Arafat intervenes to secure Bigley’s release

[Gman]

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has interfered to secure the release of Kenneth Bigley, the British hostage in Iraq, his brother Paul Bigley said, describing the move as "fantastic news".

Asked in the Netherlands where he lives, Paul Bigley told the ITV News that Arafat's interference was the biggest progress yet made in the campaign to secure the release of his brother.

Paul Bigley said that a Palestinian envoy to Ireland had contacted him and told him that Arafat had written to a Palestinian minister who lived for some years in Iraq to "do everything possible" to save Bigley.

http://english.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_ID=4971

----------------

Arafat's stature will rise immensely if this works out. This will undercut Sharon and Bush's demonization of Arafat. Arafat is no angel by any standard. But this is a dose of much needed compassion in a part of the world that is in such turmoil.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. Arafat might not be an angel, however,

He's never been the monster the Israelis make him out to be. We should not forget that his people have been fighting under oppression for nearly 60 years and controlling such rage is not exactly a possible mission.

[Larkspur]

9. According to former Ambassador John G. Dean, Israel's Mossad is more evil

Israel’s Failed Assassination Attempt on U.S. Ambassador Documented
http://www.wrmea.com/archives/May_2004/0405013.html

Had Mossad, Israel’s secret intelligence organization, succeeded, it would have been the perfect crime—the crime of the century. The plan was breathtaking in concept: to assassinate the American ambassador to Lebanon, in Lebanon, with American weapons, intended for Israeli’s defense only. Everything about it would point to Lebanon as the culprit.

But fate intervened, and things went wrong. The tires on Ambassador John Gunther Dean’s limousine automatically reinflated when they were shot out in 1979 (see November 2002 Washington Report, p. 15). The light tank shell simply bounced off the car’s armor. And, horror of horrors, Lebanese intelligence had retrieved the empty shell casing on which was written, “Made in the United States of America.”

Mossad’s specialty was dirty tricks, even if (or perhaps because) it was not very good as an intelligence organization. Its modus operandi had always been the same: pull off a dirty trick but make it appear somebody else had done it. An early example was the Lavon Affair, named for Pinhas Lavon, Israel’s minister of defense back in 1953. This Mossad operation persuaded some Jewish men in Egypt to burn U.S. Information Service libraries on the assumption that Egyptian President Jamal Abdul Nasser would be blamed. But one of the incendiary devices went off prematurely, and the young spies were caught. Some of them were executed. This provoked a scandal in Israel, and in the ensuing investigation it eventually turned out that Lavon’s signature authorizing the operation had been forged at the behest of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. A dirty trick within a dirty trick!

Then came the June 8, 1967 attack on the USS Liberty, killing 34 Americans and wounding 171. Perpetrated by the Israeli air force and navy, this was not a Mossad operation, but it was suffused by the same spirit of stealth and trickery. During the Arab-Israeli war of 1967, unmarked Israeli jets raked the all-but-unarmed spy ship Liberty, steaming slowly off Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, with napalm and machine gunfire.
<SNIP>

Now, thanks to Ambassador John Gunther Dean, the full taste of Mossad’s evil will be available at former President Jimmy Carter’s Presidential Library in Atlanta, Georgia. A part of the National Archives, the Carter Center will contain 42 files on Dean’s service as ambassador to Lebanon. The overwhelming majority of the material is unclassified and thus readily available to researchers, scholars and journalists.

The Dean papers—which include documents, messages, reports and telegrams—constitute hard evidence on the stultifying influence of the Israeli lobby as Dean tried to get answers from the Department of State on the Israeli assassination failure. Nobody was willing to talk with him because the subject was just too “sensitive.”
<SNIP>

Regrading Arafat, Ambassador Dean says
The papers include documentation of efforts by the Palestinians to help the U.S. with the American hostages in Iran. They demonstrate that, unlike today, the United States administration considered the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) “valid interlocutors” in the search for a negotiated settlement of the Palestine-Israel conflict. In fact, PLO leader Yasser Arafat and an assistant made a special visit to Iran, where they succeeded in gaining the immediate freedom of several of the American diplomatic hostages. Arafat performed a real favor for the United States for which he never received any thanks—perhaps because, once again, it would have been too “sensitive.”

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

16. They, no doubt, are more evil.

But for whatever reason, Israel can do no wrong in the U.S.'s eyes.

[Mizmoon]

2. I hope Arafat can help

but I'm not so certain he really can. I'm under the impression he's not too well liked in the Islamic world.

I feel just terrible for Bigley and his family. What a horror to endure.

[Clinton Crusader]

3. This may be out of line...

Let me say first, I applaud ANY effort to free this poor man, locked up in a cage, KNOWING his two comrades have already been beheaded.

But I find it fascinating and amazing re: all the efforts put forth to free him, but no such efforts were made to free Hensley and Armstrong. And I might add that the Brit PEOPLE are comsumed with this - constantly involved, as were the Italian people with those two women recently released. But it hardly goes by with a whisper here in the US that 2 Americans were beheaded. Hardly made the spin news for heaven's sake. It was almost a "oh? really? What a shame, now for the weather". And I see no such obsession with the sheeple.

I applaud the Brit and Italian citizens for being so concerned about their own and making every possible human effort to secure their release. When NO SUCH effort was made here.

Im ashamed and saddened that it didnt seem to raise a flap of wind here.

Flame away!
:kick:

[Blue_Roses]

4. God I couldn't agree more!

It's a damn shame that our own country didn't do a fucking thing to help any of our American hostages. Kudos to Arafat if he pulls this one off!
Clinton and Arafat got along and he was even a guest at the WH so there is always hope.

[Clinton Crusader]

5. I cant even IMAGINE what ..

other countries must say amongst themselves. I have a few friends in other countries and they are just appalled at what goes on here. Between the 2000 Selection, to all this horror under Smirk, it's getting harder and harder, if not impossible to defend this country for what it once was. And they have all said to me, to a person, if shithead gets back in, it's validation to the rest of the world that the American PEOPLE think this is all just grand. THEN we the PEOPLE will be loathed as much as smirk.

I just cant imagine Bill Clinton not even MENTIONING 2 Americans beheaded in one week. Unless I missed it, which is entirely possible as I avoid chimpboy as much as humanly possible, there was hardly a whisper from the Admin. about this. Yeah yeah, the usual 'what a fucking shame" shit, but NO EFFORTS covert or otherwise were made to TRY and save these poor men. It went by on the spin news as just another day in lala land.

As I said I applaud the Brit and Italian people for being so concerned about their own citizens and Im ashamed to say nobody seemed to give a rats ass here.

If Arafat can do it, more power to him. Amazing isnt it, how NO ONE on the planet offered to help the Americans?

What a sickening feeling I get when I think of how the world views us.
:thumbsdown:
:kick:

[Cocoa]

7. exactly

incredible that the two recent beheadings weren't huge news, and neither are the hostages that are currently being held.

[notadmblnd]

8. according to"Dear Leader"...

thats because the murikin people are steadfast and unwavering
in their resolve to fight the terra and bring democracy to Iraq that they feel.. if a few heads got to roll (no pun intended) so be it.

sarcasm off

[noahmijo]

11. I'll flame away but not at you

I was just talking about this yesterday how we hear NOTHING about this how our government didn't do jack fucking shit to get those poor men freed, how smirky just smirks away with nothing to say.

I think of the families of those two poor guys, and I think of no news outlet covering it, I bet no one even knows anything about the fucking sick bastard that did the deed, the fact that he's a Jordianian Al Queda associate whom I am going to say it dammit WOULD HAVE HIS FUCKING HEAD ON A PLATTER IF SADDAM WAS STILL IN POWER.

THANKS BUSH YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT I HOPE YOU ROT IN HELL NO I AM BLAMING YOU MOTHERFUCKER BECAUSE HAD WE GONE AFTER THE "BLAME THOSE RESPONSIBLE" THEY WOULD BE FUCKING DEAD RIGHT NOW INSTEAD THEY ARE FREE TO ROAM IN IRAQ NOW THAT BIG BAD SADDAM ISN'T THERE TO TORTURE OR KILL THEM!!!!!

[Gman]

13. Very well said

and I echo your sentiment.

[noahmijo]

14. well you know I hate to get so vulgar about this but dammit

it's the truth! I bet you half of Americans think the people doing these deeds are just pissed off Iraqi civilians, they don't even know that with Saddam gone that region is SAFER now, and it's not because "oh we just haven't restored order yet" oh okay so when there is an Islamic Republic and Sharia Law is in place I'm sure Al-Queda will flee then right??

have I mentioned how much I hate these people?

[AndyTiedye]

21. Our News Keeps it Out of the News until It's Too Late

[noonwitch]

6. I hope Arafat can come through on this-it could be beneficial to everyone

in the middle east. It also makes it harder for Sharon and Bush to marginalize Arafat during the "peace process", if there even is one anymore.

[AP]

10. I suspect this is becuase for the last couple years, the UK has seen...

...solving the I-P problem as the key to eliminating the chaos in the ME (and the US and I have sabotaged every attempt by Labor to do something about I-P).

Arafat is probably doing this a courtesy to Blair so that he doesn't get hurt at the polls and so that Tories don't get elected.

[LivingInTheBubble]

12. The usual from you.

Every time I see some bizarre claim about UK politics I look at the username and... what a surprise its "AP".

[AP]

18. And your counterargument is...?

A personal attack?

That's telling.

[Gman]

15. The entire world, minus the US sees solving the P-I problem as the solutio

the solution. This is a no-brainer. This also explains why the right wing did everything in its power, and then some, to sabotage Clinton's efforts in 2000 to bring about a peace accord in Israel, and the right wing here includes Sharon and his cronies. Had Clinton succeeded, we would not be in Iraq right now. You could even argue that 9-11 may not have happened had Clinton succeeded.

[napi21]

17. Gee! Is it possible the US ostricized the wrong man?

I never liked Arafat. I know appearances aren't supposed to matter, but he really never presents a very good image.

But many people have talked about trying to with the hearts and minds of the Arab people, not only in Iraq, but across the world. Sounds to me like it's not a really great plan to ostricize an Arab leader who at least some seem to listen to.

I think Howard Dean was right (even though he was severly slammed when he said it) that we need a FAIR PLAN with Israel & Palestine.

[The_Casual_Observer]

19. I wonder what Sharon could have done to help?

He is the good guy in this right?

[Coventina]

20. Dear Mr. Bigley,

I know you will probably never see this, but I want to say that I am thinking of and praying for you. Your gov't and mine are to blame here, and have callously disposed of you as so much used kleenex.

My SO was very nearly sent to Iraq, and I am painfully aware that he could be where you are right now. I pray for your safe return, by any means necessary. I don't give a shit if it means "negotiating with terrorists" or "appeasing" them. Whatever it takes.

Yours in solidarity and human brotherhood,
Coventina