Rubo

Barev Hayer! Man, finally I got a new ass spanking bran new job! After trashing my manager on my old job, I really had to play the game to get this one. I tell you guys my temper has brought nothing but trouble so now I am a tiger without teeth or claws. I just can’t afford to get fired again. Vahan jan thanks for your interest I won’t pretend to be a writer but I do have a need to express myself. Lately I have been focused on my new job since they are scrutinizing my every move, which causes great deal of anxiety. I will continue the story very soon.

quote:Originally posted by Accelerated:I remember being told by someone (or reading somewhere) that Deep Fritz was specifically designed to beat Gasparov, therefore wouldnt it be less effective against Kramnik? Or do they just change the software around? Nice post, actually the computer was designed for sophisticated medical biological research purposes and to sell it they publicized it with chess. I remember Gasparov after losing the second around complained that they loaded all his past games into the computer therefore he legitimately raised the objection that he did not know what kind of info was loaded in the hard drive but the computer knew all his playing habits and tactics. Gasparov is still highest rated player in the world and Kramnik has alluded to play against him after winning the title. No doubt Kramnik is a great player but for me he has not surpassed Gasparov.

Azat jan,I totally understand you. Right now I live on credit cards and Mahi Mahi is a distant luxury for me but you did stir my appetite. I had a great typical New England day of apple picking. Unlike in California where picking your own fruit is considered migrant work, low class-here in NE picking your own apples, pears and pumpkins is very hip which involves all your family. Typically the fall festival is accompanied by pony rides and fresh baked pies and sometimes even live music. The air was crisp and pristine and the fall colors were just everywhere. The scent of ripe apples perfumed the air everywhere. They were rows and rows of apples trees with most verities never found in supermarkets. The bulging branches were so heavily covered with ripe apples that at some trees branches were broken by the sheer weight of its fruit. My family and I gorged ourselves with apples and the irony is apples were so plentiful that the ground was literally covered with fallen apples and navigating through pathways were on occasion met by falling down on decomposing apples. On a way out there was a small group of people walking towards us and by judging by their dark features I guessed they could of have been Greek, Italian but as they passed us by, they were speaking in Armenian! My first thought honestly was I love them; my people and my brain did not process this sentiment like some intellectual exercise but was more of an instinctive reaction. Times have really changed for me. When I first arrived in the States I actually tried to avoid Armenians but now they are a welcome site.

Sip jan in a real world you would be a great companion to get drunk with and tell dirty jokes, which I only do with people I like. Suddenly he had an intense urge to scratch his groin on the street and reaching his hand in his pocket he tried to be as discreet as possible but the persistent itchiness continued to be present. It has been twenty years since he plucked himself on the shores of plenty-ever dream destination place for milk and honey- only that most immigrants like himself find out the hard way that milk and honey comes at the price of working your soul out to ever more sterile institutions in the name of “team player” and ready to smile on moments of notice. It strucked him add that looking at his boyhood black and white photographs in Armenia that none of his friends including himself smiled and the sheer naturalness of the photos were refreshing to look at rather American ever annoying “say cheese” methodology. He felt torn inside outside, left right, up and down. He distinctly felt these paradoxes pulling him on all directions: He was neither wholly Armenian nor American nor American Armenian nor Armenian American. Much like a Buddhist monk neither anything in particular but simply maybe just human. His thoughts were drifting on the slow moving bus in the Boston Mass. Ave traffic –It seemed only yesterday that he was swimming in Zangu River in a working “Akhbar” neighborhood of Yerevan. His mother endured the wrathful insults herd at her on daily bases by the locals and for what? That she moved from Iran to Armenia for love of the country? Cruel…. Delusional like most recent immigrates from Diaspora, never truly excepted by the locals, like some kind of cancer, every social ill were unfairly blamed on them. Miscued identities plucked from the trees never had a resting place, ever more internally in turmoil, explains our displaced mentality in Diaspora since how else to explain all the pain manifested by the genocide. What is nationality, Roots, heritage…? He did not have the answers but felt the answers reverberate deep inside himself like a volcano on the verge of eruption but contrived chained under artifice ego suppression. To be continued

Since this about daily thoughts I’ll take out some venting. I dislike posers specially the ones who comment about authors that they never read example Peter Balakian and all the garbage posted here about him. How can you tell a poser? Simple they buy books and already have opinions based on titles alone example Girair Libardian thread…. Why I dislike posers even more? Simple, they feel compel to express opinions when they don’t even remotely qualify to comment, example environment religion thread…. What annoys me about American culture? Terms and words like “team player” “self starter” “cheers” “energetic” “ambitious” etc… Why am I mostly disliked? Simple I tell a poser a poser, liar a liar, chauvinist a chauvinist ,the rest I let my uncle Jesus to sort out…

Wow Thoth I did not know you had such a good chess background. That is great! You cracked me up though with this… This combined with my badgering (he went into a psycho fit after the game - was in tears and tore up his favorite lucky hat - LOL

Hi guys, this is not related to this thread but I didn’t want to start new for what am going to share. I have been playing some chess on yahoo-you guys should try it-and today guess what I battled teeth to nail with a Turkish guy. Just so you guys feel proud I beat him four games to three. Tough matches much like a soccer match Armenia verses Turkey. It was a lot of pressure and now I understand how Tigran Petrosian must of felt. He had such fanatical fans that they brought an Armenian soil to spread under his feet in Moscow championship games. Now that I understand chess better, I really appreciate Tigran. Incidentally he came out with according to lot of chess players most brilliant chess puzzle. I spend a whole day trying to figure out but I could not and finally GM solved it. Anyway take care everyone and have a nice weekend.

Rubo jan, what's the point of investment when we have a corrupt leadership? Nairi jan, one does not have to be sociologist or even an economist to see that corruption always infests and procreates amongst less developed and financially poor countries. I am not going to bring examples of third world countries but let’s look at Italy. Italy is a truly divided country. The northern part is well developed and financially affluent and less corrupt but on the other hand in the south corruption and mafia is still prevalent due mostly for lock of opportunities and less development. We can clearly see that the best method to fight corruption is through creating opportunities so people in Armenia don’t have to go Russia and US for jobs. To change the leadership is not an easy task. In Italy numerous lawyers and judges were killed when they tried going after the corrupt. To some extend what happened in Armenian parliament is an example that those people are willing to even kill to retain their power so in conclusion I chose the peaceful logical route-help Armenian economy and this should and must be taken seriously by Diaspora instead of just mainly focusing on the genocide. Regards

Hi Nairi I want to say that I respect you for your concerns, which orbit outside of narrow sphere of personal interests. Bravo! It is always a good idea to brainstorm for great ideas however let me share my experience. About six mouths ego I proposed to come out with an idea to help Armenia in another forum and after numerous intense discussions we all basically agreed that Armenia foremost needs investments and business contacts for foreign and domestic markets. The site is finally done and you can visit to check out. http://armport.com/ My point is Armenian politics is rather secondary outside Armenia and the best you can do short of getting yourself involve in business venture is to work in ANCA office in Holland or any other Armenian organization you prefer. If you feel chattering here is rather unproductive which I agree then spend perhaps couple of hours doing activism. It may make you feel better. Recently I volunteered to teach chess at my son’s school and managed to tell the kids about Armenians and even had them dance Armenian circle dance. Small things add up. It does not have to be serious complicated project. Best regards

Azat to Hagarag>I did not want to comment on your stupid line for not getting laid for 20 years as it had nothing to do with this thread. Azat jan I did not want to comment on it either but privately I have been on the floor laughing my ass off. Hagarag no offence but aren’t you getting tired of using your hands, blisters and such.

I did not want to comment on your stupid line for not getting laid for 20 years as it had nothing to do with this thread. Please read my reply in comedy section

Azat, it is funny all the rabiz were kick out to Marshal High from Hollywood High.Remember the stupid "lobi" wars?

quote:Originally posted by hagarag:Rubo, Is the support for this legislation not bipartisan? How about the support of Armenian-American California State Senator Jacqueline Speier and Armenian-American Congresswoman Anna Eshoo? Your partisan bent becomes SO apparent. At least, I am up-front about my loyalties. Hagarag I am flabbergasted how you arrived to your last post? Just so I can put you at ease about my “political bends” I will state it once for all.There are issues I support Republicans mainly reduced taxes and keeping big government out of our lives but that is where it ends. I am extremely liberal bent when it comes to war, killing of innocent lives, social issues, who you sleep with (not my business with whom even if to a cat) I don’t care traditional parties in most cases. Last time I voted Ralph Nadir as president and support animal rights and green parties. In Armenian politics I support Karabagh independence. ANCA and I whole heartily support Armenian activism, If I bring up the Jews it only to highlight the successful model. Why reinvent the wheel? If I had extra cash I would probably donate to Armenian worthy causes such as supporting the orphanages in Armenia or supporting Karabagh war veterans who lost an arm or a leg and cannot work. So in conclusion I probably do not fit in a neat box but I suspect most people either. People are lot more complex then we usually think. Most democrats do have very conservative values and vice versa. Life is never clear-cut one dimensional at least that has been my experience. Regards

Dear Azat and Sip while it is true when you and I went to high school in CA (I graduated from Hollywood high 84) the AG was not taught but lot has been changed since then and due to many thanks to grass root activists. I also agree that the attention span of a teenager is rather short on history regardless whose and I care more about AG teaching on university level. UCLA, Harvard, and many others have already great Armenian studies programs which should extend on all universities. Poochigian Request for Money to Update Genocide Handbook Passes First Hurdle SACRAMENTO -- State Senator Charles Poochigian (R-Fresno) is pleased the budget request that he submitted for teaching material on the subject of genocide was approved by the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Education. The $59,000 request will, if approved in the final budget, pay for the updating and printing of the California Model Curriculum for Human Rights and Genocide for distribution to school districts statewide. Senator Poochigian said, "This is the first vital step to getting funding for this important handbook." The handbook was originally published by the State Board of Education in 1987 and distributed statewide. Some passages describing modern human rights abuses will be updated to reflect related historical events that have occurred since 1987. Technical changes to cross reference recently updated curriculum frameworks will also be made.Senator Poochigian said, "It is important that our students are reading updated material that reflects modern human rights abuses and historical events involving crimes against humanity. "Note: While the State Board of Education included the Armenian Genocide in grade 10 of the statewide K-12 history/social science standards adopted in December 1998, this handbook is the curricular guide for teaching students this important event in the classrooms of California. Edward Royce (R-CA-39) Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the leaders of the Armenian Caucus for bringing us together to honor the memory of a tragedy, not just in Armenian history, but a tragedy in world history, a tragedy that holds for us an important historical lesson and one that should be acknowledged. As discussed, it was 85 years ago that the Ottoman Empire set out on a deliberate campaign to exterminate the Armenian people. Over a period of years, between 1915 and 1923, as they went house to house, village to village, they massacred men, women, and children, a total of 1.5 million, and a half million deported from their homelands to escape their terror. At the end of these 8 years, the Armenian population in certain areas in Turkey, in Anatolia, in Western Armenia, that population was virtually eliminated. At the time, as we have heard from our colleagues, Henry Morgantheau, the U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, depicted the Turkish order for deportations as a death warrant to a whole race. Our ambassador recognized that this was ethnic cleansing. It is unfortunate that the Turkish government to this day does not recognize that this was ethnic cleansing. Let me just say that willful ignorance of the lessons of history doom people to repeat those same actions again and again. We have also heard from our colleagues tonight how Adolph Hitler learned that same lesson, as he said, who remembers the Armenian genocide? Well, it is important for us to remember these genocides. It is important that we learn the lesson from this 85-year-old tragedy. In my home State of California, the State Board of Education has incorporated the story of the Armenian genocide in the social studies curriculum, and this is the right thing to do. Curricular and Instructional Programs and Practices Facing History and Ourselves is a National Diffusion Network program recognized as an exemplary model program by the U.S. Department of Education. Curriculum materials, developed for grade K through 12 and the college level, include a teacher's manual, grade-specific teacher guides, in-service training video, historical books, personal stories, bibliographies, blackline teaching aids, photographs, slides, posters, drawings, maps, music cassette, and art. Program coordinators sponsor an intensive teacher training and support program where participants gain hands-on practice and immediate peer feedback on innovative methods and resources. There are over 600 sites and pilot sites throughout the nation. A brochure and program evaluation materials are available. The Facing History and Ourselves curriculum uses historical events such as the Nazi Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide to raise and explore issues of abuse of power and breakdown of morality. Students become aware of racism, hatred, prejudice and indifference, and can explore the impact of societal events on themselves and others and explore ways that they might structure their behavior for desired social outcomes. Classes are taught using films, readings, class discussions, guest speakers, and student journals. The curricular program can be used separately or can be incorporated into one or more subject areas. The curricular emphasis is on student inquiry, analysis, and interpretation. Facing History provides training for teachers, clergy, and other adult leaders interested in instituting the program in their community.

Dear Kosior, Welcome! You have lot of youthful purity and I commend you for looking into tragic event of Armenian Genocide. It is particularly painful for Armenians since it whipped out almost half of the entire Armenian nation. It also dispersed the remaining Armenians all over the globe like leaves in the wind. Magnitude of this tragedy is so enormous that instead of three thousand dead Americans from 9/11 imagine one hundred and forty million Americans killed brutally and their properties confiscated and uprooted from their ancestral lands. For us no movie can explain this pain. American pop culture in generally does not dwell in history, already Vietnam war seems a distant past and ww2 might as well be in Jurassic era nevertheless lot of states such as California and Massachusetts do teach about AG in schools. Let us know if you need anything. Regards

Sip jan chai kar zserkis u shat tsisakheluts tapetse vras! Man I should sue you for second degree burns. Don’t you know you can really kill someone with jokes? Hilarious staff! now I need that band aid SEADDDDAAAAAA

There is no justification for this kind of hysteria, goes to show hate is blind. Strangely Armenian and Russian officials are keeping a low profile. That is a mistake. Armenian officials must take proper measures so we don’t have violent orgies reoccur every three mouths.

Azat jan,If you’re not careful you might end up as a preacher, the moral of the story

Azat jan I share your cooking passion. When I got married my wife was so impressed by my cuisine (ask ES) that she gave up cooking for most times. If there is any special occasion I can make Thai, Chinese, Italian and Sashimi my favorite - nothing to it just buy good quality tuna, deep red preferable and higher the oil content the better and slice it and serve with wasabi and soy ( I am lucky Boston has the best seafood, you guys should move here) I got a deal with my wife. I do the cooking she does the dishes! Please don’t call me a chauvinist, remember equal share of work. Sip jan yeah I dig your compressor…. I am motorcycle nut, so for us all cars are cages regardless. Once you ride a bike your adventures on SUV would seem baby play Accelerated you are one lucky guy. I would of volunteer to help your dad. Every guy like tools. I guess it started from straw stick catching ants.

Azat,pretty good for a joke! Was the Porsche your personnal touch?

Man I am hooked on tools, power tools, small, big, you name it and I got a fetish for them. I have been doing house repairs lately since I am still unemployed and every time I go to home depot, I just drool over circular saws, table saws- my fauve, grinders, cutters, man I am almost orgasmic! Somebody take me out of this dam place! I know part of it perhaps is that I can’t afford those babies, so I collect “ how to books “just in case. How about your fetishes lets hear them out. Please don’t tell me I am weird, I already heard that many times.

Thinking that Armenians are going to somehow persevere in any type of (conventional) war with Turkey at any point in the foreseable future is a pipe dream of the tallest order. So we must deal with the Turks - on all levels - if we hope for any progress. (war is just not an option...unless the goal is suicide...and even if it were "winnable" (not)...at what cost....) I agree with you Thoth 100%. I often battled our extremers on this. Reality by definition should be assessed realistically.

Hagarag does it occur to you that you constantly put Jews before Armenians and desperately trying to make Armenians some kind of bastardized Jewish tribe and therefore does it occur perhaps Agassi and Cher may not want to be part of the organization which has “Armenians for Jews” as a platform? (I hope you don’t start one anytime soon) You again generalize to extreme and I am not sure if you can see it. Majority of Armenians in Diaspora are in the process of sucking up the benefits of assimilation and prosperity and Armenian issues are not a priority. The small percentage that do participate in our affairs range from extreme to moderate: AAA has lot of influence and lobby power and they are pretty moderate, personally I support ANCA that just a preference. To conclude no need to panic! We are doing just fine in Washington considering our limited budget and volunteers. I just hope for every nasty, negative comment about our community members, once in a while we do acknowledge those people who quietly do work for Armenian cause without bitching. Hagarag stop the whining! It is becoming repetitious. Regards

Hovsep jan lets not carried away please.Ali is a guest on this forum and deserves civility and the truth of the matter is Ali does not have the authority to give land or take.These are just opinions and as such it should not be treated as though we are representing our respected countries and we got our armys beyond us waiting for action.True patriotism is deeds done not spoken. Regards

Key Points United States security assistance to Israel has not supported Israel’s legitimate security needs against terrorism and related threats but has instead enabled Israel to pursue aggressive policies that threaten its long-term security interests. The widespread use of U.S. weapons by Israeli occupation forces against civilian targets is a violation of international human rights standards and U.S. law. U.S. military aid to Israel has increased as conventional military threats from its Arab neighbors have declined and has failed to address Israel’s broader security interests. The violence of the past year and a half between Israelis and Palestinians has left more than 2,000 people dead, torpedoed the peace process, and turned the streets of the West Bank and Gaza Strip into battlefields. As the U.S. reconsiders its role in promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace, the prospects for a final settlement that recognizes the security needs of Israel and the legitimate political rights of Palestinians seem worse than ever. The Bush administration has abandoned the ambitious approach of its predecessor by emphasizing “assistance” over “insistence.” Unfortunately, rather than focusing on the issues that have derailed the peace process, American assistance is emerging as a disjointed policy that urges a peaceful resolution to the conflict while boosting military aid to Israel. This military aid has been used in the widespread killings of civilians, destroyed large sections of the infrastructure in Palestinian society, and hardened Arab attitudes toward Israel. The increases in military aid grow out of a central pillar of U.S. policy in the Middle East: strengthening America’s “strategic cooperation” with Israel. This cooperation currently centers on two categories of U.S. military-related assistance to Israel, Economic Support Funds (ESF) and Foreign Military Financing (FMF). The larger of these two, FMF, is intended to help Israel finance its acquisition of U.S. military equipment, services, and training. FMF is scheduled to increase by $60 million each year, for a total of $2.04 billion in FY2002, as part of an ongoing plan to phase out ESF support by 2008. Previous discussions about Israel’s security needs following peace agreements with Syria and the Palestinians and a withdrawal from the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip foresee an additional $35 billion of U.S. military assistance, raising the potential total to more than $7 billion per year over the next seven years. This is roughly the same amount currently spent by all of the former Soviet republics combined. Such an enormous increase is based on the confusing assumption that peace agreements with once-hostile neighbors somehow make Israel less secure and require a greatly expanded Israeli military. Already the strongest military power in the region and the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid, Israel does not need additional military assistance. It has one of the most sophisticated, well-equipped, and best-trained armies in the world, and its armed forces are growing faster than those of its neighbors, whose military expenditures decreased during the 1990s. Israel’s annual military expenditures are consistently two to three times as high as those of other countries involved in previous Arab-Israeli wars combined, and Israel leads the region in the number of heavy weapons holdings, armored infantry vehicles, airplanes, and heavy tanks. Israel outpaces Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Lebanon in every major category of arms spending. A careful review of FMF assistance reveals that this program has actually hindered the resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, made the Middle East more volatile, and undermined U.S. regional interests. If the purpose of the FMF program is to improve Israel’s security, the U.S. should reverse its increasing emphasis on military assistance and replace outdated, one-dimensional ideas about Israel’s security with a more extensive definition. Taking into account important nonmilitary aspects of Israel’s security would enable the U.S. to complement its current policy with a variety of alternative strategies designed to identify and address the causes of conflict and create conditions for a sustainable peace. The primary short-term threat to Israeli security stems from suicide bombers based in Israeli-occupied territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This can best be addressed by improved surveillance and interdiction and, more fundamentally, by ending Israel’s occupation, which has brought enormous human suffering while creating extremists willing to wreak carnage on Israeli civilians. Little of the U.S. security assistance helps protect Israelis from such attacks and, by providing the military hardware for an increasingly repressive occupation, results in the backlash that has manifested itself in the rise of extremist groups committed to terrorism. The longer-term threat to Israel comes from sophisticated weaponry procured by Arab monarchies in the Persian Gulf region, which are the only military systems that come close to challenging Israeli military superiority. Most of these weapons also come from the United States, however, so this threat can best be neutralized not by providing more arms to this overly militarized region, but through arms control. Indeed, Israel announced its support for a moratorium on arms exports to the Middle East in 1991, but the U.S. rejected it, raising serious questions as to whether the U.S. really has Israel’s best interests in mind. Problems with Current U.S. Policy Key Problems By ignoring the security ramifications of its Foreign Military Financing program, Washington is undermining both regional security and the overall personal security of most Israelis. U.S. military assistance to Israel fails to address the causes of conflict and subverts the peace process by both enabling and rewarding Israeli defiance of international law. With the FMF program, the United States is spending an enormous amount of diplomatic, political, and strategic capital on a policy that is bearing the opposite of its intended effects. The violence that erupted in September 2000 highlighted some important points about Israel’s security. First, the most serious challenge for Israel has not been protecting its existence from hostile neighbors but rather pursuing an increasingly repressive military occupation that has created international diplomatic isolation as well as terrorist attacks. Second, while armed attacks against Israeli occupation forces and settlers in the occupied territories, suicide bombing attacks against civilians inside Israel, and widespread condemnation by Arab governments have heightened Israeli citizens’ sense of vulnerability, Israel’s neighbors have not seriously threatened Israeli territory. Finally, Israel’s clear military advantage has not made Israelis feel secure on a personal, individual level. This paradox of personal insecurity in the face of overpowering military strength stems from an important distinction within Israeli security that Washington’s FMF assistance program to Israel does not address. Israeli security has two levels—the macro, or national, level and the micro, or personal, level. The state of Israel is extremely secure in this first sense. Since its declaration of statehood and overwhelming military victory in 1948, Israel has not been attacked militarily within its internationally recognized borders. Peace agreements with Egypt—by far its most powerful adversary—in 1978 and with Jordan—with which it shares its longest border—in 1994 have inordinately improved its security. Military spending by Syria has declined dramatically, Lebanese armed forces have never been much of a threat and Iraq’s military has been decimated as a result of the Gulf War and the subsequent sanctions regime. In addition, cooperation with regional powers, such as Turkey, and decades of U.S. military assistance have combined to create a secure Israel. At the same time, Israeli citizens continue to be the target of terrorist attacks and violent uprisings. Billions of dollars in U.S. military assistance to Israel are spent each year addressing the wrong type of security. What’s worse, FMF assistance has undermined personal security in Israel by diluting the incentives for seeking peace and by emboldening Israel to avoid making the concessions necessary for peace. This personal security will elude Israelis until the underlying causes of the conflict and the current uprising are addressed. The current violence grows out of Palestinian frustrations with the peace process. During years of waiting for promised benefits, Palestinians have seen their standard of living steadily decline. In the seven years between the signing of the Oslo Accords and the start of the uprising in September 2000, Israeli policies—including border controls, retention of Palestinian funds, and restrictions on trade, investment, and access to water resources—resulted in growing trade and budget deficits for the Palestinians. Unemployment was hovering at 50%, poverty rates increased, health standards deteriorated, and any sense of opportunity among Palestinian youth began to fade. The anger and despair that ignited the 2000 uprising and the current wave of suicide bombings stems from these policies and their effect on daily Palestinian life. The Spring 2002 re-occupation of Palestinian cities and widespread killings by Israeli forces using American armaments, detention and maltreatment of unarmed civilians, and the wanton destruction of economic and social infrastructure have only increased the Palestinian desire for revenge. This has also strengthened popular support for extremist groups like Hamas and Al-Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade, resulting in less security for Israelis. For years, most Palestinians have viewed a negotiated peace as the clearest route to achieving their aspirations for an independent state. While they waited for the peace process to produce this result, the Israeli government dramatically expanded its illegal settlements, Jewish-only highways, and related infrastructure in order to establish permanent control over large areas of Palestinian territory. These policies were pursued in large part to make a contiguous viable Palestinian state on the West Bank impossible and were in direct violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a series United Nations Security Council resolutions. This was possible because of the large-scale financial, military, and diplomatic support for Israel by the United States. As a result, many Palestinians now question the wisdom of pursuing a peace framed and sponsored by the United States. Many Palestinians see negotiation as empty promises and have begun seeking other means—some violent—of obtaining a homeland. As a result, a sense of insecurity grows within the Israeli population, fostered by the very policies that the U.S. and Israel pursue in the name of promoting Israeli security. In addition to weakening U.S. credibility as a neutral mediator, massive increases in military assistance to Israel undermine U.S. attempts to limit the spread of weapons of mass destruction in the region. When Jordan downsized its military and proposed linking further military cutbacks in the region to debt reduction in the early 90s, for example, the U.S. resisted the suggestion and continued shipping arms to Israel at record levels. Following the 1994 peace deal between Jordan and Israel, other Arab states cited Jordan’s relative military weakness as the major reason for its inability to extract more concessions from Israel. The lesson was clear: The American-Israeli military relationship makes unilateral disarmament in the Middle East fruitless, even counterproductive. Even as Washington cites Iraq’s potential possession of weapons of mass destruction and its failure to adhere to UN resolutions to justify its severe economic sanctions on the Iraqi population and its threats to invade the country, it continues to increase military aid to Israel, a nuclear power that remains in violation of scores of UN resolutions. In fact, states like Iran, Iraq, and Syria view their own efforts to develop and acquire chemical and biological weapons as a counterbalance to Israeli weapons acquisitions. Toward a New Foreign Policy Key Recommendations Rather than spending billions of dollars preparing Israel for conflict, the U.S. should focus on addressing the causes of conflict. To restore confidence in negotiated peace, Washington must suspend military assistance to Israel as long as the Israeli government continues to engage in violations of international human rights standards and international law. The U.S. must emphasize regional security and work for regional arms control. The U.S. must recognize that Israeli security and Palestinian rights are not mutually exclusive, but mutually dependent. Just as the Palestinians will not be granted their rights until Israel’s legitimate security needs are recognized, Israel will not be secure until the Palestinians are granted their legitimate rights. The U.S. should maintain its moral and strategic commitment to Israel to ensure its survival and its legitimate strategic interests in defending its internationally recognized borders. At the same time, however, the U.S. must also be willing to apply pressure whenever the Israeli government refuses to make the necessary compromises for peace, which requires withdrawal from the occupied territories, removing colonists from the illegal settlements, sharing Jerusalem, and pursuing a just resolution for Palestinian refugees. This would require an immediate suspension of all military assistance to Israel as long as the Israeli government continues to engage in violations of international human rights standards and international law. Such a position not only would be morally right and would be in Israel’s own security interest, but it would also end the Bush administration’s ongoing violation of the Foreign Assistance Act, which forbids security assistance to any government that “engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights” without a waiver [22 U.S.C. Secs. 2034, 2151n]. Suspension of military aid to Israel must be part of a comprehensive effort at regional arms control, including a suspension of U.S. military aid to other Middle Eastern governments, virtually all of which engage in a pattern of gross and systematic human rights violations. Despite the threat and reality of suicide bombings, Israelis are relatively secure within their country’s internationally recognized borders compared to the soldiers and settlers in occupied Palestinian territories seized by Israel in the 1967 War. Settlements and roads in these areas—reserved for Jews only—not only create an apartheid-like situation, but also make it extremely difficult for Israeli forces to defend against a hostile population angry that foreign occupiers have confiscated what is often its best land. Israel would be far more secure defending a clearly defined and internationally recognized border than this network of illegal outposts within Palestinian territory. Israel’s official borders run for about 500 miles, whereas the demarcation lines between Israeli and Palestinian controlled areas prior to the most recent fighting were closer to 2,000 miles. It is not surprising, then, that far more Israelis have died in the occupied territories than within Israel itself. Similarly, Israel utilizes far more of its soldiers outside the country maintaining its occupation against the Palestinians than it does defending the country’s borders or maintaining internal security. As reiterated in the recent Arab summit in Beirut, an Israeli withdrawal to within its internationally recognized borders would result in the security guarantees and fully normalized relations with Arab states Israel has long sought. This would put both Israel and its neighbors into compliance with UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, long considered to be the basis for Arab-Israeli peace. While this would not satisfy some Islamic extremists, an end to the occupation would dramatically reduce their following and simultaneously increase the ability and willingness of the Palestinian leadership to crack down on potential terrorists. A more comprehensive definition of Israel’s security would create greater flexibility in the FMF assistance program, allowing the U.S. to address the personal insecurity of Israelis. Earmarking the ongoing $60 million annual increase for desalination and waste water recycling projects would reduce Israel’s reliance on Palestinian water resources, remove an incentive for maintaining the illegal occupation, and improve Palestinian economic prospects. Other options for applying the assistance include financing joint projects on a regional energy grid or natural gas pipelines, coordinating ecological management strategies, promoting international trade and tourism, and advancing efforts to develop cooperative economic zones along national borders. Tying the region together economically creates collective incentives to promote peace while highlighting the rewards of international cooperation to Arabs and Israelis alike. In this way, U.S. security assistance could bolster Israeli security without increasing military transfers or threatening Israel’s neighbors. Such a broader vision of security is necessary if the U.S. is truly interested in promoting peace and stability for Israel and the Middle East. Joseph Yackley is a recent graduate from the University of Chicago, with master’s degrees in Middle Eastern Studies and Public Policy Studies and currently serves as a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellow with a focus on economic development issues in the Middle East. Stephen Zunes is Middle East editor for the Foreign Policy in Focus Project and serves as an associate professor of Politics and chair of the Peace & Justice Studies Program at the University of San Francisco.