Powell Hinders Peace in Middle East

To the editors:

The staff editorial “Powell Strong, But Not Enough,” (Editorial, May 2) praised the Secretary of State for criticizing Israel's efforts to end deadly Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks. The editorial called Israel's reaction to the Palestinian attacks “aggressive” and stated that it “represented a drastic escalation of the ongoing unrest in the region.”

This characterization is heavily biased, and it badly confuses cause and effect. When rockets and mortars are launched over a sovereign nation's borders against innocent civilians, a military reaction is entirely proper (according to U.N. Charter Art. 51), and need not be limited to a “proportionate” response. The attack, not the retaliation, is the “cause” of the escalation.

Indeed, it is Powell himself who demands that in such situations, only “overwhelming force” be employed (at least when American lives are at stake). Israel has not yet come close to using such force; its responses to date, including the demolition of terrorist bases close to the Gaza border, have been incredibly restrained relative to the measures most nations surely would have taken in similar circumstances. Powell’s double-standard with respect to Israel is inappropriate and unhelpful to the cause of peace in the Middle East.

Michael N. Rader

Cambridge, Mass.

May 2, 2001