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Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/11/09/EDGFU9O2OJ1.DTL
A Window of Opportunity
(San Francisco Chronicle)David Makovsky - Without major fanfare, Mahmoud Abbas is assuming his duties as head of the PLO in Arafat's absence. The U.S. challenge is to support Abbas without giving him a made-in-America "bear hug." The U.S. should also urge Israel to work with the post-Arafat PA as it plans its withdrawal in order to bolster the new leadership's legitimacy as well as revive the trust between these two peoples. Moreover, coordination is the best hope for Israel, for it does not want to revive the image of the hastily executed pullout from Lebanon in 2000, when the rejectionist Hizballah took credit for the Israeli exit.