Word: quandt
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...with all the potential it possesses" if attacked. Those statements were intended to put to rest, at least temporarily, a flurry of war talk that has rocked the region for the past fortnight. But they hardly resolved the mounting problems between two traditional adversaries. Concluded Middle East Expert William Quandt of the Brookings Institution: "Both Israel and Syria have got it in their minds that they will fight another major war, and both are very seriously planning for that...
...more than we do," he says. "But we put them into the position of having to choose between him and us." Although Washington hoped the operation would diminish the Libyan's prestige, it seemed more likely to reinforce his self-proclaimed image as a David against Goliath. Notes William Quandt, Middle Eastern specialist at the Brookings Institution: "I think we have helped to prop up Gaddafi internally, made it harder for his opposition to get a hand...
...Quandt believes Carter was essentially correct in thinking that, at a crucial Sept. 16 meeting, Begin agreed the settlements freeze was to be linked to the autonomy talks. On the other hand, Quandt adds, "it is clear from most accounts that Begin did say something about a freeze for only three months, though he apparently implied that it could be extended...
...version the following day--after the Camp David accords were to be signed. When the new letter arrived, it was exactly the same as the draft that Carter had rejected the previous day. "Careful, prudent negotiators would have insisted on seeing the final draft instead of relying on hope," Quandt writes. "As a result, the Americans made their most serious technical mistake...
...some weeks thereafter, Carter tried to resolve the matter with Begin, but the Israeli leader refused to budge. To make matters worse, he announced in late October that existing West Bank settlements would be "thickened," or enlarged, immediately. Quandt regards Begin as the most able of the Camp David negotiators, the one who knew best "how to play the cards in his hands" and who was "meticulous in turning words to his advantage." Although he agreed to an Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai, he won not only a peace with Egypt but also a "comparatively free hand for Israel...