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| Middle East |
| David Warren: Yasser's cover is blown |
| 2002-04-02 |
The pretense that he has done anything other than fuel and incite violence, since the moment he arrived, is no longer sustainable. Explosives of the very kind used by Palestinian suicide bombers have been found in Palestinian Administration police caches all over the territories. And Mr. Arafat's constant rhetorical celebration of the cult of "martyrdom" and other forms of homicide is now a matter of public record. His game is up. Most significant is the intelligence haul from Mr. Arafat's compound. The IDF soldiers have been at pains to secure and remove files, documents, and communications records; the mission to Ramallah was in some sense planned like the commando raid on the Karine A in the Red Sea in January. There is presently a large traffic of intelligence "content" between the Israeli government and the CIA, Pentagon, U.S. State Department and White House in Washington. Connections between the Palestinian Authority and international Islamist terror organizations, including al-Qaeda, are being established, chapter and verse. It is this intelligence haul that will keep the operation going. It is, in effect, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's repayment to President George W. Bush for understanding as Israel proceeds with -- judging from the reported call-up of some 31,000 reserves -- its largest single military operation since the invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Regardless of what the administration says publicly, we're raking in information hand over fist. And Yasser's set to go down the tubes. Will he wiggle off the hook? Stay tuned for more... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |