Comments on: Arafat Responsible for Murdering U.S. Diplomats

By: Uncle Joe McCarthy

Uncle Joe McCarthy — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 09:25:04 +0000

of course, this revelation will do nothing to change the minds of those who believe that israel is perpetually on the wrong side of the conflict.

By: G. Weightman

G. Weightman — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 00:15:17 +0000

“Arafat had people killed? This is news?”

The purported news is that the State Department deliberately withheld the information about Arafatâ€™s role in these killings.

Arafat is dead (and discredited, save in the nethermost regions of the Left). I fail to understand how your “all fear all the time modus operandi” assertion relates to this story.

By: CaliBlogger

CaliBlogger — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 21:33:10 +0000

Arafat had people killed? This is news?

Forgive my cynicism, but isn’t the play this story getting on the right wing blogs just another example of the all fear all the time modus operandi so popular with the right?

By: Dennis

Dennis — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 20:36:03 +0000

Arafat was always a snake in my opinion, so this news doesn’t surprise me.

However, if the US was trying to broker peace between Palestine and Israel, who else could negotiate for the Palestinians? The fact is the US has come to the table at times to meet with people who have American blood on their hands (the US meet with Syria in the run-up to Gulf War I when Syria had its hands in the shedding of American blood). It would be nice to find some Palestinian who was innocent, but then the greater cause of peace would suffer.

I think that sometimes dilpomacy means meeting with people that are unsavory. That doesn’t excuse them, but it does mean that we have a bigger goal to achieve.

As for Arafat not wanting peace, that might be the case with his rejection of the agreement made in 2000 where Israel basically gave the Palestinians everything they wanted. Like I said, he was a snake. However, you have to try. If Arafat walked away, then the fault lies with Arafat.

By: Daniel Berczik

Daniel Berczik — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 19:38:49 +0000

I want to stay out of the fight, but in this case, I have to point out a few things: Equating Arafat with the Soviet Union is a bit of a stretch. Also, in this case, Arafat ordered the killing of Americans, so America should have responded, IMO. Saying that since the US has done some bad things in the past this justifies an act perpetrated by a terrorist is a non sequitur.

By: C.Prez

C.Prez — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 18:05:46 +0000

Andrew and Kim have nailed it right on the head, but it’s okay that the US or whoever we’re allied to can do whatever, assassinate whomever, support despotic dictatorships according to some people on this site.

By: Kim Ritter

Kim Ritter — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 17:55:18 +0000

Hasn’t our own CIA carried out targeted assasinations and assisted in military coups when we determined it would be in the US best interest?
I agree with Andrew, that we should conduct diplomacy whenever it is in our best interest to do so. Truman and FDR met with Stalin, and he was a mass murderer of his own people.

We have seen what happens when we use isolation and sanctions, and treat diplomacy as a reward for good behavior. Palestine is almost a failed state, and Iran may be close to producing nuclear weapons- but we have no contact with them- so we really have no idea. Part of the reason for diplomacy is to find out more information about your enemies. We are not in a position to turn down that kind of opportunity.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 17:43:36 +0000

In other news, the Soviets murdered people and we still conducted diplomacy with them.

By: Michael van der Galien

Michael van der Galien — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 17:32:53 +0000

Can anyone suggest a single rational reason for this to have been kept secret for 33 years? I’m so sick of our government hiding important facts from us. It’s insulting.

Public opinion, obviously. If this would have gotten out before he died… Americans would most likely change their attitudes quite dramatically.

By: Michael van der Galien

Michael van der Galien — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 17:30:26 +0000

Kim, I can understand how you feel. It is extremely… strange to say the least, or better ‘creepy’ as you call it, to realize that you were sitting next to a person who… killed fellow countrymen of yours. More, to realize that he who seemed to be ‘very charming’ was, in fact, a ruthless killer.

I think that it’s something some people forget (for instance Carter).

Never forget that the world’s most brutal killers… could be very likable people when one met them in private.

By: GreenDreams

GreenDreams — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 17:29:44 +0000

Can anyone suggest a single rational reason for this to have been kept secret for 33 years? I’m so sick of our government hiding important facts from us. It’s insulting.

By: Kim Ritter

Kim Ritter — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 17:26:51 +0000

Michael- This is totally creepy for me. I was a Political Science major, and in the mid-70′s Arafat came to our university as part of a Mideast Symposium. I met him personally and sat next to him for a while. He seemed very charming on a personal level.