The Palestinian leadership must make a 100 percent effort to end violence and to end terror. There must be real results, not just words and declarations. Terrorists must be stopped before they act. The Palestinian leadership must arrest, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of terrorist acts.Colin Powell, April 17, 2002
In my meetings with Chairman Arafat I made it clear that he and the Palestinian Authority could no longer equivocate. They must decide as the rest of the world has decided that terrorism must end. Chairman Arafat must take that message to his people. He must follow through with instructions to his security forces. He must act to arrest and prosecute terrorists, disrupt terrorist financing, dismantle terrorist infrastructure and stop incitement.Colin Powell, August 21, 2003
I call on Chairman Arafat to work with Prime Minister Abbas and to make available to Prime Minister Abbas those security elements that are under his control so that they can allow progress to be made on the roadmap; end terror, end this violence that just results in the further repetition of the cycle that we've seen so often. It has to end.Colin Powell, January 29, 2004
I once again implore the Palestinian leaders, and especially Prime Minister Abu Alaa, to do everything in his power, everything in their power, to ostracize these terrorists, to go after them, and to deal with this terrorist activity.Colin Powell, February 18, 2004
There is now a new Prime Minister, Abu Alaa. We're encouraging him to do more in the area of security to end terrorist attacks.Snoooze. Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at January 30, 2004 07:00 AM
Ad infinitum and ad nauseum.
Is there an award for the most persistant self-delusion?
Posted by: Jed on January 30, 2004 06:22 AMThis is the do of what diplomats do do. Some situations cannot be resolved with talk. This is one of those situations. Unfortunatly, the Isrealis' are proceeding with a strategy that resembles a police action rather than the war it has become.
Posted by: Gary B on January 30, 2004 08:23 AMGood post Stefan. Wonder how long it took you to find all of those to organize them.
CNN News (24 hr one) showed Israelis going into Bethlehem after a suicide bombing yesterday (no footage of that)
"to arrest who they see as terrorists and blowing up the house of the yesterday's bomber (footage and audio shown) because the Israelis "say" that this will prevent future attacks."
Mike
Posted by: Mike on January 30, 2004 09:03 AMYeah! Well Powell is the driver with the UN as navigator and the EU putting up the roadsigns on this trip to hell.
Why the hell GWB cannot see this I don't know.
Would have thought that by this stage , the Americans watching this movie would be shouting from their seats (like the kids watching a western?) to watch out for the pot hole, the ambush..
Alas, Israel's action in destroying the murder bomber's house only contributes to the cycle of violence that has an independent existence and has nothing to do with Palestinian policies and actions.
After all, when people are despairing and hopeless what can you expect other than bizarrely savage acts? After all, the Tibetans, say, have even less reason for hope, no one's offered them a state recently, and look at the hijackings and suicide bombings they perpetrate.
Oh, wait...
Posted by: Alex Bensky on January 30, 2004 11:40 AM Powell would have much greater success if he urged Israel to do everything in her power to go after and deal with the terrorists.
Israel's restraint has only contributed to the death of it's own citizens.
From the Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan 30: Powell: "It's time to end the terror, and the Palestinian leadership has to realize this and face it."
When will Powell realize that words and making nice don't work?
Posted by: Jed on January 31, 2004 06:35 AMDon't be hard on Powell. He is a diplomat. He has to make nice.
Unless Bush wants to get muscular with the Palestinians, what else can Powell say?
Don't forget. A diplomat is an honest man sent abroad to lie for his country.
It would be great to get the video from all those statements and run them back to back, say, during the Super Bowel, perhaps interspacing them with a recounting of the terror attacks ocurring between each statement.
Joel