Politico: Petraeus throws support to Mitchell peace efforts

Petraeus throws support to Mitchell peace efforts

http://www.politico.com/blogs/laurarozen/0310/Petraeus_throws_support_to_Mitchell_peace_efforts.html

Gen. David Petraeus weighed in on the U.S.-Israel dispute today, telling Senators that he “absolutely” backs the efforts of U.S. Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell to re-launch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict challenges the ability of the United States to advance its interests in the region.

“I keep a very close eye on what goes on” on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, though it’s not officially part of Centcom’s area of responsibility, Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday “because of its impact on that part of Centcom that is the Arab world. And in fact, we have urged that this is a critical component. That is one reason we have invited Sen. Mitchell to brief all the conferences we host and seek to support him and his staff any way we can when he's in Central Command area.”

“Clearly the tensions in these issues have an enormous effect on the strategic context in which we operate in Central Command area of responsibility,” Petraeus said. “My thrust has generally been to encourage that process that can indeed get that recognition that you talked about and indeed get a sense of progress.”

“In fact, [Central Command] staff members at various times have discussed asking for the Palestinian territories to be added to” Centcom’s turf, Petraeus said, although he said he has “never made that formal recommendation” nor “sent a memo to the White House on this,” contrary to a recent press account.

Petraeus’s comments came in response to a question by Sen. John McCain.

“Isn’t the issue not the issue of settlements as much as it is the existence of the state of Israel,” McCain said in the long run up to his question. “Its neighbors with some exceptions have dedicated themselves to the extermination of Israel …. So maybe you could put it all into the larger context of what needs to be done to reduce tensions on the U.S.’s closest ally and friend in many respects. And what needs to be done to defuse” tensions.

McCain then threw in a softball question, by asking Petraeus, and isn’t it true that you greatly support Sen. Mitchell’s efforts.

“Absolutely true,” Petraeus said emphatically.

In his prepared testimony, Petraeus listed the Israeli-Arab conflict as the first “cross cutting challenge to security and stability” in the Centcom area of responsibility [AOR]. “The enduring hostilities between Israel and some of its neighbors present distinct challenges to our ability to advance our interests in the AOR,” he wrote. “The conflict foments anti-American sentiment, due to a perception of U.S. favoritism for Israel. Arab anger over the Palestinian question limits the strength and depth of U.S. partnerships with governments and peoples in the AOR and weakens the legitimacy of moderate regimes in the Arab world.”

“Meanwhile, al-Qaeda and other militant groups exploit that anger to mobilize support,” his testimony continued. “The conflict also gives Iran influence in the Arab world through its clients, Lebanese Hizballah and Hamas.”

In the section on Iran, Petraeus also wrote that: “A credible U.S. effort on Arab-Israeli issues that provides regional governments and populations a way to achieve a comprehensive settlement of the disputes would undercut Iran’s policy of militant ‘resistance,’ which the Iranian regime and insurgent groups have been free to exploit.”

“Additionally, progress on the Israel-Syria peace track could disrupt Iran’s lines of support to Hamas and Hizballah,” he wrote.