Democratic Palestine : 31 (ص 48)
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- Democratic Palestine : 31 (ص 48)
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Bush’s call is a tactic to pressure the
Soviet Union, because the US can test
chemical weapons elsewhere if it wants
and not on US soil. Moreover, there is
a contradiction between supporting
nuclear build-up and claiming to want
to ban chemical weapons. In fact, Bush
would like to increase the defense
budget, especially that of SDI (Strategic
Defense Initiative) or «Star Wars.» He
favors the deployment of new weapons
designed to shoot down enemy
satellites, and a new land-based missile
capable of striking Soviet targets with
pinpoint accuracy. He also favors con-
tinued under-ground nuclear tests and
continued flight testing of ballistic
missiles.
In regards to Bush’s foreign policy, it
would continue along the main lines of
existing Reagan Administration policy,
but with differences in style and
priorities and some shifts in substance.
He has much experience in foreign af-
fairs, having visited 72 countries and
met with leaders of nearly all foreign
governments. Bush is more pragmatic
and issue-oriented than Reagan. He is
reported to support close intelligence
cooperation with Britain. Concerning
the Soviet Union, he is skeptical about
Gorbachev’s initiatives. He said he
would speak with the Soviets, but calls
for caution and realism. He said his
election would represent a mandate to
press negotiations with the Soviet
Union on_ reducing conventional
military forces. As for Bush’s policy on
South Africa, he opposes further sanc-
tions. He is a strong believer in
«constructive engagement» with the
apartheid regime in Pretoria. Accor-
ding to Bush, Central America’s pro-
blems can be traced back to the Cuban
missile crisis when the Monroe Doctrine
was challenged. His policy is to resist
all Soviet-Cuban efforts to «foment
communism in Central America and
the Caribbean.» He supports military
aid to the contras and isolating Cuba.
THE MIDDLE EAST
The lynchpin of Bush’s Middle East
policy is Israeli security. This means
continuing and expanding the
Republican administration’s policy
which brought about a «Golden Era» in
US-Israeli relations, exemplified in the
Memoranda of Understanding for
Strategic Cooperation. Bush has stated
48
that the US will never waiver in its
stategic and economic partnership with
‘Israel’.
Bush calls for direct negotiations
between ‘Israel’ and its Arab neighbors
along the lines of Camp David, as op-
posed to a genuine, fully-empowered
international conference. He was a
major force behind the 1982 Reagan
plan for ousting the PLO from the
Middle East political map, thus freeing
Arab reaction to conciliate with
‘Israel’. Bush also played a key role in
the airlifting of Ethiopian Jews from
South Sudan to ‘Israel’ in 1985. He was
a formulater of the aggressive US at-
tack on Libya in 1986, and supported
the re-flagging of Kuwaiti transports in
1987.
Bush has clearly said that he would
not deal with the PLO or back a
Palestinian state, but has said very little
concretely about how he would pro-
mote peace. He maintains the
Republican Party’s position that the
PLO cannot participate in negotiations
unless it recognizes the right of ‘Israel’
to exist, accepts UN Security Council
resolutions 242 and 338, and renounces
terrorism.
A corollary of this Camp David
policy is Bush’s concern for increasing
cooperation and military support to the
reactionary Arab regimes, especially
Egypt and Jordan that are considered
vital in any Middle East settlement, and
Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich Gulf
states. Bush’s policy is basically in-
terventionist. He has stated that the US
should be prepared to intervene in the
region alone if its interests are
threatened. In line with the Republican
party generally, Bush sees the
establishment of relations between the
Soviet Union and some Gulf states as a
threat to US interests, while viewing the
Soviet position on ‘Israel’ at the UN as
an obstacle to peace.
Bush’s Middle East policy carries
over to the UN. The Bush Administra-
tion pledges to support legislation pro-
viding for US refusal to pay its finan-
cial share and withdrawal from UN
agencies that take any decision to ex-
clude Israeli participation. His program
indudes working to cancel the 1975 UN
General Assembly resolution 3379,
naming Zionism as a form of racism;
the failure to do so would justify a US
decision to cancel financial support to
the UN.
For the above reasons, most Zionist
leaders called on the members of their
organizations to vote Republican.
DUKAKIS
Michael Stanley Dukakis, 55, the
Democratic presidential nominee, lost
his bid for the White House after a long
struggle. Analysts have said that his
loss can be attributed to Dukakis’ em-
phasis on attracting the Reagan-
Democrats and tilting his campaign to
the right so he could be perceived as a
more centrist candidate. Unfortunately
for progressive, working-class
Americans, his strategy failed; why
would Reagan-Democrats vote for a
Democrat when they have the choice to
vote for another Reagan?
Dukakis domestic policies by far
outweighed those of his opposition. He
had outlined programs on housing and
the homeless, 2 national dilemma, en-
dorsing recommendations of the Na-
tional Housing Task Force. His
conservation record was called ‘ex-
emplary’. He opposes the death penal-
ty; is pro-gun control; supports the
ERA (Equal Rights Amendment), and
increased spending for maternal and
childcare. Dukakis proposed
universally-available college loans and
put forth a plan to confront illiteracy.
Compared to the Republicans’ agenda,
Dukakis’ domestic policies were
generally pro-people, taking into ac-
count the issues which affect and con-
cern the majority of Americans.
However, although Dukakis’ pro-
grams seem to benefit the poor, the
difference between him and Bush is a
relative one. Both represent the ruling
class in essence. Thus, in principle,
there is little difference. Rather their
respective programs reflect two dif-
ferent approaches for perpetuating the
capitalist system. Dukakis’ tactic is to
instate relative reform, such as a partial
redistribution of benefits to the lower
and middle classes through more state
funding of education, housing, health
care, etc. Nonetheless, because his
policies represent an alternative to the
Reagan era, Dukakis’ model is one
which progressives could rally around
and utilize.
In the military field, Dukakis said he
would cancel the MX and Midgetman
missiles and two proposed aircraft and - هو جزء من
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