All smiles for Sharon as US turns the heat on Arafat

The Guardian ^ | April 13, 2002 | Julian Borger

[liberalism=failure]

It's good to see the administration on the right page for a change. Sadly, though all one has to do is wait a few days and they'll revert to the appeasers "reaching out" to terrorists.

[happygrl]

People died today because of the Bush/Powell initiative.

Yeah, they had to die so that Powell could "get religion."

Powell should have been taken to the site on the ground not flown overhead, so he could see the blood . Then he needed to go to the hospital. These men in suits are sickening.

[Doctor Mongo]

Unless you believe in coincidences, the homicide bombing that greeted Secretary Colin Powell in Jerusalem was timed by Arafat to impress him with Arafat's continued grip on power. Make no mistake, the deaths and injuries were a direct result of Powell's presence, although not attributable to him.

[GBA]

Exactly right! There are several battles to be fought, among them the battle for world opinion. Leadership is essential, no question about that, and Bush has shown both courage and a grasp of the situation at hand and the goals that need to be accomplished to demonstrate good leadership.

But another battle is to reveal the other players for what they really are and the situation for what it really is so as to quiet those disenting and critical voices in the press and other governments worldwide. Better to have them all clammering for action and then do it, rather than do the same action and have them be critical for not having given peace a chance.

[WaterDragon]

I don't think Powell is in Israel to "pacify" Arafat. I think the administration is buying time to set up Saddam. And of course, Arafat and Saddam hope to keep the focus off Iraq. The U.S. is nobody's patsy here.

[xvb]

Bump.

[goldilucky]

"The U.S. is nobody's patsy here."

That depends on how you define the "U.S.". The U.S. may not be a patsy, but the non-U.S. sovereign citizens are.