Posted on 04/03/2002 5:53:31 PM PST by Goldi-Lox
GEOSTRATEGY-DIRECT INTELLIGENCE BRIEF Sharon seeks OK from Bush on Arafat Wants written permission to capture or kill Palestinian leader
--- Posted: April 3, 2002 5:00 p.m. Eastern
© 2002 WorldNetDaily.com Expect further expansion of Israel's large-scale operation in the West Bank, for which the military has drafted more than 20,000 reservists and recalled all officers and soldiers on vacation.
But don't expect Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to destroy the Palestinian Authority or capture or kill its leader, Yasser Arafat. Instead, Sharon intends to drive Arafat crazy or out of the Palestinian areas into voluntary exile.
Why won't Sharon touch Arafat? An aide to the prime minister explains it this way: Sharon does not want to cross President George Bush regarding Arafat's fate. The two men have spoken often, the aide said, and Bush has supported just about every military operation against Arafat.
But Sharon wants more. He wants Bush to put it in writing that Arafat can be killed or captured.
"Bush has said all the right words to Sharon except 'Go kick his (Arafat) a--,'" the aide said. "The problem is Sharon wants Bush to give him a note as a teacher in kindergarten would. We've told Sharon that this will never happen."
Sharon is drawing on experience. In 1982, Sharon, then Israel's defense minister, believed he had obtained the green light from then-Secretary of State Alexander Haig for an Israeli offensive against Arafat in Lebanon. Haig later denied this and the United States never trusted Sharon again.
(Though I'm not really new - I've been lurking under hubbie's nick and various others I forget since '98. =] )
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