Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Bush right on target

Friday, June 28, 2002 | 9:39 a.m.

Mike O'Callaghan is the Las Vegas Sun executive editor.

THE MIDDLE EAST POLICY of President George W. Bush shows that he has been giving more than a little thought to the Israeli-Palestinian problems. He knows the bad guys and recognizes that Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and his gang of thieves and killers must go if the Palestinian people are to be served.

Several media commentators have agreed with the president's views and go on to add that Arafat hasn't been elected to be the PA leader. This demonstrates either ignorance or poor memories because he was elected as president in 1996. I was there and, at that time, could see the problems he would cause the peace process. Nevertheless, foreign election observers, despite all of the campaign and voting problems, recognized the election results as being legitimate.

The morning before election, I met with former President Jimmy Carter in East Jerusalem. The Carter Center people were among the foreign observers and probably the most experienced group. I have worked with them in other elections, both before and after the Palestinian election, but this time did my own evaluation as a newspaper columnist.

Carter, prior to election day, berated the conduct of the PA and its abuse of Arafat's opponents, the press and the suppression of open debate. He also noted the lack of fair access to electronic media by lesser-known candidates.

The day of the election, Carter fired a blast at what he called the Israeli "intimidating police presence" in and around East Jerusalem voting places. The only Israeli reply I heard to this charge was "we would rather be yelled at for too many policemen than have a tragedy and be blamed for not providing adequate protection."

What became immediately clear to me was that Arafat had scared all strong candidates, who might oppose him, out of the race. He was not, and is not, a political novice. Arafat knows that you can't beat a somebody with a nobody. Just prior to the 1996 election, the Jerusalem Post editor wrote:

"If there is anything admirable about the way the PA has prepared the elections, it is Arafat's skill in eliminating all serious opposition well before balloting day. The dirty work of intimidation, bribery and suppression has been completed, and the voting will undoubtedly be orderly -- as orderly as it is in Iraq and Syria, with results just as predictable."

People wanting peace, Arabs and Jews, after the election were willing to let bygones be bygones and hoped that Arafat could grow into a democratic leader. A few days later, when writing about the theft of Israeli automobiles, I told a policeman that with Arafat's election he should be able to stop the stolen goods from going into PA-controlled land. He chuckled and replied, "Things will have to change dramatically because our intelligence tells us that both Arafat and the police official are making big profits from stolen cars." He was referring to the top cop in Gaza who, for 40 percent of the value of each stolen car, would return them to Israel.

After more than six years of legalized thievery, misappropriation of funds, suicide bombings, and the rule of one man, our president has lost patience with Arafat. It's about time somebody in power spoke the truth and said enough is enough. The old thief and terrorist couldn't change his conduct and develop a government that meets the needs of his people.

So much for the hopes of the Palestinian people wanting good government. Now Arafat is calling for an election next year and sees himself as a candidate for the highest office. He knows that a nobody can't beat him and the possible strong candidates will be eliminated before the 2003 election, as they were seven years earlier.

I was among the people who hoped that maybe, just maybe, a government designed to serve the Palestinian people could survive Arafat. The Palestinian people have only been served hate, poverty, violence and isolation by the man they elected president. Let's hope they aren't served another several years of despair by Arafat or one of his chosen thugs.