The Israelis want security, the Palestinians want a state. And until you're able to achieve that, peace does not go anywhere.

Thank you, Senator, George Mitchell from Chicago today on AMERICAN MORNING. Nice to see you.

MITCHELL: Thanks, Bill.

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 September 12, 2003 - 09:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. government telling Israel that it would -- quote -- "not be helpful" to try and remove Yasser Arafat. Remove is the word that the Israeli security cabinet is using right now in a resolution dealing with the Palestinian leader. It did not define, though, exactly what was meant by that. Former Senate majority leader George Mitchell, a veteran of the Middle East process, our guest now from Chicago.
Good to see you, senator. Good morning there in Chicago.

GEORGE MITCHELL, FMR. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Thanks, Bill.

HEMMER: What do you -- what's your take on this? Even if you're able to get Yasser Arafat physically removed out of the region, does that advance the cause for peace, do you think?

MITCHELL: Nobody knows that. That's why the Israeli cabinet has debated this without action for more than a year now. That's why I think there's still some uncertainty about whether it will actually occur. It's maddeningly frustrating, of course, but the reality is that no one knows whether his removal will make things more difficult or less difficult. The United States, and all of the other road map partners, the U.N., the European Union and Russia, are opposed to this, so presumably an Israeli decision on this, to act on this, would be the final nail in the coffin of the road map.

HEMMER: We were speaking earlier today with the former ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk. His theory goes like this: Go ahead and remove Arafat and try to move the peace process forward. In exchange, the Israelis dismantle a number of settlements in the West Bank. Is that plausible to you?

MITCHELL: Well, of course, the Israelis committed to take action on the settlements as part of the road map process. I think that's going to have to happen at some point. Whether or not it can be done in conjunction with the removal of Arafat, I think remains to be seen.

I don't think the Israelis have made a decision to act. I think what they're doing is responding to domestic pressure to do something, and arming themselves with this option, getting the prior cabinet approval so they can implement it swiftly if it proves necessary in the future.

HEMMER: We're looking at a live picture from Fort Stewart in the state of Georgia. The president just arriving onboard Air Force One. He will meet with a number of members of the 3rd Infantry Division, part of the team that helped the U.S. military lead that assault on Baghdad. So as we watch those pictures, senator, let's continue our discussion.

Some people have cited already this case in Liberia where all this international pressure started to surround Charles Taylor, and eventually led to his ouster. Do you see a scenario in the Middle East today where you can bring international pressure to bear against Yasser Arafat, give the Palestinians, those who are moderate on that side, to bear, as well, and collectively, take up this cause and convince Yasser Arafat to leave? Is that even a possibility?

MITCHELL: It's unlikely, because, of course, in this case, all of the international community is opposed to removing Arafat. The Europeans have certainly made their position clear on that. The United Nations, the Russians, even the United States, so you have a reverse situation in Liberia. All of the international community was united in seeking the removal of Charles Taylor. In this case, while Israel says they want to remove him, the international community is united in opposition to that action. So I think that's very unlikely that there will be a unified international community urging Arafat's removal.

HEMMER: There is an equation out here, a plus b equals c. The Israelis don't want to negotiate with Arafat. The U.S. says it won't deal directly with him either. If you put those two together, have we reached yet another dead end on this Middle East road map to peace?

MITCHELL: Well, until you get an agreement, it will always be seen as a dead end. As I told you before, Bill, when I was in Northern Ireland, we had 700 days of failure and one day of success when we got an agreement. And each of the 700 days, the press rightly branded the process a failure. You have to keep at it until you get an agreement.

The problem with the prior prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, is that he was seen among Palestinians as the American and the Israeli choice. He didn't have broad support among the Palestinian people. You're going to need someone who has that support, and who can demonstrate some tangible improvement in the lives of the Palestinian people in order to get the credibility necessary to take on Hamas and Islamic Jihad as must occur.

HEMMER: It's so often you come on our program and repeat that same theme. The Israelis want security, the Palestinians want a state. And until you're able to achieve that, peace does not go anywhere.

Thank you, Senator, George Mitchell from Chicago today on AMERICAN MORNING. Nice to see you.

MITCHELL: Thanks, Bill.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com