New Mideast coordinator
built bridges in isles, too

ASSOCIATED PRESS / 2002 U.S. Army Lt. Gen. William Ward

The U.S. Army general tapped to coordinate security between Israelis and Palestinians was known for his sensitivity to the concerns and needs of the community when he was commander of the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice named Lt. Gen. William Ward the new security coordinator in the Middle East Monday. Ward commanded the 25th Infantry Division from September 1999 to November 2000.

"He was one of the few commanding generals to show up at a neighborhood board meeting," said Sen. Robert Bunda (D, Mililani Mauka-North Shore). "He was very community-minded."

Bunda said Ward asked community leaders how the military might help the state with its education system. And he was concerned for the feelings of communities affected by troop caravans that traveled in large numbers between Schofield Barracks and the Kahuku Military Training Reservation.

He said Ward's ability to bring people together will serve him well in his new post.

During Ward's tenure here, the Army was engaged in a legal battle with Malama Makua, a group of Waianae residents, over the Army's use of Makua Valley for training.

Malama Makua member William Aila said Ward impressed him when the general showed up for a 4 a.m. ceremony in Makua Valley for the signing of an agreement that gave a community group access to Ukanipo Heiau, adjacent to the Makua Military Reservation.

"That showed that he was committed," Aila said.

Ward also expanded the environmental projects started by his predecessor, and he was always open and available for talks, he said.

Aila believes all of the 25th Division commanders move on to better jobs because of the experience they gain learning to deal with the community here.

"Because the community in Waianae is not like communities anywhere else," he said.

Ward left Schofield for a staff position with the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon and was later commander of the NATO peace-keeping force in Bosnia. His current post is deputy commanding general of U.S. Army forces in Europe.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Mohammed Ishd, a terrorist of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades wanted by the Israeli authorities, pointed his weapon at the image of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday as he and other terrorists watched the live broadcast of the Israeli-Palestinian speeches in the West Bank town of Jenin. Exhausted after years of bloody conflict, Palestinians and Israelis listened with a heavy dose of skepticism to their leaders' pledges to bring an end to the fighting.