Meanwhile, remarks are coming from both Washington and London, via Tony Blair and Colin Powell, that the US and Britain are basically going to do zilch for the Pals while Arafat insists on running them & the intifada.
The PA lashed out at Tony Blair, calling his remarks "obscene" (more winning friends and influencing people).
There was also this interesting article in the Jpost:
Clinton blamed Arafat for failure - Cheney
By JANINE ZACHARIA
On US President George W. Bush's Inauguration Day in 2001, outgoing president Bill Clinton "talked repeatedly all day long about his disappointment in [Palestinian Authority Chairman] Yasser Arafat, how Arafat had, in effect, torpedoed the peace process," Vice President Dick Cheney said on Wednesday.
Clinton blamed Arafat several times for the failure of the 2000 peace negotiations at Camp David and for the collapse of the peace process. Cheney's description of Inauguration Day illustrated how prominent Arafat's contribution to the failed talks was in the outgoing president's mind during his last moments in office.
During a question-and-answer period following a speech in Los Angeles, Cheney expressed little hope of advancement in the peace process in the immediate term. "There has to be a way found to end terrorism emerging from the Palestinian areas into the Israeli areas. We had another four deaths just within the last 24 hours in Gaza, with a suicide bomber. And until the Palestinians have an organization, a government in place that's capable of dealing effectively with the structure of terror, I don't think significant progress is likely," Cheney said.
Asked about prospects for more active US involvement in the mediation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Cheney said the administration has concluded that no progress can be made in resolving the dispute so long as Arafat is in control of the Palestinian Authority. "The difficulty we have – and it is a continuing problem – is that after years of effort, it's become clear that as long as Yasser Arafat is the interlocutor on behalf of the Palestinians, as long as he is in control, we think any serious progress is virtually impossible," Cheney said.
jpost.com |
