[dirtboy]

please see my post #6 - this gets stranger, because if this account was true, Zinni was speaking openly to the media, and the quote was not something overheard by a waiter at dinner, and the chance that the Western media missed it is significanly reduced - so hopefully someone can check the Hebrew-langauge papers and see exactly what they said about the context in which Zinni allegedly spoke this.

Plus, the fact that the United States said today that it will still negotiated with Arafat undercuts the claim that Zinni will be going around Arafat.

[monkeyshine]

I agree it is totally bizarre. Who said the USA will still negotiate with Arafat? The state dept?

This whole thing is strange. Did Zinni go as an envoy of State, or directly from the White House? Zinni may conclude it is a waste of time, and the State Dept may still work with him... and even if he thinks it's a waste of time he may still work with him because those are his orders.

[Dog Gone]

I dunno. This strikes me as a feature piece, and the author wrote it after the quotes reportedly appeared in a couple of different newspapers. I don't think this is corroboration; I think it is parroting what had been read elsewhere.

I'm also not convinced that Zinni was targeted for murder. That is pure speculation, and as close calls come, it wasn't a close call at all.

Having said that, I don't see how the Americans can continue to have a dialogue with Arafat. At least not substantively. The very best light Arafat could put on the situation is that he is totally inept at controlling his people. That's not much to build on.