A promising spot is Arafat. He is not condemning us, for once. He has taken a very big gamble, backed with his life, by supporting the US in the present conflict.
Don't get your hopes up. Arafat made a decision for the same reason he always does -- his back was against the wall. Colin Powell told him that if he picked the wrong side again, the US would wash its hands of him. Also, bin Laden put him in an embarrassing spot by hallowing the Palestinian cause as part of the jihad, but declaring that Arafat was "corrupt", "deserving the wrath of God", and generally unfit to lead it.
Arafat will make a show of controlling Hamas. Hamas, the smarter organization, seems to be going along with the show for now. He will then get a passing grade from our clueless State Department on his show. But nothing will have changed. Indeed, now that the State Department has all but declared that terrorism against us is bad, but terrorism against Israel is okay, the terrorism will intensify. |
