Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: A surprising appeal

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2003 | 8:14 a.m.

SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL, a respected national and international figure, shocked many Americans when he publicly made a personal appeal to Yasser Arafat when asking that he turn his security forces over to Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. This is the same Arafat whom President George W. Bush has refused to recognize and has let the world know that the Palestinian troublemaker isn't welcome in the White House. The president was also upset when some foreign leaders continued to visit and pay respect to the man who started a new bloody war of terrorism against the Israelis in 2000. That bloody affair continues today.

The pressure from Bush and his "Roadmap for Peace" resulted in the appointment of Abbas as prime minister. Abbas, better known as Abu Mazen, was, after a period of time, appointed. Reluctantly he took the job but all of the needed power to restore order and control Hamas and other groups of terrorists remained with Arafat.

Nevada's Congresswoman Shelley Berkley foresaw some real problems and four months ago made her feelings known. Berkley said, "The so-called 'Roadmap' may fundamentally be the wrong prescription for peace. Despite the formation of a new cabinet, Yasser Arafat remains the head of the Palestinian Authority, and maintains power over the PA's finances, security, and negotiations. While Arafat continues to wield so much power, a breakthrough in the peace process is unlikely. Pro-Arafat forces dominate the new cabinet, while only a few ministers owe their loyalty to Abu Mazen. While Mazen himself certainly deserves a chance to prove his abilities, our expectations have likely outreached reality. He is, after all, a Holocaust denier and an anti-Semite."

It took but a few weeks for Berkley's prediction to become a reality. The situation went from bad to worse. Abbas didn't have the power or the will to take on Arafat's terrorist friends. This resulted with an editorial in the Jerusalem Post in late August, which told readers: "Pretending that Mahmoud Abbas is an independent actor, a democrat, and will wipe out terrorism will not make it so. The 'help Abbas' mantra has, if anything, exacerbated the problem by tolerating unending excuses for inaction, even as the infrastructure of terrorism is rebuilt and terrorist attacks increase."

So now we have a U.S. plea for the old terrorist to cooperate and help the new prime minister control the very people that Arafat has used to run the Palestinian Authority. This resulted in Arafat publicly asking the terrorists to cease their killing of Israelis. The world has watched this game played by Arafat for three decades. The end result has always been even more bloodshed. Every time that Arafat has had his requests of the Israelis given a positive answer, he has left the negotiating table and triggered even more deadly attacks.

Arafat doesn't know how to govern and run the kind of government the majority of Palestinian people want and need. His corrupt Palestinian Authority government has made him wealthy and he has found terrorism more to his liking than being a responsible public servant. A legitimate government of the people would soon expose his corrupt practices and he would have to leave and join his money in Switzerland or France.

No matter what concessions Israel makes it is never enough to satisfy Arafat and his fellow terrorists. Turn all of the convicted Palestinian murderers out of Israel's jails is one extreme demand. If Israel foolishly does release the killers then louder cries will be heard demanding they also tear down the fence being built to keep the terrorists from entering Israel. The list of demands will go on until all of the Jews are killed or driven into the sea.

All of this comes back to asking why our present State Department leaders have fallen into the same trap so many past people in that position have fallen? We know the games Arafat plays but Powell's recent plea has stumped many Middle East observers. Let's hope that our president was as surprised by Powell's request as we were. Counting on Arafat following any roadmap to peace would be foolish beyond belief.