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Us decries strike { July 24 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53307-2002Jul23.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53307-2002Jul23.html
U.S. Decries Israeli Missile Strike, Ponders Effect on Peace Bid
By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 24, 2002; Page A13
The White House yesterday denounced Israel's missile strike in a densely populated area in the Gaza Strip as "heavy-handed" and described it as "a deliberate attack against a building in which civilians were known to be located."
Rejecting Israel's contention that it did not intend to kill innocents with a strike that was directed against a leader of the Hamas militant group, spokesman Ari Fleischer said: "These were apartment buildings that were targeted." In addition to Salah Shehada, the intended target, the missile fired from an Israeli F-16 warplane killed 14 other people, most of them under the age of 11, and injured about 150.
Although President Bush continues "to be a lead defender of Israel around the world and will speak out about Israel's right to self-defense," Fleischer said, "this is an instance in which the United States and Israel do not see eye to eye."
The Monday night attack was widely condemned in Europe and the Arab world. Many, particularly in Arab capitals, said it demonstrated that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was trying to undercut recent progress in the Middle East peace process.
The attack appeared initially to have stunned U.S. officials involved in peace efforts. They said they had no warning of Israel's plans despite talks here Monday between high-level representatives of the two governments. By yesterday, shock had turned to depression and uncertainty over where the process would go.
"There is considerable agreement that this represents something really problematic, something unique," one administration official said.
U.S. reaction to the attack, which occurred around 7 p.m. Washington time, was delayed until there was a clear picture of what had happened, the official said. After a flurry of telephone calls to the region, "within an hour, we knew what we were dealing with. Then discussions began on how to respond."
Talks Monday night among Secretary of State Colin L. Powell; his deputy, Richard L. Armitage; and William Burns, the assistant secretary for the region, were quickly joined by national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and her deputy, Stephen Hadley. While acknowledging deep and longstanding differences between the State Department and the White House over Middle East policy, the official said, "this particular time, there was agreement across the board."
Under the rhetorical code that has long surrounded statements on the Middle East, the United States normally "condemns" Palestinian terrorist attacks and uses the somewhat softer verb, "deplore," to criticize Israeli actions.
Officials considered, then rejected, condemning the Israelis or describing their actions as "counterproductive" before settling on "heavy-handed," as something they believed "captured the deploring," as one official put it.
It was decided that Daniel C. Kurtzer, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, would deliver the message to Sharon. U.S. officials here described that discussion yesterday as unpleasant, and said Sharon said little in private that differed from his description of the attack as "one of our major successes."
White House public comment was left to Fleischer, and Bush made no statement yesterday on the attack. "The president views this as a heavy-handed action that is not consistent with dedication to peace in the Middle East," Fleischer said.
Asked why Israel's action in Gaza was different from U.S. attacks against al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan that resulted in the loss of innocent civilian lives -- a comparison Israel has made -- Fleischer replied: "It isn't accurate to compare the two. . . . There are going to be losses of innocents in times of war, and I think that's recognized around the world.
"What's important is, in pursuit of the military objectives, as the United States does in Afghanistan, to always exercise every restraint to minimize those losses of life," Fleischer said. "But in this case, what happened in Gaza was a knowing attack against a building in which innocents were found."
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana called the attack an "extra-judicial killing operation" that "comes at a time when both Israelis and Palestinians were working very seriously to curb violence and restore cooperative security arrangements."
Solana represents the EU in the "quartet" group on the Middle East that also includes Powell, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.
Annan issued a statement late Monday deploring the attack, saying, "Israel has the legal and moral responsibility to take all measures to avoid the loss of innocent life; it clearly failed to do so."
There was no direct contact yesterday between Powell and the other quartet members, and no one seemed to have a clear idea how to proceed beyond waiting for the immediate fallout -- including widely expected Palestinian retaliation -- and its unpredictable impact on the wider peace process.
After months in which the process has been frozen, and despite Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians as recently as last week, significant recent progress had been reported.
Plans to restructure the Palestinian Authority's security and financial infrastructure and prepare for elections in January were near completion. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres met with senior Palestinian officials last weekend for the first time in months, amid signs that Israeli troops would begin to withdraw from occupied Palestinian cities.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, the Arab countries most active in the peace process, all condemned the Israeli action. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher called it a "war crime," and his Saudi counterpart, Saud Faisal, said it was "a repulsive act that will be registered against [Sharon] in history."
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
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