(Washington Post) Editorial - Arafat's promise to yield some of his authority over the multiple Palestinian armed forces is likely to mean nothing in practice. Young militants in his Fatah organization are fed up with the gross corruption of the aging circle around him and its failure to achieve any gains in a four-year uprising against Israel that has cost thousands of Palestinian lives. Arafat's last reserves of international support are also weakening. Rather than relying on the intervention of another corrupt Arab regime, the Bush administration would be better off promoting the solution it says it has embraced for the Middle East: democracy. A new round of elections, which would be the first since 1996, would probably propel Arafat's opponents from the streets into the Palestinian legislature.
2004-07-29 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive