On Oct. 2, 2001, just 21 days after America was attacked by Islamic terrorists long allied with Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organization, President Bush went further than any president before him in calling for the creation of a Palestinian state.
The plea by Bush came a year after the beginning of an uprising in Israel by Arafat’s forces – one that escalated into a daily terror campaign against innocent civilians and one that employs the same suicide techniques employed by Osama bin Laden.
In making this dramatic policy reversal, Bush understated its importance by claiming: “The idea of a Palestinian state has always been part of a vision, so long as the right of Israel to exist is respected.”
In other words, Bush stated that there was nothing new in his proclamation. He suggested that America’s policy had “always” been to support the creation of a Palestinian state as a solution to the Mideast conflict. In short, he clearly misstated the facts.
In fact, Bush’s own father, had issued clear policy statements opposing the creation of a Palestinian state as late as 1991.
Check out the U.S. letters of assurances to the Palestinians and Israel dated almost exactly a decade before George W. Bush’s proclamation. In those letters articulating U.S. positions, it states: “In accordance with the United States traditional policy, we do not support the creation of an independent Palestinian state.”
So, clearly, Bush was wrong when he said a Palestinian state was “always” part of the vision.
Why would he say such a thing when it was clearly not true?
At the time, 21 days after the Sept. 11 attack, President Bush knew he would be accused of changing U.S. policy as an appeasement to Mideast terrorism. In fact, shortly after his statement, Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon did just that. I did, too, in a column titled “Bin Laden has won.”
Eight months later, it’s time for a report card on Bush’s action. Had the recognition Bush bestowed on Yasser Arafat’s cause resulted in constructive negotiations toward peace or a cessation of hostilities, one might be able to argue that the decision was an example of bold and insightful leadership. However, that is not the case.
What has happened in the seven months since Bush’s attempt to appease Arafat and the Mideast terrorists is very clear – terrorist violence has escalated beyond anything we would have been able to imagine in October 2001.
This is exactly what I expected and predicted would happen. I also predicted Bush’s misguided ploy would result in more terrorism – not less – against the United States. We’ve been very fortunate so far. The anthrax attacks have not been crippling. Warnings about terrorist plots have been frequent, but life is getting back to normal in America.
But for how long?
President Bush told the nation in September 2001 that the U.S. would have a zero-tolerance policy toward terrorism. The world would have to decide, he said, if they were with us or with the terrorists. Just days later, Bush rewarded the oldest and most celebrated terrorist in the world, Yasser Arafat, with his statement in support of a Palestinian state.
Arafat was clearly emboldened to permit much higher levels of terrorism as a result of that statement. How else can one explain the timing of the suicide bombing campaign, the takeover of the Church of the Nativity, the shootings, the ambushes, the child-martyr crusades?
It’s time for Bush to admit he made a mistake Oct. 2, 2001. It’s time for Bush to admit the United States has made many mistakes regarding Yasser Arafat in the last 30 years. It’s time for Bush to reverse all of those policy errors by breaking all ties with the founding father of modern-day terrorism. It’s time for Bush to cut all aid to the Palestinian Authority. It’s time for Bush to stop all talks with Arafat. It’s time for Bush to let Israel know it considers further negotiations with Arafat to be pointless. It’s time for Bush to add Arafat to the list of wanted terrorists, to put a price on his head for his murders of Israelis and Americans and other innocent people over the last three decades.
It’s time for Bush to live up to his words and fight terrorism on all fronts, wherever it is found and whoever is responsible.
SPECIAL OFFER: Get the bible of the Middle East conflict’s history – “From Time Immemorial” by Joan Peters – only at WorldNetDaily’s online store, ShopNetDaily.
SPECIAL OFFER: The upcoming June edition of WND’s acclaimed monthly magazine, Whistleblower, will focus entirely on “Shattering the Myths of the Middle East.”
For a limited time, new Whistleblower subscribers will receive – FREE – the celebrated book, “Battleground: Fact and Fantasy in Palestine.” This classic primer on the Mideast (which normally sells for $19.99 at WorldNetDaily’s online store) is considered one of the best-written and most accurate histories of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Subscribe to Whistleblower now and receive 12 monthly issues, including June’s special Mideast issue and your FREE copy of “Battleground” (while supplies last).
What is the greatest threat to free and fair elections in America? Here’s a hint
Dennis Prager