[Narrew]

I would be interested in hearing what Aloofi has to say also.

I have thought as long as Arafat is around, any kind of peace wont happen. Unless the new PM can wrench control from Arafat (which I doubt), any hope will be short lived. If there was a way to get rid of Arafat that wouldn't make him a martar, well I wouldn't be sad to see him gone. I saw something this weekend where they were showing 11 year olds that feel being suicide bombers is great and that Arafat was proud of the children that have died. I mean, as long as this is "their" norm, how can anything get done? But, that does not mean to give up.

The "Road-map" might not be the ideal solution, but if the U.S. policy in the Middle East is to clamp down on countries like Iraq, and now Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Maybe some things will be better. Those bombings in Saudi Arabia was a slap against the arabs that have turned the other eye in the past. But in the end, Arafat needs to be out of the picture, period.

[ May 27, 2003, 18:42: Message edited by: Narrew ]