It's the beginning of the week, so it must be time to visit the old MAILBAG:

Sir Mix-a-lot writes:
The Bush adminstration keeps saying the Arafat can do more to stop terrorism. To me it seems like he has been handcuffed by both Sharon and the US. Even though I realize that Arafat still has some control over his militants, I can't really see what if anything he can do because Sharon and the US don't want to work with him on a diplomatic level. Realistically what can Arafat do?

I don't see why anyone can make excuses for Arafat. A good deal of the suicide bombers come from his organization, and not all of the bombers appeared to be particularly motivated by religion. A few high profile arrests, convictions, and imprisonments of some of these nutcases would have sent a message. The fact that Sharon and his party happen to believe that Arabs are indistinguishable from cockroaches doesn't create an atmosphere conducive to a permanent peace, yet by doing next to nothing to stop terrorism, and in fact financing many of the groups responsible, Arafat has created a situation where it would be impossible for Sharon to not send in the tanks. Which is probably what the General wanted in the first place; I half-expect the old thug to start talking about "hitting the trifecta". But lets not mince words here. If the A.N.C. had allowed its militants to start necklacing Africaaner teenagers, I doubt Mandela would be revered as the secular saint he is today. Anyways, thanks for your correspondence; it felt good not writing about soccer, Alias, and/or pub-crawling.
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