WOW!
Things are going to warm up all over the middle east I would expect!
A step in the right direction; bad comparison.
If I were a mafia don, I would consider suing Mr. Zinni. Traditional mafia was not ever involved in terrorism. Mr. Arafat is substantially more evil than anything Italians ever managed to produce.
Although I have no reason to doubt the credibility of the Jerusalem Post or IcommGen, I find this report very hard to believe, and would very much like to see some corroboration.
If true, it's a stunning thing for a diplomat to say, at the very least. I wouldn't expect any future negotiations or discussions between Zinni and Arafat after a statement like this.
Imal
I support this President big time even if I agree with him just 90% of the time =o)
U.S. envoy to the Middle East Anthony Zinni, speaking in Washington at the weekend, called Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat an unreformed liar and compared him to a Mafia boss akin to New York Mafioso Carlo Gambino.
Zinni also compared the Palestinian security service leaders to Mafia bosses who boast about their weapons and the number of people they have killed.
In contrast, Zinni described Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in warm terms, called him a "Papa-Bear" who had aided him during his mission to the region.
Imho, Gambino should sue.
Whoa! For a high ranking diplomat, someone who carefully parses his words to say something like that, is a signal to not only Arafat, but the entire Arab world that the U.S. no longer considers the PA to be legitimate. This is going to really cause an uproar amongst our muslim "allies." George Bush has just thrown down the gauntlet. Yippee.
...the clock is ticking.
There is apparently another Sbarro Restaurant attack this morning.
Looks like it's time for a movie poster for.....
...."My Cousin, Zinni"
Civil War: Lebanon--
HistoryCentral.com - Your Source for Everything History -> ...
... HistoryCentral.com > World History > Middle East > 1975- Civil War
in Lebanon 1975- Civil War in Lebanon. ...
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... exodus into Lebanon and Jordan. 1958 Civil war in Lebanon as Muslims rally to
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LEBANON
... Here is the 1998 report by Amnesty International. Summary
of the Civil War in Lebanon. [IMAGE: Back Arrow] Return.
Description: Coverage of Lebanon from an Ararchist viewpoint. Part of the "Libertarians, the Left and the...
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... the PLO in Jordan; Palestinians and the PLO in Lebanon; International recognition;
Palestinians and the civil war in Lebanon; The PLO in the occupied territories. ...
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... on display at Zara Gallery in the Grand Hyatt Hotel, depict how the civil war in
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It's about darned time that sombody besides me stated that obvious analogy. Now, we need to KEEP saying it until the peaceniks get it through their heads.
BUMP for telling the world that terrorist organizations are nothing but organized crime rings.
I wouldn't be going to the Superbowl next Sunday. It's been too quiet too long on the Homefront. Don't have any inside info, just an obvious deduction.
Pretty lame "consequences" for being a "mafia". How about an open "go ahead" to Israel to clean the viper's nest out once and for all? Give Arafat and his minions 10 minutes grace to say their prayers before sending them all to burn in hell for eternity.
By Janine Zacharia Jerusalem Post
WASHINGTON (January 28) - US special Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni said yesterday certain people are trying to spoil his mediation effort by attributing false statements to him about the Palestinian leadership.
Zinni told The Jerusalem Post that reports in Hebrew-language newspapers claiming he described the Palestinian Authority as a "mafia" and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat as the "godfather" of the mafia were false.
"It is lies and gross distortions that are only designed by those who put it out to hurt our peace efforts," Zinni said.
A report in the daily Ma'ariv said Zinni, at a closed dinner meeting at the White House over the weekend, called Arafat "capo di tutti capi" (head of the mafia), and that preventive security service heads Jibril Rajoub and Mohammed Dahlan behave like "capi," or members of the mafia.
The report said he also referred to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as a "papa bear." But no such dinner took place at the White House, and Zinni was not in Washington this weekend.
A similar report in Yediot Aharonot said Zinni had described Arafat as "an incorrigible liar" at a recent meeting in Washington with AIPAC and senior officials at the Israeli embassy in Washington.
An Israeli official in Washington said Zinni made no such comments during the meeting at the embassy on January 17 during IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Shaul Mofaz's visit, and an AIPAC official, when asked about the reported "mafia" comments and others, said he had never heard anything of the sort.
Zinni said he had no idea where the report originated.
The alleged comments were sent to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem in a diplomatic cable from Washington by diplomats here who were briefed by an unidentified Jewish official.
The reported comments emerged as the US reevaluates its relationship with Arafat and as the most senior US officials openly question Arafat's integrity.
Herb Keinon adds: A participant in the dinner where Zinni's remarks about Arafat were allegedly made said last night that the reports were "grossly distorted."
Steve Rosen, AIPAC's director of foreign policy issues, said reports of Zinni's remarks at the dinner last Tuesday night in Washington, which included three other Jewish leaders, "are grossly inaccurate and misrepresent what he said."
According to Rosen, the reports of the conversation omit much of what was said, thereby dramatically altering the meaning and "creating a false picture."
Rosen said Zinni "spoke in a candid manner, as people do. He said many punchy things about all kinds of personalities. Some of the things are accurate in a narrow sense, but misrepresent the overall meaning - leaving out things that change the meaning."
There were "no survivors" when Zinni finished, Rosen said, "no one came across that great." Rosen said the reports "distort Zinni's intended meaning, and are grossly unfair to him."
The Jerusalem Post