CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR :

Hamas waits over horizon (Neill Lochery, Jewish World Review, July 17, 2002)

It is correct to try to isolate Arafat and the Palestinian Authority on both moral and political grounds. Too much attention, however, has been given to Arafat's likely successors from within the ranks of the Palestinian Authority. To a degree, this is natural as many of the personalities are relatively unknown outside their respective constituencies.

Worryingly, however, scant attention has been given to groups such as Hamas that could exploit the deepening divisions within the secular Palestinian movement and seize power.

It is important that Western leaders ensure that the price of getting rid of Arafat is not an acceptance of Hamas as the major Palestinian political force. Such a scenario would be disastrous not only for the Arab-Israeli conflict but also for the Palestinian population, who would likely become immersed in a brutal civil war.

Which is, presumably, why President Bush was careful to state that we wouldn't deal with any leaders who are tainted by terrorism. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 17, 2002 10:00 AM