Cursed Is the Peacemaker: The American Diplomat Versus The Israeli General, Beirut 1982 by John Boykin, George Shultz, George Shultz (Foreword by)
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: May 2002
- Publisher: Applegate Press
- Format: Hardcover, 504pp
- Series: Diplomats and Diplomacy Ser.
- ISBN-13: 9780971943209
- ISBN: 0971943206
Foreign Affairs
A detailed, painstakingly researched study of the efforts of U.S. ambassador Philip Habib to arrest the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, lift the Israeli siege of Beirut, and get Yasir Arafat and his Palestine Liberation Organization safely out. Boykin frames his narrative as a confrontation between an American career diplomat, who had to work with a vague mandate and weak backing from Washington, and Israeli General Ariel Sharon, who misled his own government concerning his ambitions. Readers familiar with today's Israeli-Palestinian conflict will have a sense of deja vu as the author tracks Sharon's modus operandi, Arafat's beleaguered tactics, and America's hesitant stance. They should find Boykin's presentation of Habib in heroic terms convincing, but they may also wryly sense the limitations of individual diplomatic performance when it is not anchored to a coherent foreign policy.
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The negotiator ....by Beirut768
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November 10, 2008:
Habib told Asad of Syria, he (Habib) was nothing if not a man of principle.
Habib saw in Hafiz Asad a staunch supporter.
Rigidly and puritanically attached to neutrality considering the political animosities between Lebanon (Bashir) and Syria (Asad), Habib was labelled `adventurous' when he took and maintained firm stand supporting the election of Bashir Gemayel to the Presidency of Lebanon.
Habib's faith never faltered at times USA's image was construed as one of vacillation and indecision.
From the beginning, he kept reminding his listeners that USA traditional policy, for the better sake of each party, had been to maintain neutrality.
Initially he had come to Lebanon strenuously dedicated to easing the tension between PLO and Israel, to find himself walking on tight rope attached to four corners, Israel/Lebanon/PLO/Syria, and each side had his `knife' readily available to cut the rope.
His biggest pressure was to put an end to civilians' bloodshed preceded only by Mother Theresa.
Philip Habib had an impressive opponent in the person of Menahim Begin the Prime Minister of Israel, but perhaps his main challenge remained the portly protective and aggressive shadow of Ariel Sharon.
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