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Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
Is Arafat provoking full-scale war?
Evidence grows that leader seeks major Mideast conflict
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By David Dolan
© 2001 WorldNetDaily.com
Israeli security sources say there is growing evidence that Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat is plotting to lead the Middle East into a major new
conflict, which they say could be part of a larger effort to bring much of
the world to war.
Although the evidence is still mainly circumstantial at this point, sources
maintain it is substantial enough to be taken seriously by regional and
international leaders.
The security sources point out that several recent Palestinian terror attacks
appeared to be joint operations carried out by groups that Arafat is supposed
to be suppressing, working with terrorists connected to his own PLO Fatah
movement. More ominously, they seem to have coordinated their operations with
the Iranian and Syrian backed Hezbollah militia stationed in southern
Lebanon.
The Dec. 1 twin suicide blasts and subsequent car bomb explosion in Jerusalem
bore the marks of the radical Shiite Lebanese group, they said. That was even
truer of Wednesday night's ambush of a civilian bus outside the town of
Emmanuel in Samaria, which left 10 people dead and around 30 wounded. They
noted that the operation was obviously well planned and executed. Three
camouflaged snipers detonated a roadside bomb to stop the vehicle, then
opened fire on bus passengers and surrounding cars, and on rescue personnel
who quickly arrived on the scene.
Security officials pointed out that the Fatah-run "Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades"
took initial responsibility for the militia-style attack, followed by the
militant Hamas movement. They say it is very likely that both groups
participated in the major operation. They say this decreases to near zero the
chances that Arafat's security agents had no prior knowledge of the planned
assault. A claim by Palestinian West Bank Security Chief Jibril Rajoub that
the attack was carried out by a lone Hamas activist working with his friends
to avenge his brother's recent death was dismissed as patently absurd by
Israeli officials.
Just before the deadly bus ambush, two suicide terrorists tried to kill
Israeli civilians outside a Jewish community in the southern Gaza Strip. That
attack was traced to the militant Islamic Jihad terrorist group. Israeli
authorities believe it was deliberately timed to take place at the same hour
as the bus ambush, increasing the political impact of the two attacks and
thereby provoking a stronger Israeli military response (which is continuing
today).
Security sources say that the typically weak condemnation issued by Arafat's
office last night â denouncing the attacks while also decrying "the continued
Israeli escalation, bombardments and assassinations" in Palestinian-ruled
zones â sent a mixed signal at best to the terrorist groups and probably
indicated Palestinian Authority approval, if not actual participation, in the
assaults.
The informed sources say last night's attacks add to growing indications that
Arafat has decided to provoke an all-out war in the region in an attempt to
save his skin. They say this is the only explanation for his almost total
failure to close down the terrorist networks operating in his midst.
They say Arafat's excuse for inaction â that he is too weak to take on the
popular terrorist movements â is ridiculous given that he has eight heavily
armed security services and around 40,000 paramilitary policemen. They
believe that the relatively small terror networks could be crushed within
hours if Arafat really wanted to do so. The fact that he has basically defied
the United States and the European Union (which provide most of his foreign
aid) by arresting only a token number of known terrorists is a strong
indication that he has something else up his sleeve, they warn.
Security officials suspect that Arafat's apparent war plan is being
coordinated with Lebanese Hezbollah forces and Saddam Hussein, with probable
knowledge and approval of Syria and Iran, and possibly also North Korea. They
point out that the radical Lebanese militia and the Iraqi dictator both fear
that they will be future targets of the American-led anti-terror campaign. If
so, they may surmise that they have little to lose by "defending" Arafat from
the despised Ariel Sharon. Indeed, such action would surely bolster their
images in the wider Muslim world, and thereby possibly help put off American
military action against them.
An even graver scenario is worrying some Israeli officials, according to
security sources. They fear that North Korea â which is closely allied with
Syria and Iran, and has also provided weapons to Saddam â may be willing to
attack U.S. forces stationed
