OK, who was Arafat?

[AKcurly]

Originally posted by tapakeg
Would someone please fill me in on who REALLY Arafat was and what he stood for?
Tapakeg

You said simple?  How about an analogy?  Have you read about Menachem Begin?  Before Israel was a state, Begin was the leader of the Irgun organization.  Under his leadership, the King David hotel in Jersusalem was bombed, killing some 90 odd innocent civilians.  Begin was a terrorist.  No one denies it, not even Israel.

What are the differences between Begin and Arafat?  Well, there are two big differences.

1. Begin and his group were successful in the creation of Israel while Arafat was unsuccessful (or more accurately, Arafat probably didn't want success).

2. The recent revelation that Arafat had over 300 million bucks squirrel away in private accounts says volumes about Arafat.

History teaches us that terrorism is ok if it accomplishes its goals with a minimum body count.  Begin was successful, Arafat was not.

curly

[Otto]

Originally posted by Dowding
And the US has that ability in spades of course...

Shah of Iran  - he was better than what came after


Saddam Hussein   - we never aided him as much as Europe


Pinochet          -  I'm ashamed of this, and I hope we learned something from it  

[Sikboy]

Originally posted by Otto

Originally posted by Dowding
And the US has that ability in spades of course...

Shah of Iran  - he was better than what came after

But was he better than Mossadegh?

-Sik

[Dowding]

I suggest you read up on your Iranian history, Otto. The Shah of Iran was a monster, propped up and supported by the US. The US removed his predecessor (Mossadegh). Strangely enough, after he made overtures about nationalising the Iranian oil reserves.

As for Saddam Hussein? Are you seriously trying to tell me supplying him with the precursors for chemical weapons to use on the Iranians, knowing full well he would use them (your own CIA operatives wrote pages of reports describing this) is somehow absolutely right, or relatively righteous compared to European support?

With Saddam Hussein, the whole Western world must bear some guilt. The support of him was effectively a NATO policy.

[straffo]

To answer the initial post Arafat was and is a symbol (good or bad depending on your sensibility)

His death is a new start but no one know what will start : real peace attempt or intifada III ?

Arafat was a convenient tool for the Palestinians and the Isrealy.


Sadly both nations are missing the equivalent of Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle

[Otto]

Dowding,

This thread was about how a man (Yasser Arafat) could receive a Noble Peace prize after ordering the deaths of Olympic athletes. My position was the Nobel Committee couldn’t tell ‘right’ from ‘wrong’.  I stand by that.

I’m sorry I don’t have time to explain United States foreign policy since the end of the Second World War.(really)  I can only tell you that it was intense, confusing, and some times contradictory.  Basically, it had its ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ like anything else governments do.

[Dowding]

You seem to admit US foreign policy had 'highs and lows'; other states have had the same chequered history, but you seem to hold them to a higher standard.

The Noble peace prize is pretty irrelevant in the great scheme of things. The precedent was set right from the beginning with an award to the man who developed TNT.

[NUKE]

Originally posted by Dowding
You seem to admit US foreign policy had 'highs and lows'; other states have had the same chequered history, but you seem to hold them to a higher standard.

The Noble peace prize is pretty irrelevant in the great scheme of things. The precedent was set right from the beginning with an award to the man who developed TNT.

I think the man who invented TNT was the man who founded the awards.

[soda72]

how does that song go...

ding dong the witch is dead the witch is dead....

[Torque]

Originally posted by Dowding
You seem to admit US foreign policy had 'highs and lows'; other states have had the same chequered history, but you seem to hold them to a higher standard.

Par fer the course, the generous double standard.

[Sixpence]

a terrorist

[Gyro/T69]

Hmm, what was the name of the country that first suggested Prime Minister Mossadegh should be ousted from power and agreed to work for his removal?