Word: zinni
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...highest level of leadership, locally and in Washington, the crescendo of violence has produced what could prove to be a corrective shock. After refusing for months to venture into the unpromising business of trucemaking, the Bush Administration said it would send special Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni to the region for just that purpose. Bowing to a crucial Israeli demand, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had his forces arrest the fifth and final suspect in the October killing of an Israeli Cabinet minister. And Sharon made his own concession. He did not take back his threat to "batter" the Palestinians--though...
...Dick Cheney plans to travel through the Middle East this week in an effort to line up support for the Administration's plan to try to remove Iraq's Saddam Hussein from power. Arab leaders will surely try to focus the conversation on the exploding Israeli-Palestinian conflict. With Zinni heading to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Cheney can argue that the Administration is on the case and move on to the topic of Iraq...
...While Zinni will press Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian Authority territories, under the Tenet and Mitchell plans he's also going to have to press Arafat to disarm all unofficial militias in his domain. That may be a tough call. Hamas has vowed to ignore any cease-fire, and may well try and spoil Zinni's visit with more carnage on Israel's streets. But the bigger question concerns the fate of the Fatah militias broadly loyal to Arafat that have reclaimed the dominant role in the "armed struggle" from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. These militias believe guerrilla warfare will...
...been mirrored by Arafat's revival. Three months of confinement by Israeli tanks worked wonders for his domestic political standing, and Washington's urgent need to stem the raging violence has required a rapid rehabilitation of Arafat in U.S. thinking. Arafat had long urged Washington to send back Zinni and resume its mediating role, but now the Marine general may not have enough to offer. Arafat is looking for activation of the Tenet and Mitchell cease-fire plans, with the bonus of U.S. observers being deployed to monitor both sides' compliance...
...Neither side today has much faith in the other's desire for peace, but neither side wants to be seen to be the spoiler of Zinni's mission. The despair on both sides may, in fact, provide the best hopes for Zinni's success. Still, after the vicious bloodletting of the past two weeks, it may take more than one Marine to keep the peace in the Middle East...