TIME Magazine | 'Israel Is Obliged to Defend Itself'

	A Week in Hell At the precipice of war, facing mutiny at home, Tony Blair stays cool

	Taking a Stand on Stage This season there's no avoiding the theater of war

	Don't Oust Saddam U.S. diplomat warns his former bosses

	Room to Turn? Turkey's parliament may still allow in U.S. troops

	Conflicted George Bush's European allies swim against antiwar opinion

	Family Feud France urges new Europeans to toe the old line

	French Resistance Chirac says non to U.S. plans for a war to disarm Iraq


War Torn The new gulf between European. leaders and their people 6 Reasons America's allies want Bush to slow down the war machine Mad at America Can the Transatlatic alliance survive? Collision Course Germany attacks the U.S. line on Iraq Don't Mention the War Josef Joffe on Schröder's flirtation with the pacifist lobby Yankee Stay Home! The U.S. gears up for war on Iraq, but Europeans may not follow




	E-mail your letter to the editor

Some American commentators say that this war is being fought for Israel and is being promoted by a pro-Israel lobby in Washington. The Americans aren't going off to battle for Israel. It's not an Israeli interest that's pushing the Americans to fight Iraq. The American government saw the worldwide danger that's at stake.

Do you have intelligence to suggest that there might be a big terror attack in Israel or the West during a war? The likelihood of international terror, especially against Israeli, American and Jewish targets around the world during the battle in Iraq, might be higher. This is because al-Qaeda and others want to prove that, although there is a battle against Iraq and against terror, they can still carry out terrorist attacks.

how do you rate the performance of chief U.N. arms inspector Hans Blix and the usefulness of his reports? The effectiveness of [U.N.] supervision didn't meet expectations. That's either because of ineffective supervision or because of Iraqi obstruction. But one thing is clear: Since the inspection mandate was given to Hans Blix, the effectiveness of the supervision is not up to the level of expectation of the Americans and the rest of the world.

after a war, will Bush pressure Israel to get a peace process moving with the Palestinians? I wouldn't call it American pressure. The fact that [as a result of U.S. and European Union demands, Mahmoud Abbas is to be named] Prime Minister in the shadow of this battle in Iraq shows that the war has already influenced the Palestinians in a positive way.

Are you going to expel Yasser Arafat from the West Bank and Gaza? The step of naming a Palestinian Prime Minister will in the long run push aside Arafat and bring a new leadership. It's clear to everyone in the world that Arafat follows a road of terror and violence, and this road failed. But the question must be considered soberly. Right now, if this prime ministerial process accumulates momentum, you have to let it develop naturally.

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