US candidate Giuliani warns on Palestinian state

Israeli Presidential Hopeful: Rudolph Giuliani (Photo: AP)

14 August 2007

Republican 2008 White House front-runner says it is not in the interest of the US to help create Palestinian state that would ‘support terrorism’; ‘Palestinians’ problem not lack of statehood but good governance,’ he says

Republican 2008 White House front-runner Rudolph Giuliani warned Tuesday it was not in the interest of the United States to help create a Palestinian state that would "support terrorism."

In an article in the journal Foreign Affairs, the former New York mayor also said too much emphasis had been placed on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks which he said just brought up the same issues "again and again."

Giuliani renamed the US "war on terror" as "the Terrorists' War on US" in his hawkish article in the September/October issue of the magazine, and predicted a long battle against "radical Islamic fascism."

In the latest of a series of essays in Foreign Affairs by presidential candidates, Giuliani also predicted US troops would still be in Iraq and Afghanistan when the next president takes office in January, 2009.

He argued that the problem for Palestinians since the Islamist movement Hamas won parliamentary elections last year, was not a "lack of statehood" but good governance.

"Too much emphasis has been placed on brokering negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians -- negotiations that bring up the same issues again and again," he wrote.

"It is not in the interests of the United States, at a time when it is being threatened by Islamist terrorists, to assist the creation of another state that will support terrorism," Giuliani wrote.

"Palestinian statehood will have to be earned through sustained good governance, a clear commitment to fighting terrorism, and a willingness to live in peace with Israel."

'A complicated challenge'

Giuliani also had disdain for the United Nations, which he said had proven "irrelevant to the resolution of almost every major dispute of the last 50 years."

And he called on NATO to admit any state that meets standards of good governance and military readiness, wherever it is in the world.

Giuliani, basing his campaign on his leadership in the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001, also called for a robust response to terrorism.

"The Terrorists' War on US was encouraged by unrealistic and inconsistent actions taken in response to terrorist attacks in the past. A realistic peace can only be achieved through strength," Giuliani said, in a thinly veiled attack on former president Bill Clinton's administration.

On Iraq and Afghanistan, Giuliani said US forces would need to remain for "some time" to deter external threats even when "violence decreases and security improves."

Failure in Iraq would create an even bigger terror haven than Afghanistan became before the September 11 strikes, he said.

Giuliani also called for more efforts to lessen the possibility of a chemical, biological or nuclear attack on US soil, calling for "constellations" of satellites spying on arms factories around the globe.

In the September edition of Foreign Affairs democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards said, “We must stand by our ally and partner Israel, ensuring its security while doing everything in our power to bring peace and stability to the region.”

Turning his attention to Iran, Edwards said the Islamic Republic presented “a complicated challenge for the United States.

“President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a dangerous radical and a strong supporter of Hizbullah and Hamas. He has said repeatedly that Israel should be ‘wiped off the map’ and last December sponsored a conference for Holocaust deniers in Tehran. Iran cannot be allowed to possess nuclear weapons,” he said.

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