Rice's comments ring phoney, researcher says

Dubai: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's comments that the Middle East is a better place after the reign of President George W. Bush is an "absolute joke" and her declaration of victory is premature, Dr Mustafa Alani, a researcher a Gulf Research Centre told Gulf News.

In an interview with BBC published on Tuesday, the US secretary of state painted a rosy picture of the region during Bush's reign citing examples of advancement like Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon and Iraq's integration into the region.

The regional integration Iraq has been enjoying is not a US success but came about as a part of a new strategy in the Arab world after the realisation that they "abandoned Iraq and left it to be under Iranian influence", Dr Alani explained.

Rice said that Iraq has become a "good Arab friend" of the US, and said that a "freedom agenda" inspired by the US has gripped the Middle East.

"It is way too early to declare Iraq as a success, terrorism is again on the rise, sectarianism is rampant and the government remains paralysed on the issue of Kirkuk," Dr Alani said.

While true that the US was behind the UN resolution to pressure Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, it was far from a US initiative as the French also played a key role, he explained.

"Lebanon is far from stable today, Hezbollah is still armed and internal fighting has not been eradicated," he said.

Rice's declaration that "the peace process (between Israel and the Occupied Territories) is the most serious one in many many years", Dr Alani described it as "most ridiculous" claim.

"Olmert is leaving the premiership, Livni is scrambling to form a government, the Palestinian camp remains deeply divided, meanwhile the whole peace process has practically halted," he said.

Dr Alani said attributing some successes in the Arab world to Bush's foreign policy is Secretary Rice's way of declaring a victory as Bush's days in office end, but she is basically taking credit where it does not belong.