[monkeyshine]

Guys, go see the other news. Israel has cut off all ties with Arafat. Reuters reports that Israel is going after Hamas and Islamic jihad personally to confiscate weapons and carry out arrests. Troops have been mobilized. Not a peep from our state department or Zinni about Israel's declaration yet... all indications, at this point, that the quote may indeed have been accurate.

[monkeyshine]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/589401/posts

...United States special envoy to the region, General Anthony Zinni, said that "Arafat and the Palestinian Authority must immediately act to arrest those responsible for the attacks and destroy the infrastructure of those terrorist groups supporting them. Co-existence and peace do not go hand in hand with terrorist organizations. The Palestinians must take actions against them immediately."

Ok diplomat speak interpreters... What do you make of this?

[Dog Gone]

all indications, at this point, that the quote may indeed have been accurate

No fair. We can't judge the quotes based on subsequent actions of the parties any longer. The Emanuel bus ambush is a watershed event which is going to affect, perhaps permanently, Arafat's role in this struggle. Zinni's comments are now somewhere between irrelevant and completely moot.

At this point, Israel has clearly given up on Arafat. I haven't seen the American position articulated yet, but I'm sure it won't contradict the Israeli position. At worst, it will adopt a wait-and-see position.