New rules: Israel widens targets

The White House isn't going that far - at least not yet and not publicly. "Clearly, Chairman Arafat has committed himself over the course of events in recent years to a set of peaceful steps," something Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar did not do, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Monday. He cited Arafat's commitments as "one of the reasons" US Gen. Anthony Zinni went to the region on a truce-seeking mission and why Bush has spoken with Arafat in the past.

But some observers see a debate in the White House over what the approach to Arafat should be. The danger now, they add, is that the tension will be interpreted by Israel as a green light for action against Arafat.

"A big question that needs to be resolved: Do we think the Palestinian Authority under Arafat is helpful to us?" says Michael Hudson, an Arab studies specialist at Georgetown University. "I sense there is serious doubt in some quarters in the administration. They can't figure out if Arafat is a friend or an enemy." The danger is that "the Israelis could go after the logic of their own thinking on this and kill Arafat."

The empathy Bush feels for the Israelis as they deal with Sept. 11-style attacks doesn't erase the differences the US sees in the cases of Afghanistan and the Palestinians. Without justifying terrorists, Bush recognizes the Palestinians' right to an independent state, and Secretary of State Colin Powell in a speech on the Middle East last month referred to the violence as one effect of the Palestians' frustrations over continued Israeli dominance.

Like many other international players, the US is not convinced the alternative to Arafat would be better. "In Afghanistan, we knew the potential existed for working with the Afghan government that would replace the Taliban to achieve our antiterrorist goals," says William Quandt, who worked on the Camp David accords under President Carter. "The Israelis have no such assurance. In fact, the alternatives are quite the opposite."

As Israel began Monday hitting Palestinian Authority headquarters with missiles, the US was left contemplating what steps to take next. The White House may have already unwittingly given Hamas another reason to carry out attacks by sending a diplomatic mission to the region now, says Mr. Tanter. In addition to retaliating for Israel's killing of a Hamas leader last month, the attacks aimed at "embarrassing Arafat" and "stopping any progress Zinni was about to make," he says.

The US is riding high from its success in Afghanistan, so a chance to injure American diplomatic prestige is only icing on the cake, Tanter says. That US diplomacy can only be tarnished in the current context is the best reason the US should call General Zinni home and sit out the next period, he believes.

Others, though, say US interests are too great to let the situation degenerate further.

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