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Originally posted by Penske_Account
I am not sure those guys are terrorists, as much as military leaders in civil war.
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I think that distinction falls apart the closer you look at it.
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He was the leader of the country. Not a terrorist artificially legitimsed to a leader.
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Careful -- you're starting to question the last remaining justification for our invasion.
Arafat had legitimacy, in the Weberian sense of the word.
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I think the problem is people refuse to open their eyes to a realistic perspective. This guy was a terrorist. A murderer and a thug. And the anti-semites in Europe and the UN turned him and the terrorism he espoused into legtimate political actors in probably the hotest hot spot in the world over the last 30 years.
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His legitimacy came from his position among Palestinians, not from anything Europe or the UN did. And if Israel wanted him dead, they could have killed him many times over. I think they figured the alternatives were worse, or no better.
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Because of this, we and Israel are left in a position we the choices are either war or negotiate with terrorists, for a peace that will be illusory at best, i.e. will last until they decide to drive the jews into the sea.
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Not because of this. The roots go a little deeper, as Spanky was suggesting.
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The contras or Jonas Savimbi don't come close to rising to the level of affect that Arafat's successors do.
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I think you are trying to say they talk funny. I agree.
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And the liberals of the West, even in 20/20 hindsight, live in the bliss of denial regarding Arafat.
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Bite me.
Your schtick, over and over, is to paint the left as absurd. If you want to have a real conversation, stop doing your level best to paint the other side as absurd. Maybe some lefties are in denial about who Arafat was. Until they show up here to argue with you, you're wasting your breath.
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why not say, unqualifiedly, the guiy was a terrorist baby killer and he never should have been dealt with (any more than hitler should have). But you can't. You have to try to water it down somehow with the contras and Savimbi (translation: Reagan's terrorists).
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Because in the real world, we sometimes find ourselves dealing with the moral equivalent of terrorist baby killers. Saddam Hussein. The current leaders of Egypt and Saudi Arabia. And so on.
