Countdown

Penny Wise and Pound Foolish

Vol VII, No. 32
Posted on Tuesday September 19, 2006

Penny Wise and Pound Foolish

During last week’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing “Lebanon: Securing a Permanent Cease-Fire,” Senator John E. Sununu (R-NH) questioned Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs David Welch at length on US financial assistance to Lebanon. After initially denying that the State Department had requested funds from Congress, Welch later admitted that a congressional “hold” had already been placed on the request. “It becomes counterproductive, actually hurts our effort…when we are making public commitments…and then behind the scenes we are either…reprogramming funds that were already there…and on top of that, in a crisis situation we have either committees or members of Congress that are even putting holds on the limited reprogramming requests that have been made. I think that it’s counterproductive from a diplomatic perspective, from a humanitarian perspective, and I think in the long run it undermines our security goals, America’s security interests,” said Sununu. He also questioned whether the aid was actually new money or would instead take resources from educational programs. “If any of the money commitment or any of the methods we use to get funding to Lebanon in the aftermath of this crisis take resources away from the educational support that we have historically been providing…I think it would be an absolute tragedy,” said Sununu. “It’s the definition of ‘penny wise and pound foolish.’”

Irrational Exuberance

Welch also answered questions from Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) on US efforts to “restart negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.” Welch responded that while the US was actively supporting efforts to ensure the release of a captured IDF soldier as well as to alleviate “access and movement” restrictions in Gaza, political divisions within the Palestinian government where a continuing problem. Hagel continued his questioning, asking, “Is it a fair assessment, based on what you’ve just said, that we are essentially leaving it to the currents to take us wherever we’re going to go? Have you been instructed by the secretary or the president to take any specific initiative in this regard?” ”’Initiative,’” answered Welch, “is a big and conceivably more exuberant term that I would use.”

Back on the Road Map?

Debate is raging in two leading Israeli dailies over whether a recent speech at a conference of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy by State Department Counselor Philip Zelikow signals a change in US policy towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Haaretz quotes Zelikow saying, “For the Arab moderates and the Europeans, some sense of progress and momentum on the Arab-Israeli dispute is the sine qua non for them to cooperate actively with the United States on the things we care about…That means an active policy on the Arab-Israeli dispute is an essential ingredient to forging a coalition that deals with the most dangerous problems.” While Haaretz supports a revival of diplomacy, saying it would send a “positive signal to the countries in the region, contribute to diminishing tensions, and bolster the call for the international community to rally against Iran’s nuclear program.” The Jerusalem Post argued, on the other hand, “The Arab states have no veto in the Security Council. Moreover, they have as much interest in stopping an Iranian nuke, as do the US and Europe. Why should the US pay Arab states for, once again, taking their chestnuts out of the fire?”

Cinema Days of Beirut

In what is being described as a form of “cultural resistance,” the “Cinema Days of Beirut” film festival opened in Lebanon on September 16. Festival organizers describe the festival as “not only a distraction for war-weary Beirutis, but a powerful signal to the Lebanese people that they have not been forgotten.” “I want this festival to say that Beirut is still creating. Beirut survived the war and Beirut is coming back,” said documentary film director Bassam Fayyad. According to the BBC, “Hania Mroue, festival director and Metropolis [theater] founder, began housing refugees in the cinema space and organised workshops and screenings to keep the city’s besieged residents distracted. ‘People continued coming to the cinema the next day, even though war had started,” she says. ‘They came. I don’t understand how and why they came even though Beirut was being bombed, but they came…’”

Heard Around Town…

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who recently returned from Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel on the House floor: “The United States made a mistake by standing aside during the 34 day war in the region. We now must create the circumstances which stabilize the government of Lebanon. We need to assist in the recovery. And we need to assist in the restoration of housing, businesses, and infrastructure. Secondly, the situation in Gaza is desperate…Childhood malnutrition cannot even be solved by the massive UN aid. The UN now classifies 70% of the population as refugees. With no jobs, little or no electricity and limited access to water, conditions amongst the residents of Gaza are dire. The US cannot stand by and allow this humanitarian disaster to continue. We must do everything we can to help Israel secure itself. But, we also have to remember we must use our influence to bring about peace by recognizing the adverse humanitarian conditions which exist.”