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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 26, 2017)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 26, 2017 Founded in 1873 DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager OUR VIEW Each week we recognize those people and organizations in the community deserving of public praise for the good things they do to make the North Coast a better place to live, and also those who should be called out for their actions. SHOUTOUTS • The Astoria girls track team, which won its third consec- utive 4A state championship last weekend in Eugene. The Lady Fishermen were dominate with junior Darian Hageman win- ning the triple jump and the high jump and finishing second in the long jump and sixth in the pole vault, scoring 31 of the team’s 57 points. Gracie Cummings, Andrea Harris, Nara Van De Grift and Natalie Cummings teamed to win the 400 meter relay. Natalie Cummings also finished second in the 100 meters and third in the 200, and her sister Gracie finished eighth in both the 100 and 200-meter races. On the boys side, Astoria’s Lucas Caruana finished second in the 1,500 meters and Tim Barnett placed third in the shot put. Seaside’s Jackson Januik repeated as champion in the 800 meters, Bradley Rzewnicki took third in the 3,000, Juneau Meyer finished fourth in the 400 and Phoenix Johnson was fifth place in the high jump. On the girls side, Gretchen Hoekstre fin- ished second in the shot put and third in the discus. In Class 3A, Warrenton’s Tyler Whitaker was fifth in the long jump, ninth in the high jump and 10th in David Ball/For The Daily Astorian Astoria’s Darian Hageman flies into the triple jump. Teammates the pit during her winning effort in Devin Bowser was eighth the triple jump on Saturday, pushing the Lady Fishermen to the top of the in the discus and Mark Warren was eighth in the team leaderboard late in the meet. javelin. At the 2A level, Knappa’s Devin Vandergriff scored sixth in the 400 meters. In 1A action, Jewell junior Gabi Morales placed fourth in the 300 hurdles; Lily Kaczenski tied for eighth in the pole vault and senior Sean Hinson was eighth in the discus. • The Cannon Beach Tourism and Arts Commission and the Tolovana Arts Colony, which presented last weekend’s sixth annual “Get Lit at the Beach” festival in Cannon Beach. The three-day literary festival featured authors, a reception, readings, a Saturday night banquet and a Sunday panel discussion with audi- ence questions and answers. The banquet’s keynote speaker was author Karl Marlantes, a highly decorated Marine who served in Vietnam and later wrote “Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War,” his debut, which was a New York Times and USA Today bestseller. • Long Beach, Washington, Elementary School students who helped raise $4,164 for the Portland Shriners Hospital for Children, about double of what was raised last year. The money mostly came from business donations, but the students led the ini- tiative. It was the second year for the fundraiser, which was initi- ated by Long Beach Elementary teacher Pat Knapp. The money raised this year will go toward devices that will help children with scoliosis and for gift cards to help families at the hospital. Fourth- grade student Hailey Hightower was recognized during a student assembly for raising the most, $745. • Knappa High School girls softball catcher Kaitlyn Truax, who was named the Northwest League’s Most Valuable Player earlier this week. Truax, a junior, batted .679 this season. Knappa landed seven players on the all-league squad. In addition to Truax, pitcher Madelynn Weaver was the only freshman on the first team. CALLOUTS • The Oregon Health Authority, which according to the Secretary of State’s Office may have spent millions of dollars pro- viding Medicaid coverage for 86,000 people whose qualifications for the program are still in question. About a quarter of the state’s population, about 1 million people, are receiving Medicaid ben- efits which were expanded in 2014 under the federal Affordable Care Act. At the time, the state didn’t have a system in place to perform annual checks on recipient eligibility required by federal law and has been scrambling since then to finish verifying every Oregonian on Medicaid — the Oregon Health Plan — meets the criteria. The health authority says the process is about 90 percent complete, and the governor has given the health authority an Aug. 31 deadline to finish double-checking recipient eligibility. Suggestions? Do you have a Shoutout or Callout you think we should know about? Let us know at news@dailyastorian.com and we’ll make sure to take a look. Why Middle East peace starts in Saudi Arabia “Whom the gods would destroy, they first tempt to resolve the Arab-Is- raeli conflict.” — Irving Kristol By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER Washington Post Writer’s Group W ASHINGTON — The quixotic American pursuit of Middle East peace is a perennial. It invariably fails, yet every administration feels compelled to give it a try. The Trump administration is no different. It will fail as well. To be sure, no great harm has, as yet, come from President Donald Trump’s enthusiasm for what would be “the ultimate deal.” It will, however, distract and detract from remarkable progress being made elsewhere in the Middle East. That progress began with Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia, the first of his presidency — an unmistakable dec- laration of a radical reorientation of U.S. policy in the region. Message: The appeasement of Iran is over. Barack Obama’s tilt toward Iran in the great Muslim civil war between Shiite Iran and Sunni Arabs led by Saudi Arabia was his reach for Nixon-to-China glory. It ended ignominiously. The idea that the nuclear deal would make Iran more moderate has proved spectacularly wrong, as demonstrated by its defiant ballistic missile launches, its indispensable support for the genocidal Assad regime in Syria, its backing of the Houthi insurgency in Yemen, its worldwide support for terrorism, its relentless anti-Americanism and commitment to the annihilation of Israel. These aggressions were sup- posed to abate. They didn’t. On the contrary, the cash payments and the lifting of economic sanctions — Tehran’s reward for the nuclear deal — have only given its geopolitical thrusts more power and reach. The reversal has now begun. The first act was Trump’s Riyadh address to about 50 Muslim states (the overwhelming majority of them Sunni) signaling a wide Islamic alliance committed to resisting Iran and willing to cast its lot with the American side. That was objective No. 1. The other was to turn the Sunni powers against Sunni terrorism. The Islamic State is Sunni. Al-Qaeda is Sunni. Fifteen of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi. And the spread of Saudi- funded madrassas around the world has for decades inculcated a poi- Saudi Press Agency via AP Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, Saudi King Salman, U.S. First Lady Melania Trump and President Donald Trump visit a new Global Cen- ter for Combating Extremist Ideology Sunday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. sonous Wahhabism that has fueled Islamist terrorism. Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states publicly declaring war on their bastard terrorist child is significant. As is their pledge not to tolerate any semiofficial support or private dona- tions. And their opening during the summit of an anti-terrorism center in Riyadh. After eight years of U.S. policy hovering between neglect and betrayal, the Sunni Arabs are relieved to have America back. A salutary side effect is the possibility of a detente with Israel. After eight years of U.S. policy hovering between neglect and betrayal, the Sunni Arabs are relieved to have America back. That would suggest an outside-in approach to Arab-Israeli peace: a rapprochement between the Sunni state and Israel (the outside) would put pressure on the Palestinians to come to terms (the inside). It’s a long-shot strategy but it’s better than all the others. Unfortunately, Trump muddied the waters a bit in Israel by at times reverting to the opposite strategy — the inside-out — by saying that an Israeli-Palestinian deal would “begin a process of peace all throughout the Middle East.” That is well-worn nonsense. Imagine if Israel disappeared tomor- row in an earthquake. Does that end the civil war in Syria? The instability in Iraq? The fighting in Yemen? Does it change anything of consequence amid the intra-Arab chaos? Of course not. And apart from being delusional, the inside-out strategy is at present impossible. Palestinian leadership is both hopelessly weak and irredeem- ably rejectionist. Until it is prepared to accept the legitimacy of the Jewish state — which it has never done in the 100 years since the Balfour Declaration committed Britain to a Jewish homeland in Palestine — there will be no peace. It may come one day. But not now. Which is why making the Israel-Palestinian issue central, rather than peripheral, to the epic Sunni- Shiite war shaking the Middle East today is a serious tactical mistake. It subjects any now-possible reconcil- iation between Israel and the Arab states to a Palestinian veto. Ironically, the Iranian threat that grew under Obama offers a unique opportunity for U.S.-Arab and even Israeli-Arab cooperation. Over time, such cooperation could gradually acclimate Arab peoples to a nonbelligerent stance toward Israel. Which might in turn help persuade the Palestinians to make some concessions before their fellow Arabs finally tire of the Palestinians’ century of rejectionism. Perhaps that will require a peace process of sorts. No great harm, as long as we remember that any such Israeli-Palestinian talks are for show — until conditions are one day ripe for peace. In the meantime, the real action is on the anti-Iranian and anti-terror fronts. Don’t let Oslo-like mirages get in the way. WHERE TO WRITE • U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D): 2338 Rayburn HOB, Washing- ton, D.C., 20515. Phone: 202- 225- 0855. Fax 202-225-9497. District office: 12725 SW Millikan Way, Suite 220, Beaverton, OR 97005. Phone: 503-469-6010. Fax 503-326- 5066. Web: bonamici.house. gov/ • U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D): 313 Hart Senate Office Building, Wash- ington, D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224- 3753. Web: www.merkley.senate.gov • U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D): 221 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510. Phone: 202-224-5244. Web: www.wyden. senate.gov • State Rep. Brad Witt (D): State Capitol, 900 Court Street N.E., H-373, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1431. Web: www.leg.state. or.us/witt/ Email: rep.bradwitt@ state.or.us • State Rep. Deborah Boone (D): 900 Court St. N.E., H-481, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1432. Email: rep.deborah boone@state. or.us District office: P.O. Box 928, Cannon Beach, OR 97110. Phone: 503-986-1432. Web: www.leg.state. or.us/ boone/ • State Sen. Betsy Johnson (D): State Capitol, 900 Court St. N.E., S-314, Salem, OR 97301. Telephone: 503-986-1716. Email: sen.betsy john- son@state.or.us Web: www.betsy- johnson.com District Office: P.O. Box R, Scappoose, OR 97056. Phone: 503-543-4046. Fax: 503-543-5296. Astoria office phone: 503-338-1280. • Port of Astoria: Executive Director, 10 Pier 1 Suite 308, Asto- ria, OR 97103. Phone: 503-741-3300. Email: admin@portofastoria.com • Clatsop County Board of Com- missioners: c/o County Manager, 800 Exchange St., Suite 410, Astoria, OR 97103. Phone: 503-325-1000.
