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| Middle East | ||||
| Bush: "We must get rid of Arafat." | ||||
| 2003-12-21 | ||||
| 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!]
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".
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| Posted by:Jennie Taliaferro |
| #17 I have to kill very few trolls. You guys scare them off. |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-12-21 11:41:26 PM |
| #16 Welcome Jen! Oh, by the way, be vewwy vewwy quiet. Shhhhhhh. Fwed is wubbing out twolls as we wahhnt...hehhehhehehhehheh. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-12-21 10:35:57 PM |
| #15 Welcome to the "Axis of EFL." Definitely todays funniest comment! BTW, I was wondering why Rantburg hasn't gone to ratsh*t like a lot of other places. Is Fred on pemanent troll watch? |
| Posted by: phil_b 2003-12-21 5:34:53 PM |
| #14 One truth we should all keep in mind is the fact that the entire ME is artificial - an artifact of British and French imperilistic shenanigans and duplicity and uber-arrogance beginning with the Sykes-Picot "treaty" dealing with the fallout of the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. Actually, most of the post-colonial world has artificial borders that are relics of the administrative divisions of various European empires. The truth is that countries are much bigger than they would have been in the absence of European empire - in Asia, Africa and Latin America.* But only the Mid East is a shambles. * Would smaller nations more reflective of various linguistic or ethnic groupings have been better? Probably. For some reason, the European powers put together the kinds of polyglot and multi-ethnic countries that had repeatedly failed in Europe, repeatedly touching off devastating wars. One possible reason for setting up these unnatural countries is the fact that the most troublesome natives clamored for an empire which had never existed prior to foreign rule, figuring that their ethnic or linguistic group would get to dominate the new confederation. And the European powers gave in to their special pleadings just to avoid more problems with restless natives. As usual, the squeaky wheels got the grease. (Note that the Christian territories in Indonesia which had never been ruled by Muslims were not happy to be dragooned by the Dutch into a Javanese Muslim empire - they wanted independence, but the Dutch would not accommodate them). |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2003-12-21 4:11:10 PM |
| #13 "Hi ho, welcome to the crush!" - Me Super Hose > They've never had a case of it in France, have they? Jen > Welcome! :) I'm a former newbie myself *shakes your hand* how long've you been reading us? |
| Posted by: Lu Baihu 2003-12-21 2:09:23 PM |
| #12 SH #11: Not completely unparanoid. I find a Yediot Aharonot site, but neither my computer nor I understand Hebrew. Supposedly there's an Arabic edition too, but that doesn't help me much either. It might read differently. Ah, but these are newspaper articles we're talking about. They're complete and accurate and unbiased and I think I gotta go to the ba... |
| Posted by: Glenn (not Reynolds) 2003-12-21 1:43:25 PM |
| #11 It sounds odd to me that Bush would make an offhand remark of this magnitude at an X-mas function. As the French are very pro-Arafat, could this have been a Jason Blair moment by a French journalist? |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-12-21 12:17:07 PM |
| #10 Good Points. Arafat has to go. He (and Hamas and the others) are not interested in making peace. For Arafat and his party, why should they when they are getting millions of dollars not to? If peace ever came they would have to actually get a real job and earn their keep. For Hamas - they are addicted to murder - having the power to order someone to their death as well as cause the death of others without getting your hands dirty (at least where anyone can see) can be a powerful addiction I think. Unfortunately the Palistinian people only have these so-called 'leaders' (who I dont think they have had any choice in electing. Hamas and ARafish make damn sure of that. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2003-12-21 12:01:59 PM |
| #9 Jennie, Great post! I don't think Bush wants the U.S. (or Iraelis) to be the one to through Arafart out. I think he would rather see a domestic uprising and support that. Or maybe a REAL election with candidates, instead of a one person ballot. Maybe he (Arafart) will do us a favor and just die of natural causes? But I think it would be better (for the cause of freedon) if a Paleo put a bullet in him. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-12-21 11:11:05 AM |
| #8 efl - edited for length |
| Posted by: Dcreeper 2003-12-21 11:06:34 AM |
| #7 Mike, I've been dying to ask and feeling like an idiot: what does EFL mean? I see it here everywhere and feel so left out because I don't know... And thanks, guys, for the warm welcome! You really know how to treat a lady! |
| Posted by: Jennie Taliaferro 2003-12-21 10:51:59 AM |
| #6 An excellent entrance, Jennie! Welcome, indeed! I liked your comments regards the assholes of AFP - good call. Of course Dubya knew this was inevitable and necessary long ago, but for public consumption it was limited to the cold shoulder treatment... perhaps the time has finally come to be public about terminating The World's Oldest Terrorist - literally, I hope. One truth we should all keep in mind is the fact that the entire ME is artificial - an artifact of British and French imperilistic shenanigans and duplicity and uber-arrogance beginning with the Sykes-Picot "treaty" dealing with the fallout of the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. Anything is possible if it makes more sense and if the will exists to see it through. Dubya has shown he has the stones, we must make sure he gets the time. To stop the insanity and get off the dime, Afghanistan and Iraq have started the ball rolling - we can see it in the consternation and confusion of the Arabs regards Saddam - and the unreported hopes of some "normal" Arabs everywhere that there just might be hope, but as The Man said, there is much more to be done. Taking the murdering terrorist Arafish out of the picture is the right next step. Then tipping the Black Hats before they come online with their foreign nukes and missiles - say within the next 3-4 months. Syria and the other satellites will wither and die on the vine with this step... and the one that should then follow... So, there's this stolen 40km wide strip along the Eastern coast of Saudi Arabia that provides the funding for the vast majority of the terror in the world and removing it from the hands of turbans of any stripe would stop the insanity dead in its tracks in 90 days... |
| Posted by: .com 2003-12-21 10:42:19 AM |
| #5 The old dream of the old communist himself of a socialist Arab state with a mission to destroy Israel is going away, finally. It's first and goal. Sharon is ready, the center and the offensive line are down and set. All Bush has to do is to take the snap and hand it off to General Sharon. No more Arafat. No more 'Palestinian State' No more Hamas having any legitimate voice in the ME. Hizbollah folding their tens and going home to Iran. And the best part: Liberals screaming in anguish their favorite cause disappeared faster than a UN mission in a combat zone. BTW, welcome Jennie. |
| Posted by: badanov 2003-12-21 9:42:50 AM |
| #4 I second that. Welcome to the "Axis of EFL." |
| Posted by: Mike 2003-12-21 8:06:22 AM |
| #3 Here's the (Link) J, Welcome aboard! I Now, having said that, we're reading something a French News Service translated (Yediot Aharonot is Hebrew) into English. Which explains some awkwardness. btw Yahoo News has a message board for each article. I peeked in. Ewww! Be proud. Rantburg is the quintessence of civil, well-reasoned discourse, just like the banner says. Instead of trying to argue plausibly or poke harmless fun, they just call each other creatively spelled bad words. |
| Posted by: Glenn (not Reynolds) 2003-12-21 7:53:09 AM |
| #2 BTW - LGF linked to an excellent David Warren essay on the Wall's benefits to the Paleos - a must read |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-12-21 7:28:47 AM |
| #1 The greatest jeneration is right. A trifecta is great, but additionally, Arafat removed (I'd prefer that in a final sense) would do more for lasting Mideast peace than anything....sure there'd be a Paleo civil war, but that's a feature, not a bug |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-12-21 7:20:56 AM |