Cheney said Israel can 'hang' Arafat: Israeli minister

AFP ^ | 2/8/02

[truthandlife]

Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer said US Vice President Dick Cheney told him that Israel could "hang" Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as far as he was concerned, Yediot Aharonot reported on Friday.

"The vice president told me: 'As far as I am concerned, you can even hang him,'" Ben Eliezer told the mass circulation paper, adding that he heard similar comments from advisers of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

"On this subject (of Arafat), Cheney is more extreme than Revaham Zeevi," he said, referring to Israel's far-right tourism minister who was assassinated by Palestinian radicals in October.

Ben Eliezer said yesterday after talks in Washington with Cheney, Rumsfeld and US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice that he had called upon Washington to boycott Arafat and to open a dialogue with other Palestinian leaders.

Rice and Cheney told him that talking to Arafat is "a waste of time" and the vice president was the most extreme on this point, he told a press conference in the US capital.

[F16Fighter]

Of course the EU (Eunuch Union) would prefer the US also take it's own version of estrogen therapy.

Hehehe -- The quivering Euros are thinking: "Must those damn Republican Yank cowboys shake up Dodge City in such a crude manner?!?!

Answer: YES!!!

[kezekiel]

You can't be serious! I would trust Dan Rather before I would put my trust in Agence France Press. It has an agenda slightly to the left of Mother Jones.

Can somebody please send me the consummate "Euroweenie" photo? Preferably a small one that I can attach at the end of a post.

[UltraConservative]

I hope that's true, but Ben-Eliezer has no reason to make this public, other than the fact that he is a Labor member and a leftist. It wouldn't hurt his standing in the Labor party to show how "moderate" he wants to be -- even more "moderate" than the US. Cheney is terrific -- Ben-Eliezer should keep his mouth shut.

[College Repub]

It will be interesting to see what, if any, response Ben Eliezer has to this. If he (Ben Eliezer) never said such a thing, he should come out and say that. It wouldn't surprise me if Cheny DID say that but I can't for the life of me understand why Ben Eliezer would relay that to Israeli press. Unless this is all part of an approved plan and he got permission to say that by Cheny to scare the arabs (plausible situation I suppose). Same thing goes for Zinni Mafia comment...

[EricT.]

BULLSEYE!!!

[Tea42]

"You cannot win a war using terrorism -- you can only discredit your cause."

That is weenie talk. In war you use whatever methods result in victory, and the long term survival of America's security and economic interests. Whether it's horses, bullets, bribes, deceit, lasers, bombs, rockets, or whatever -- it does not matter as long as the objective is accomplished with dispatch.

We should not wimp out because of fear of what "discredit" may come from those who love to hate us anyway.

[CommiesOut]

LOL!
Palestinian radio reports

[Zviadist]

"The vice president told me: 'As far as I am concerned, you can even hang him,'" Ben Eliezer told the mass circulation paper,

There's the good old "honest broker" USA. That'll help bring peace to the region...

[CommiesOut]

Indyk, Kurtzer, VP...
Chutzpa politics.

The defense minister made personal phone calls of apology to Rice and Cheney. However, Channel One Television reported Friday night, Ben-Eliezer did not manage to reach either of the two, and spoke only with their aides. Cheney is extremely angry over Ben-Eliezer's remarks and has refused to talk to him directly, the television reported

Yeah, sure.
After 8 years of Bubba the Super Sheeple will eat anything and call spit a rain drop.
And when overtaxed and frustrated will call French dudes "frogs" and bomb Somalia, LOL!

[Bush2000]

Who cares if Cheney said it?!? It's a damned good idea!

[imperator2]

I am afraid that you are wrong. The American government is disgusted with Arafat and his Palestinian movement, which is the only national liberation movement in history that is dedicated primarily to the murder of women and children.

I hope you are very proud of your friends.

[Pagey]

On a different threa, 1/2 an hour ago,That Israeli minister (AKA another bigmouth) was forced publicly by Sharon to apologize,and only got through to Dr. Rice' and Cheney' asst's.But he withdrew those comments to the press and said they never said them.What a bigmouth.It just goes to show,you think you can trust someone w/ private comments......

[junta]

My theory is that the oil men are setting up Israel to be the fall guy. Simple enough job let all the ex Mossad men who now dominate conservatism to sound like Nazis with all their pronouncements of Greater Israel drop a few hints like you really agree with Sharon and you end up making it sound like it is in the end all one great Zionist plot. The oilmen will get the oil and Israel will get the blame because they and their advocates are seen to be in charge as seen as writing the policy like Frum's "Axis of Evil" what a zinger.

[Zviadist]

Thanks for the flag. This really is an incredible episode.