European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 27, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday july 27, 1991 the stars and stripes Leslie h. Gelb Page 13commentary Israel must not walk away from its Victory Giuld you believe that prime minister Kitzhik in i a if said no a month ago to the ., proposal for a ii mrs. Would you believe that prime minister Yitzhak Shamir said no a month ago to the ., proposal for a peace talks because he knew that was the Only was to trick syrian s Hafez Assad into saying yes ? that he had to convince Assad there was no Chance of negotiations m order to trap him into face to face l-�?~0rn,t-? u either but Shamir should take credit for it anyway a if that would help him say yes s him p his a Quot re one sover Mcm a it would be a disaster for Israel to be Odd Man out of k to pc a to Ersnt Man right Wing israelis Aren t up to the task of creative obstruction. Which Means Shamir needs encouragement As he goes through the final agonies of reconciling himself and his fellow hard liners to the fact that they have been cornered into taking yes for an answer. Shamir can make a powerful Case that he has squeezed almost every gettable Concession from the j thue rejecting negotiations and almost aug m Bush administration save love above All the arabs have agreed to direct negotiations with the jewish state israelis Central bargaining goal for 40 years. And for Good reason. It symbolizes the crossing of the most important psychological threshold from outcast to legitimate adversary. Arab politics will never be the same after the cameras embrace both sides in a single Frame. Also important Shamir achieved this without giving Arab states what they wanted most israelis agreement to Trade land for peace As the basis of negotiations. Pressures will mount to accept this formula once talks Are under Way but for openers israelis hands Are not tied. palestinians in their weakness have also been yielding to Shamir. The Palestine liberation organization the recognized legitimate representative of palestinians is to have no role in the conference. Only palestinians from the occupied territories will participate and probably be submerged into a joint delegation with Jordan. The talks will focus on West Bank Gaza strip autonomy or self Rule not on the cherished palestinian goal of statehood. Shamir also wrenched impressive concessions from the White House. President Bush has proclaimed his opposition to a palestinian state. He has Given Israel a virtual veto on palestinian negotiators to guard against undue Plo taint. He has not linked israeli participation in the conference to a cessation of new israeli settlements on the West Bank though he deeply opposes these settlements. He has thereby opened the door to Shamire a Paramount immediate goal a $10 billion loan Guaran William Safire discussing peace in the Mii Easi tee to help resettle immigrants. The issues still stalling israeli acceptance of talks Are trivial by comparison. The participation of palestinians from East Jerusalem need not Compromise israelis position on the Sanctity of Jerusalem As Long As those palestinians also have another residence. The presence at the conference of a . Observer without rights to speak should be no problem especially if the . Were to rescind its condemnation of zionism As a form of racism. Yet anyone familiar with jewish history and the precariousness of israeli psychology can sympathize with that nations fear of walking into the unknown. Israelis feel daily the tremors of Arab hatred. Peace with those who hate especially those who hate with military Power like Syria involves grave risk. But israe Lis have to see that when face to face talks begin Arab leaders will reap the Harvest of popular hatred they have sown and will themselves be at risk. One can also understand israeli suspicions of Bush and Secretary of state James a. Baker Iii Texas Oil men with no Trace of the personal bonding to Israel that counts so heavily with its citizens. But if israelis were to judge these two american leaders not by their backgrounds but by their deeds toward Israel the president and the Secretary will not be found wanting. Shamir has cause to proceed warily but proceed to talks he must and will. He cannot walk away from his own Victory in round one a Victory that gives Israel most of the bargaining chips. And it will need them. C tha new York times super Bank scandal oozing arms drugs fraud e underworld rank Sra Hal in a or. 7inn Mil Al. _ it the underworld Bank scandal is oozing out All Over. Conceived in Karachi Pakistan financed in Abu Dahabi United Arab emirates the conspiracy reached into the worlds Western capitals and perhaps the . Under the Protection of High paid lobbyists and naive spooks. The Bank of credit and Commerce International scandal involves the laundering of drug Money the illicit financing of terrorism and of arms to Iraq the Purchase of respectability and the corruption of the world banking system. For More than a decade the biggest banking swindle in history worked beautifully. Between $5 billion and $15 billion was bilked from governments and individual depositors to be put to the most evil of purposes a while lawmen and regulators slept. Now the fight among investigators is coming out into the open. Manhattan District attorney Robert Morgenthau who gave impetus to Long contained probes told a Senate subcommittee headed by sen. John f. Kerry that he is getting no cooperation from the Justice department. Justices criminal division chief Robert Mueller tells me he will have a Hatchet burying session with the Independent minded . Next week and vehemently denies having told British intelligence to Stop cooperating with the Manhattan grand jury. And what about the revelation last week by new York times reporter Jeff Gerth that the Cia was using Bocci for payoffs abroad which May have been used by the swindlers As a cover at no time have we received a request from the intelligence Community a insists Mueller a to alter or suspend or in any Way change the course of our investigation. B he May not know everything that is going on around him. One of the threats to Robert Gates nomination to a is the 9uest on of what use he made of Bocci in the 1980s. The Agency is now preparing a report for Senate intelligence. When asked in 1981 by the Federal Reserve Board Tor the background of a key investor in Bocci the Cia neglected to note that he was the chief of saudi intelligence a a relevant fact of which the Agency could hardly have been ignorant. When asked about this dereliction the top fed enforcement officer William Taylor chirped a some people like that become interlocking banking directorates cry out for examination As Between Bocci and Bali the Luxembourg shrouded Banque Arabe it internationale do love suisse ment. I suspect a connection too Between the Bocci conspiracy and Atlanta a Bank Lavoro scandal in which $3 billion in hot Cash was run past our befuddled fed. Of that $600 million in a Grain guarantees was in effect snatched from the Taxpayer and most Likely used to finance nuclear arms and rockets for Saddam Hussein. Justices Mueller and his overwhelmed fraud Section chief Larry Urgenson think my suspicion is misplaced. Well see. A question investigators have been too timid to ask Why did dirty Money sources give $8 million to Jimmy Carter s clean air philanthropy the former president transported royally on Bocci aircraft arranged for ins mends to hire a former British prime minister As a lobbyist. What else did Carter do in the third world to lend respectability to these con men Why did no this Cia briefer warn him congressional oversight excluding Kerry has been myopic. Joe Biden chairman of Senate judiciary pleads preoccupation with crime Bills and confirmations but says a Justice is beginning to awaken to the scope of this. If Justice does t move Well move on where Are the Media Regardie a Magazine took the Lead with the news that a mysterious group controlled the Washington Bank headed by Clark Clifford. Time Magazine devotes a cover to the scandal this week following its excellent april i re porting. And the Wall Street journals coverage is must Reading for Scanda mongers. The networks have found the biggest heist in history All too complicated and non visual. But this is More than a Good Story. As we flip Over this huge Flat Rock of corruption we will see who scurries around with the pernicious profits of arms drugs and fraud. A c the now York times
