Posted on 05/01/2002 7:11:51 AM PDT by l33t
I have to admit that I was upset with Bush also, until I came to understand what I believe he is doing. To appease the moderate Arab nations (and I think Bush is only going to appease so far), he had to deal with Arafat at least once. He was going to have to see if Arafat was "honest" in regards to him. If Bush had never talked to Arafat that would have been used against the Administration. Can you imagine Arafat on t.v. saying "but he never talked to me?" And that could be a rallying cry throughout the Muslim world. "The poor Palestians... the Americans didn't even talk to them." There would be truth to that. Well, now Arafat is playing the same game with Bush. And Bush won't stand for it.
Personally, I don't think Sharon is disobeying Bush. I don't think he would. Sharon has been given the green light.
This war on terror, to be done right, will an an all encompassing war. There is only reason why the Arabs would not join the coalition -- that is for the greater cause of pan-Arabism. To fight Iraq, Iran, and all the other nations that sponsor terrorists will have to be done in a way so that Saddam or other leaders can't play the pan-Arab card or the Palestian card. Israel is a weapon for such a campaign. Saddam tried to use Israel in the Gulf War. He sent scud missles into Israel to provoke a response. If he had succeeded, then the Arabs might have forgotten about Kuwait and formed together to through the western invaders from their land. Saladin all over again.
Benjamin Netanyahu on Meet the Press said the following about the Arabs. Tim Russert asked him: What would be the reaction of the Arab world if the United States invaded Iraq?
Netanyahu: Is it important? Suppose the reaction is negative. OK, so what? Can the Arab world stop you? Are they indispensible in material terms, in physical terms, in getting the job done? Probably not. You can do it. The imperative is more important, the mission is more important than the coalition, whether you have one or don't. But I think something else will happen. There is tremendous respect for American principle and American power that backs American principle. I would say even more than respect. There is admiration, bordering on worship. It doesn't make any difference what calmdeen, what vilification will be heaped on you. Not that much, in my opinion. They'll all line up, just as - you know it was said that tens of thousands would rush into Afghanistan if you attacked, and if you attacked during Ramadan, it would hundreds of thousands. Well, in fact, hundreds of thousands did stream, but out of Afghanistan in flight of American wrath.
Not at all. President GWB is one smart man....He gave Arafat the rope....Now Arafat hangs himself...
The Arab mentality is very much like the Clinton mentality. The truth is whatever you can get someone to believe, and a deal is a deal until it's not. I once sold a house to an Egyptian who owns a jewelry store. He was as bad as any rug merchant in a Moroccan bazaar. He was getting the mortgage from me, and the terms of the sale (price, points, mortgage, furniture included, etc.,) kept changing up to and including the signing of the closing documents. Only when I got up from the table and physically walked out of the room did he agree to what he had already agreed to. Funny thing is, I have gotten every single mortgage payment right on time.
He won't be horsewhipped. He will get a huge thumbs up. Israel is tied to American foreign policy. Sharon isn't a loose cannon. From Ben Gurion onward, each prime minister have understood that Israel is a dog on a leash. And Americans are on the other end of the leash. If Bush was truly upset, then Sharon would have stopped.
There is a great duplicity in foreign policy. Only the private conversations (which none of us are privy too) tell the true story. I believe if Bush truly wanted Sharon out of the West Bank, Sharon would have gone.
Sharon: You're what?
Arafat: I'm withdrawing my concession.
Sharon: Well, you do what you have to do.
Arafat: You don't have to get snippy about it!
History just keeps on repeating itself....
Oh really? Let's revisit this in a couple of days, and see if anybody gives a damn that Arafat lied yet again. He will deny that he ever agreed, and the party line will be that the Israelis broke their promises first. As for Arafat stiffing Bush, they will simply say that Sharon stiffed Bush first. None of this will matter, except possibly to some Americans who are paying serious attention for the first time to the Middle East, and will begin to absorb the basic facts rather than media spin. In the final analysis, the net affect may be to swing a few more Americans who are fence-sitting over to the side of common sense. But not many.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=158328&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0
Fox News and (p)MSNBC have also reported on this.
As noted in #48, this is the first time he's directly lied to Bush. One hopes Bush will deal with him accrdingly (which would mean to write him off).
I think so, or rather, he'll step back and let the Israelis do it. Arafat rolled Bush once, but he won't get to do it again.
LOL. Instigator...
:o)
I can't wait for him to answer this. :o)
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