Reply #35: The only problem I have of Dean's statement is

[Larkspur]

"Arafat is not the answer."

While I'm not a fan of Arafat, he was elected by the Palestinian people with over 80% of the vote, and even if Dean and Sharon don't like Arafat, the Palestinian electorate said that he is there leader. Even Jimmy Carter, Dean's mentor, says that you have to deal with Arafat if that is who the Palestinian people choose as their leader. Jimmy critisized Bush for intentionally trying to dictate to the Palestinian people to remove Arafat from power. Bush's hubris only solidified Arafat's support of the Palestinians, including those who don't like Arafat. There is no practical way the US or Israel should ignore the wishes of the Palestinian people. The best way to deal with Arafat is to get the other Arab leaders who support the Palestinians to put pressure on him or to assist him in disarming Palestinian terrorist groups. But one must remember that Hamas and Hezbollah are independent of Arafat. They are his competitors, so when they commit terrorist attacks, it's not really fair to put the sole blame on Arafat.

The other Palestinian leaders that Dean may prefer to deal with do not have the support of the Palestinian people, at least as of last election. That could change if the Palestinian people are allowed the peace to make more indepth decisions and those other potential leaders have the chance to win their people's support. But as long as Sharon bullies Arafat and the Palestinian people, those other leaders won't have the support of their own people and by bypassing Arafat to those Dean would prefer to work with would only weaken those anti-Arafat leaders' position and make them appear as stooges to Israel and the US in the eyes of the Palestinians. That's not a good roadmap to peace.