The Sideshow

Avedon Carol (hey, my name gets reversed all the time -- the Mac is short for "McCutcheon" -- Scottish, not Irish! -- and everybody wants to make that a last name) takes issue with my brief dismissal of Robert Wright, comparing the treatment he wants of Arafat with the actual treatment of Gerry Adams. I can't disagree that there's a disconnect between American policy towards Israel and its blind eye towards IRA terrorism. There are some slight differences between the two, but it's a valid point.

I would say, however, that we've seen that Arafat won't negotiate in good faith, and that even if he would he's not in control of Hezbollah and Hamas. I honestly don't see the point in talking to him. My main argument with Wright is that his answer always seems to be to negotiate with Arafat. If he's a terrorist, they should. If he's not a terrorist, but can control terrorists, they should. If he's not a terrorist, and has no control over the terrorists, they should. If he's an implacable foe of Israel and wants to kill every Jew he can and drive the rest into the sea -- and he is -- they should negotiate with him anyway. Israel -- according to Wright, and I disagree -- didn't go far enough in previous negotations, but the PA hasn't given up anything at all. All they've done is ramp up the Intifada.

My opinion is that you don't negotiate with terrorists. Rewarding them only reinforces their resolve to commit more acts of terror. And the United States should not have pressured the UK to talk to Sinn Fein, though I understand the domestic political reasons why we did.