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Middle East
U.S.: Won’t back any Palestinian government run by Arafat
2003-09-21
The United States has made it clear to the Palestinian Authority that Washington will not support any government controlled by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.
That’s the GOOD news.
The U.S. called for the new Palestinian prime minister to take direct control of the PA security forces, most of which are currently under Arafat’s control. The message was passed to Palestinian officials in recent days by John Wolf, the head of the American delegation to oversee the implementation of the road map.
That’s the bad news - Bush is still pushing his "roadmap". Somebody needs to tell him the roadmap is road kill.
Wolf also informed the Palestinians that the new prime minister will not receive American support unless he takes on the terrorist organizations, and is not satisfied with a truce. The former prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, refused to target the militant groups, saying that he would not be responsible for causing a civil war.
That worked well, didn't it?
They don’t mind waging war against Israel, or against factions that don’t support their war. Somebody needs to take control and stomp down hard. Don’t see that happening with any Palestinian that has any position of importance, anywhere in the PA controlled region.
Instead, Abbas negotiated a temporary cease-fire which fell apart last month after a Hamas suicide bombing and the subsequent assassination by Israel of a senior member of the group. The U.S. approach toward the PA has become increasingly tough, say Israeli officials. "The Palestinians’ strategic setback is that they’ve lost America’s backing," claimed a senior Israeli official this weekend.
That's why they had the "road map." It gave them a chance. They systematically blew that chance.
The government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was encouraged by the sharp criticism of Arafat articulated last week by U.S. President George Bush. "The U.S. president didn’t voice this criticism at an AIPAC conference," said the top Israeli officials. "Instead he spoke while standing beside an Arab leader, Jordan’s King Abdullah." But speaking at the International Monetary Fund conference in Dubai, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said Saturday that the U.S. fully supports the PA’s efforts to bring peace and economic stability and prosperity to the Palestinian people. "Towards this end, the United States will continue to provide budgetary support and other aid to the Authority to help insure that it can effectively conduct normal government functions," he said.
We know that Arafart’s been skimming the US aid, using it as he chooses, rather than as the US has suggested. It’s time to cut the supply line, and let the rat-infested ship Arafart founder
The new Palestinian cabinet will be jointly appointed by Arafat and his nominee for prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, and will include a Hamas supporter and a U.S. favorite, Palestinian officials said earlier in the week.
I hope Bush stands firm, and tells Arafart this is unacceptable.
"The government will be formed next week," one official said Thursday. Qureia rejected Israeli claims that his government would be judged by its ability to disarm terror groups and said his role was to please no one but the Palestinian people.
This Arafart clone is already in deep doodoo. If he doesn’t please the US, we will "allow" Israel to do whatever they please with the PA. I hope it’s painful.
Palestinian officials said Arafat’s Fatah faction Thursday set criteria for the new government, and added Hamas supporter Moussa Zabout, a Gaza physician, had been offered a posting.
Nothing’s changed, nothing’s going to change, and nothing will be allowed to change until Arafart takes a dirt bath. Read the entire article - there’s more bits and pieces worth remembering for the future.
Posted by:Old Patriot

#7  But speaking at the International Monetary Fund conference in Dubai, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said Saturday that the U.S. fully supports the PA’s efforts to bring peace and
economic stability and prosperity to the Palestinian people.

There's only one problem with the PA's approach: they're trying to do it over the carcass of Israel, and as far as I'm concerned, that is UNACCEPTABLE.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2003-9-21 8:27:34 PM  

#6  He's prolly standing in line for dry ice with the rest of us Marylanders...
Posted by: Seafarious   2003-9-21 8:18:05 PM  

#5  OP - I bet you're right - our San Diego paper had a pic of this moron calling on a cell, trying to get a tree removal firm to cut/remove this huge tipped over tree on her porch ...as she's standing under it. Future Darwin winner, I'm sure
Posted by: Frank G   2003-9-21 5:08:41 PM  

#4  Frank, have another cuppa! 8^). Yep, I think Fred is having trouble. May be power, may be water, may be the missus saying "getting this place back in order is more important than your computer". News has over six million that have either lost power, or are only recently getting power back. Not surprising - I wonder how many trees are down, branches are across power lines, poles knocked over, even whole transformer stations that need major repair. We were without power for over two weeks after Audrey, and even lost power overnight when a hurricane struck the UK in 1987.
We also don't seem to be getting all those juicy articles from the Pak and other Mideast press, and there's no Kashmir Korpse Kount today.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2003-9-21 5:04:17 PM  

#3  comments...D'oh!
Posted by: Frank G   2003-9-21 4:57:51 PM  

#2  He hasn't been adding his usual "Fredly" commenst - power still off?
Posted by: Frank G   2003-9-21 4:51:44 PM  

#1  I know that this is off topic, but has anybody heard how Fred fared with Hurricane Isabel? We are concerned.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2003-9-21 4:32:24 PM  

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