Arab world welcomes Iraq Study Group report

The Iraq Study Group (ISG) recommendations are making far more waves outside Iraq than inside that troubled country.

To average Iraqis, the report seems to be an abstract exercise unlikely to end the war there anytime soon. But it is being eagerly read elsewhere in the region, with a number of Arab states welcoming the report as a sign that their advice is starting to be heeded. In Israel, however, it's being viewed with apprehension because of its calls for direct US engagement with Syria and Iran.

The Jordan Times – a paper with ties to the state, a US ally – hailed the recent ouster of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the ISG's report as a "return to common sense" in its lead editorial. "All of a sudden Washington appears to be heading towards a less bellicose and more cooperative stand on Middle East issues,'' it wrote, praising the report's recommendations to engage Iran and Syria and start a "gradual pullout of its troops to end the occupation."

Nabil Amr, a top adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, described the report as "excellent," saying he read it as an acknowledgement of Bush administration failures in Iraq and the region.

"The administration must wake up and see the reality on the ground in the Middle East requires a different policy,'' he says.

In Israel, though, reaction to the report ranged from muted to outright anger.

The ISG report states bluntly that the "US does its ally Israel no favors in avoiding direct involvement to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict." It says that there is "no military solution" and that "political engagement and dialogue are essential ... because it is an axiom that when the political process breaks down there will be violence on the ground."

Zbulun Orlev of Israel's right-wing National Religious Party labeled the report "unfriendly" to Israel, particularly in its advocacy for engaging Iran and calling for a "land for peace" approach to the problems in the Palestinian territories, which it says are inflaming regional problems.

"We thought after six years of Bush, the policies which Baker represents had died," Mr. Orlev says, referring to ISG co-chair James Baker, who was the secretary of State under President George H. W. Bush, during which time he pushed for a peace deal with the Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made a point at a press conference Thursday to say that the report does not necessarily reflect Bush administration policy.

"Israelis know Baker's determination quite well," says Gershon Baskin, co-chair of the Israel-Palestine center for research and information. "If Bush accepts the recommendations, Israelis are going to face pressure they're not used to."

Elsewhere, the report's recommendations on Iran and Syria were seen as puzzling, as many analysts say the conflict in Iraq is the result of internal sectarian competition for power.

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