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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview With Aaron Miller
Aired June 14, 2003 - 07:40 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: The road map to Middle East peace has been stained with blood. But the U.S. is not about to throw it away. In fact, Colin Powell will go back to the region in about a week to try to get the peace process going once again. It will not be easy.
Let's see what a former Mideast negotiator and president of the group Seeds of Peace has to say about all this.
Aaron Miller joins us this morning from Washington.
Aaron, good morning to you and thanks for being here.
AARON MILLER, FORMER MIDEAST NEGOTIATOR: Good morning.
COLLINS: I guess the first question, you know, is a very basic one, where are we at with the road map to peace? We have seen so many acts of violence just in the number of days immediately after the summit. Where does it stand?
MILLER: I think we have to return to the original spirit and intentions expressed at Aqaba, Heidi. And we need three things. Number one, we need the Palestinian Authority to reassert its monopoly over the forces and sources of violence in Palestinian society, particularly Hamas and Islamic Jihad. We need the Israelis to take steps to help empower the new Palestinian prime minister to do that. And we need a sustained 24-7 effort on the part of the president, who appears determined to make this a top high priority.
With those three things in hand, we can still capitalize on the opportunity at Aqaba.
COLLINS: What about the United Nations? Is there an opportunity for that organization to step in here, as well, especially under the scrutiny that it is under at this point?
MILLER: Look, the U.N. is a part of the quartet, the so-called four, including the United States, that has developed the road map. But I think at the moment, frankly, the United States has the capacity and the willingness to take the lead. And in the past, only the Americans have demonstrated a real willingness to do serious mediation. And that's what's required right now.
COLLINS: How much of this is about ego? You say that it is up to the Bush administration to really take the lead here. But isn't that because Abbas doesn't want to be the first person to do it, Sharon doesn't want to be the first person to do it? So is that where President Bush steps in then?
MILLER: I think you've highlighted the critical challenge. Neither Abu Mazen nor Sharon, Ariel Sharon, wants to be played the fool in front of their respective constituencies. And there is a chicken and an egg problem. And that's precisely where the Americans in the past have demonstrated a real capacity to act and where we need to act again.
COLLINS: So what is different about things this time around? There have been other presidents, other leaders who have tried to resolve this situation. What is different about what President Bush is trying to do here?
MILLER: Well, I think the circumstances on the ground may, even though the pictures on the ground have not, the circumstances may have changed. You have, at least for now, an empowered Palestinian prime minister that the Americans and the Israelis can talk to. You have an Israeli prime minister that is using a different vocabulary and a prime minister who is viewed by many Israelis as very tough on security.
So he may well be the guy, at least at this phase of the negotiations, to lead the Israelis. And I think President Bush has demonstrated quite an extraordinary capacity to get involved at the beginning of this process rather than at the end.
So I think there is this opportunity, but it has to be seized before it slips away.
COLLINS: But, Aaron, you bring up an interesting point. Abu Mazen, or Mahmoud Abbas, as we know him here, you say that he's empowered. But empowered by who? Is he empowered by the Palestinian people?
MILLER: Well, again, a very critical question. In order to compete and govern in Palestinian politics, you really need three things. You need financial resources, you need control over security and you need political legitimacy. Now, Abu Mazen is now in a struggle with Arafat on one hand and Hamas on the other to get those three commodities.
What Abu Mazen has that Mr. Arafat does not have is access to the Israelis and to the United States. And in the past for Palestinians, that has proven to be an extremely important resource. So he is the man to act.
The question is how to empower him so that he can, in fact, act.
COLLINS: But, you know, we are still hearing the name Yasser Arafat. We heard it again this morning, with the meetings that took place last night. And that name is a name that we will continue to hear, is that right?
MILLER: I think he will remain a significant factor because he remains a symbol. But the question at the moment for Palestinians is a simple one -- who can deliver? Who can find a way to end the Israeli occupation? Who can find a way to relieve economic restrictions? Who can find a way to set them on a path to achieve their legitimate national aspirations? That's a decision only they can make.
The question is can Abu Mazen be empowered to play that role? And that is the key question for both the Americans and for the Israelis.
COLLINS: Aaron Miller joining us from Washington this morning.
Thank you so much for your time and your insights on this incredibly complicated issue.
MILLER: Thank you, Heidi.
COLLINS: Thanks again.
MILLER: Thank you.
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 June 14, 2003 - 07:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The road map to Middle East peace has been stained with blood. But the U.S. is not about to throw it away. In fact, Colin Powell will go back to the region in about a week to try to get the peace process going once again. It will not be easy.
Let's see what a former Mideast negotiator and president of the group Seeds of Peace has to say about all this.
Aaron Miller joins us this morning from Washington.
Aaron, good morning to you and thanks for being here.
AARON MILLER, FORMER MIDEAST NEGOTIATOR: Good morning.
COLLINS: I guess the first question, you know, is a very basic one, where are we at with the road map to peace? We have seen so many acts of violence just in the number of days immediately after the summit. Where does it stand?
MILLER: I think we have to return to the original spirit and intentions expressed at Aqaba, Heidi. And we need three things. Number one, we need the Palestinian Authority to reassert its monopoly over the forces and sources of violence in Palestinian society, particularly Hamas and Islamic Jihad. We need the Israelis to take steps to help empower the new Palestinian prime minister to do that. And we need a sustained 24-7 effort on the part of the president, who appears determined to make this a top high priority.
With those three things in hand, we can still capitalize on the opportunity at Aqaba.
COLLINS: What about the United Nations? Is there an opportunity for that organization to step in here, as well, especially under the scrutiny that it is under at this point?
MILLER: Look, the U.N. is a part of the quartet, the so-called four, including the United States, that has developed the road map. But I think at the moment, frankly, the United States has the capacity and the willingness to take the lead. And in the past, only the Americans have demonstrated a real willingness to do serious mediation. And that's what's required right now.
COLLINS: How much of this is about ego? You say that it is up to the Bush administration to really take the lead here. But isn't that because Abbas doesn't want to be the first person to do it, Sharon doesn't want to be the first person to do it? So is that where President Bush steps in then?
MILLER: I think you've highlighted the critical challenge. Neither Abu Mazen nor Sharon, Ariel Sharon, wants to be played the fool in front of their respective constituencies. And there is a chicken and an egg problem. And that's precisely where the Americans in the past have demonstrated a real capacity to act and where we need to act again.
COLLINS: So what is different about things this time around? There have been other presidents, other leaders who have tried to resolve this situation. What is different about what President Bush is trying to do here?
MILLER: Well, I think the circumstances on the ground may, even though the pictures on the ground have not, the circumstances may have changed. You have, at least for now, an empowered Palestinian prime minister that the Americans and the Israelis can talk to. You have an Israeli prime minister that is using a different vocabulary and a prime minister who is viewed by many Israelis as very tough on security.
So he may well be the guy, at least at this phase of the negotiations, to lead the Israelis. And I think President Bush has demonstrated quite an extraordinary capacity to get involved at the beginning of this process rather than at the end.
So I think there is this opportunity, but it has to be seized before it slips away.
COLLINS: But, Aaron, you bring up an interesting point. Abu Mazen, or Mahmoud Abbas, as we know him here, you say that he's empowered. But empowered by who? Is he empowered by the Palestinian people?
MILLER: Well, again, a very critical question. In order to compete and govern in Palestinian politics, you really need three things. You need financial resources, you need control over security and you need political legitimacy. Now, Abu Mazen is now in a struggle with Arafat on one hand and Hamas on the other to get those three commodities.
What Abu Mazen has that Mr. Arafat does not have is access to the Israelis and to the United States. And in the past for Palestinians, that has proven to be an extremely important resource. So he is the man to act.
The question is how to empower him so that he can, in fact, act.
COLLINS: But, you know, we are still hearing the name Yasser Arafat. We heard it again this morning, with the meetings that took place last night. And that name is a name that we will continue to hear, is that right?
MILLER: I think he will remain a significant factor because he remains a symbol. But the question at the moment for Palestinians is a simple one -- who can deliver? Who can find a way to end the Israeli occupation? Who can find a way to relieve economic restrictions? Who can find a way to set them on a path to achieve their legitimate national aspirations? That's a decision only they can make.
The question is can Abu Mazen be empowered to play that role? And that is the key question for both the Americans and for the Israelis.
COLLINS: Aaron Miller joining us from Washington this morning.
Thank you so much for your time and your insights on this incredibly complicated issue.
MILLER: Thank you, Heidi.
COLLINS: Thanks again.
MILLER: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
