JOE ESKENAZI
Bulletin Staff
Sen. Ron Wyden is desperately hoping that President Bush's Middle East "road map" isn't altered by the U.S. detour into Iraq.
For the United States to start dictating terms to Israel in order to win appeal from Arab nations would be a colossal mistake, according to the Jewish senior senator from Oregon.
The president's June 24 road map speech "was a historical breakthrough -- he made it clear our government would no longer reward bad behavior. It would be very unfortunate if that speech were, in some way, now set aside," said Wyden, in town to attend a fund-raiser thrown by prominent San Francisco Democratic boosters.
"I hope Israel will not be blamed for the result of the victory in Iraq. The debates about where we ought to go [in the Mideast peace process] are based on clear principles. I subscribe to the ones the president articulated on June 24; I can't say it any other way. I think moving away from that is unfortunate and I don't support it...I don't think the U.S. should be dictating terms on Israeli peace strategy. That's for Israel to decide."
And if the United States shouldn't be calling the shots, Wyden is adamant that Europe and the United Nations should not be telling Israel what to do either.
Wyden is a tall, extraordinarily thin man who, in his younger days, was awarded a basketball scholarship at U.C. Santa Barbara. He later transferred to Stanford, where he didn't crack the basketball squad.
The 54-year-old senator speaks quietly in a voice not unlike that of a younger, less bombastic Andy Rooney and often flashes an unassuming smile. No stranger to self-deprecating humor, he once described himself on the Senate floor as "some skinny fellow with modest oratorical skills and a face for radio."
While some have criticized the first step of the president's road map -- the cessation, more or less, of Palestinian terrorism -- as nebulous and utopian, Wyden insists that it's a deal-breaker.
"I don't think it's idealistic at all. I think it goes right to the heart of the problem," he said.
"Barak offered the earth, moon and stars for peace. He made a more generous offer than I would have made if I was in his position, and it was not enough for Arafat...If you take strong action and put people behind bars and make it clear there are going to be sanctions, rather than looking the other way and sort of saying you're against terrorism and not doing anything about it, you can make a difference. We haven't seen that."
Wyden's name has popped up in the news most recently because of his adamant insistence that contracts for rebuilding postwar Iraq should not be handed out behind closed doors -- or good reasons should be given if they are.
"I think there's tremendous cynicism and skepticism about government today. We've already said that if national security is involved, they can go forward, but they have to explain why, in that case," he said.
While Wyden counts himself as a staunch advocate of the president's stance on Israel, he is less enthusiastic about the administration's social agenda. When it comes to tax cuts, deficits and social programs, he feels the president is employing some fuzzy math.
"The idea that you can pay billions and billions of dollars to rebuild Iraq, oversee it, have a huge tax cut and still not have a soaring deficit, that's like telling someone they can have six hot fudge sundaes a day and lose weight," he said.
"I want to see us figure out a way every American can have decent and affordable health care. It's unacceptable that we haven't figured out a way to do it despite spending $1.5 trillion a year on health care."
During the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Wyden pleaded for an end to the "toxic" behavior between the two parties. While still priding himself for his bipartisan relations, he said it is now more difficult than ever to keep them up.
"It's always been hard, but it's especially so right now because the Republicans control all three branches of government," he said. "But if you want to get something important done, you better work in a bipartisan way."