Quote:
Originally posted by MagiK:
quote:
Originally posted by Ar-Cunin:
Sharon have been to the White House something like 5 times in GWB's term - Arafat not only haven't been invited - USA have publicly stated that they do not want to talk to him.
I hope that this does represent GWB's thoughts on the subject - he's suppossed to be in charge.
You are right, that Arafat is being ignored, it is precisely his inability to do anything at all effective in the negotiations that the US has decided to look for another person who may actually be able to speak for the Palistinian side of things. Arafat has not been able to make a single agreement or gaurentee that has been kept. Even the Oslo Accords were ripped up as soon as he got home when he publicly stated that Like Muhaamed who made an insincere peace with an enemy so that he could have time to build an army with which to destroy them, so too did he (Arafat) agree to the Oslo Accords.
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[/QUOTE]IMHO, Arafat is a problem *maker* not solver. His sympathies for the bombers and other varieties of Palestinian terrorists is not unknown, he simply has the wisdom to jockey for compromise. But, again IMHO, if he had his way, he'd have pom poms out cheering them on til his dying day. Worse, his past efforts to be conciliatory, made during moments of lucidity perhaps
, have made his words and decrees ineffectual as to the Palestinians. So, MagiK is quite astute here.
But, Israelis by no means have clean hands. First, do the math: from what I've noticed, for every 1 sraeli killed by a bomber there are several retributory deaths. Sharon's enemies pay in spades. Moreover, Sharon himself is a totem poster-boy of Israel's wrongs: but please don't be offended by *me,* Mr. Butcher (Sharon, not MagiK
lol), as I'd hate to be on the wrong side of your anger.
Seriously, though, Israel's really stirring the pot, and has been for a couple of years. They decided when Sharon came into office that they were fed up, and they've been rather intractable since. Look, during the most recent "let's see how much we can mess with Arafat's compound" episode, Israel actually rappelled a few troops on top of the compound, where they subsequently ran the Israeli flag up the pole and left. Now that's chutzpah. And it only instigates more violence.
At some point, the tit-for-tat becomes ridiculous, and no side can be said to be "defensive" - both are simply "offensive." as far as I'm concerned.
[ 10-31-2002, 11:47 AM: Message edited by: Timber Loftis ]