Posted on 11/14/2004 9:50:31 PM PST by quidnunc
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the remarkable Yasser Arafat is that he died a natural death at the age of 75. (The good die young.) For 40 years, ever since he planted his first bomb in Galilee, violence had been his hallmark. More than a hallmark, it was his goal and obsession, his be-all and end-all and every breath — especially when he would talk about peace. Because by peace, he meant a pause in the hostilities long enough to gather his forces for the final battle of annihilation.
Until then, he would settle for whatever terror he could sow, blowing up schoolhouses and school buses, families at Passover seders, airliners full of un-suspecting passengers, old men and mothers-to-be … . He wasn't particular. An American diplomat or two in Khartoum, Israeli athletes at the Olympics, they made fine victims, too. Call him an equal-opportunity killer. Military objectives were well and good, but unarmed civilians were his target of choice. No one was too frail to escape the attention of the killers he loosed, even an old wheelchair-bound Jew on a Mediterranean cruise.
Though he never managed to wipe out the Jewish state (in some ways, he strengthened it by keeping it ever on guard), Yasser Arafat did succeed in draining the hope and future out of any Palestinian state. Maybe because, generation after generation, he saw its young only as a promising pool of martyrs. And that promise was fulfilled again and again.
Remarkably enough, he drew his last breaths while being tenderly nursed in a clean hospital bed. Fittingly enough, he would die in Paris, world capital of political cynicism. So much for the assumption that those who live by the Kalashnikov will die by the Kalashnikov.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at tmsfeatures.com ...
"Yasser Arafat is that he died a natural death at the age of 75."
BAWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH..
A bumperooski
He is to Middle East coverage what Don Feder or Michelle Malkin are to the issue of immigration, i.e. simply one of the greatest syndicated columnists in American history.
Click the link - its a great read!
It's a shame the Arafat didn't die a thug's death. He should have bought it laying in a gutter bleeding his guts out.This is one of Greenburg's best.
Reading between the lines, I get the feeling that this is one commentary that comes from deep inside. I have enjoyed and profited from this editorialist's comments on many subjects. In this case, I do not so much read as empathize.
Really? You would rank Greenberg ahead of Tom Friedman...??? :?)
He destroyed his own country and his people.
My response:
(Polite barf.)
Seriously, if you want incisive, trenchant commentary from the other side of the aisle, you need to look to either A.M. Rosenthal or Nat Hentoff.
Not familiar with Rosenthal, but Hentoff works both sides of the aisle, holding a good many "conservative" opinions.
Tom Friedman, Pinch Sulzberger and the New York Times editorial board will be very disappointed at your response.
Why I believe Tom is sobbing, uncontrollably...
Well, not really.
One of my favorite deconstructions of the "Old Gray Lady", which you may have heard of, was written by Bob Kohn.
It serves as good companion to "Coloring the News", by Bill McGowan, which is a much broader and more scathing critique of the mainstream press corps and their shoddy journalistic practices.
The most apt comparison I can summon-at the moment-is the writing of Michael Myers, who's another civil libertarian whose tenets are widely dispersed over the ideological map.
Not to worry, my friend.
Imagine the surprise when the sot didn't get the 47 virgins, as promised.
Instead he gets something quite different, 47 "Dwights".
...for all eternity. ;^)
A fitting end fer a mass-murdering low-life ba$+ard...MUD
Yea, very fittin'.
Thought you'd appreciate that. :o)
Back from your obscene break in sunny, warm South Carolina.
~eh?
Good.
...now git ta work. ;^)
FReegards...MUD
BTW...my package was waiting fer me when I got back and I've already started checking them out. Thanks and I'll be sure to give you a review once I go thru them a bit.
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