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Bush: "We must get rid of Arafat."
US President George W. Bush told an Israeli journalist that "we must get rid of" Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, the mass-circulation Yediot Aharonot daily has reported. Bush’s comments came in a brief exchange with the paper’s correspondent during a Christmas drinks party in Washington, several hours after a keynote speech by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Thursday in which he outlined plans for unilateral disengagement from peace negotiations with the Palestinians. The US government has boycotted Arafat with Bush accusing the veteran leader of failing the Palestinian people. Israel has also shunned the 74-year-old, branding him an absolute obstacle to peace and confining him to his West Bank headquarters for more than two years.
Oh, I don’t think the Israelis are confining old Arafish: it’s just "iffy" as to whether he can return to the West Bank once he leaves.
Israel’s security cabinet approved Arafat’s "removal" in September, with one minister even suggesting that he could be assassinated, but Washington warned Israel not to attempt to expel him. Bush was non-commital about Sharon’s speech, saying that he would wait to see what happened on the ground. "Speeches are good things, but they are words. I am waiting for action," he was quoted as saying. "Now is the time to do a lot in the Middle East, and I am determined and committed to doing that. You can be sure that I have done a lot until now, but I am going to keep on doing. I am going to continue to be active and committed to my vision."
Gotta love it.
Bless their pointy little Arafat-loving Lefty heads over at Agence France Presse! They make it sound as if President Bush had started drinking booze again and that instead of putting the lampshade on his head, he says this.
But I hope he means it. With Saddam in jail, Osama using old tapes, and Muammar singing like a canary, it would be the best Christmas present ever to have Arafat be "no longer a problem." Keep your fingers crossed and follow this story because this is the first report.
[Be kind. This is my first Rantburg post!]
And a nice job it is!

The Paleos are waiting for Bush's attention span to drift off Yasser's inclusion on the poop list. In the past, these things happen, then six months or a year later something else happens and it's forgotten. Bush is holding to his decision, and I hope he keeps holding to it.


Followup, from al-Jizz...
Bush chided for Arafat rebuke
US President George Bush has been berated for comments calling for Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat to be removed from power. "President Arafat is the elected leader of the Palestinian people and the US and Israel must respect that", chief Palestinian negotiator, Saib Uraiqat told Aljazeera.net. He was reacting to Bush's remarks to an Israeli journalist that "we must get rid of" Arafat. Uraiqat urged Bush to rather focus on "restoring the peace process and implementation of the road map".
The very road map the Paleos used for toilet paper...
Palestinian NGOs were even more critical of Bush saying "any interference by the US and Israel to try to get rid of Arafat will be met with confrontation by the Palestinian people".
Sounds like a threat. Oh, hold me, Ethel!
"It is a dream of Bush that the Palestinian people behave as he wills", said Amir Makhul, Director of Ittijah, a Haifa-based network of Palestinian non-governmental organisations.
Haifa's in Israel, isn't it?
"But what is a surety, is that the collective lunacy spirit of the Palestinian people is stronger than Bush's plans. Bush can think what he wants", he said. "The issue for the Palestinian people is that Bush is not the decision-maker. He can act as a superpower, but his power is not valid for the Palestinian people".
Posted by: Jennie Taliaferro 2003-12-21
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=23116