“There is one cure for terrorism and one cure only and Abu-mazan isn’t it.”

… said Mr. Van der Leun.

I’m afraid he’s right. With the promising stories cascading out of MSM you would think that momentous forces are at work in the fabric of Palestinian existence.

Existence – they’ve got a ways to go to make it up to society yet.

Where are the stories about the uptick in the apprehension and execution of “collaborators”? Be honest here; that word in context in Gaza or the West Bank covers everyone between those actively in the employ of the Mossad, those merely accused of cooperating with any Israeli, all the way down to a Palestinian who raises objections to his house being commandeered for a weapons’ storage site.

This is real deck chair stuff. Yes, we have been here before. Camp David, Oslo… the associated hossannas from the smartest pundits. It’s bullshit.

What is happening in the Pal areas is a retrenchment and consolidation of power bases by the various factions. Abu Mazen is being treated by the world intelligentsia as a person holding the authority, or at least the leverage, of Arafat. Nothing could be further from the truth. First and foremost, there’s no way in hell he’s got the checkbook that Arafat died with. Arafat’s passing had the same physical effect on the Pals that Scrooge McDuck’s mansion burning down would have on comic book land; nobody knows, and very powerful interests in the U.N. and EU want to make sure that no one ever knows how much money went a-yondering or where it went. Mazen was a minion. A major minion, but in the end just one more human commodity representing certain factions that Arafat bought and managed. The PR happening now is aimed soley at goading foreign powers to treat Mazen exactly as Arafat was: write big checks, write them often, and make sure to say “President” or “Prime Minister” when the cameras are rolling.

I’m a little depressed that the Bush administration has extended what feelers it alread y has. This is just a reprise of our going to the U.N. before going to Iraq. It would have been better to laid down a zero tolerance ultimatum regarding terror and left it at that but I guess that some hoops must be jumped through…

Finish the fence. Lock the gates. Let Iraq’s evolution progress for a year or two, remove the mullahs and/or Assad (no particular order) and see what effect that has on the Arab world.

The elements driving the Palestinian terror industry will not be swayed by politics or diplomacy. Van der Leun is right.