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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Scoobah who wrote (580)	11/25/2001 12:02:17 PM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

GSS captures terrorist cell overseen by Arafat's deputy The General Security Service recently captured a Palestine Liberation Front terrorist cell responsible for the murder of 18-year-old Jerusalem youth Yuri Gushchin four months ago, security forces announced today. The 15-member cell operated in the Ramallah and Jenin areas, and was trained in Iraq, according to security sources. The cell members told investigators they intended to carry out terrorist attacks in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Ben-Gurion International Airport. They said they were responsible for a roadside bomb at Haifa's checkpost junction, in which three women and two policemen were wounded. According to the terrorists, they were overseen by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's deputy, Mahmoud Abbas. They said they regularly used vehicles belonging to senior PA officials to smuggle weapons and ammunition from Jordan into PA-controlled areas, Army Radio reported. jpost.com

To: Scoobah who wrote (580)	11/25/2001 12:19:48 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

Meanwhile, the diplomats keep searching for the magic formula. nytimes.com America Tries, Again, to End the Endless Conflict By SERGE SCHMEMANN ... "An agreement in the past has seemed so imperative, so close, that some veterans of the process have voiced the wish that a solution could simply be imposed. The two sides had gone as far as they could go by themselves, and the end result was known and inevitable. So why not, some on both sides of the negotiatons have wistfully asked, just present both sides with the blueprint of a solution? " _____________________________________________________ Isn't this a lovely formulation? Of course, since the basic formulation of the deal is still 'land for peace', and nobody on the globe can remain ignorant of the value of the promises that Arafat will give, i.e. they will be just as worthless as all the promises he has given in the past, what this formulation really amounts to is 'land for nothing'. And of course the Israelis must deal with Arafat. Why? Because they're no one else. You might object that Arafat is old, his control is shaky, his administration is corrupt, he has conspicuously failed to bring law and order to those territories he controls, and the only sure thing you can say about the succession to Arafat is that it won't be orderly. Not to mention the fact that he's running an active terrorist campaign. So why should the Israelis deal under these circumstances? Because the solution is 'known'. And it's always easier for diplomats to press an existing government for concessions than to try to fix the real problem -- the completely dysfunctional nature of the Palestinian leadership. Thank goodness that the Bush administration seems to be keeping the State Department on a limited leash.