Stardate 20010612.2224 (On Screen): What I find most puzzling about this whole business of a US-negotiated "cease fire" in Israel is that the negotiation is being done by the head of the CIA. What the heck is he involved for? Why isn't Colin Powell or someone like him doing it?
But that's as may be. In the mean time, I'm afraid I'm deeply skeptical about the outcome of this process. For one thing, it appears that the Israeli government is expecting the Palestinean authorities to control all the splinter groups, and that's just not going to happen. So when Hamas or PFLP or Islamic Jihad or IJLP decide to renew the offensive, the whole thing is going to fall apart in fairly short order. The Israeli government will demand that Arafat crush whoever, and Arafat will fail, and the Israelis will start retaliating again, and we won't have a cease-fire any longer. (I hope I'm wrong.) (lament)
