Arafat . . . Bin Laden

For those of us with long memories, Yasser Arafat used to be a "terrorist." Here's what the wikipedia.org article on Arafat says: "He was a guerrilla leader, regarded as a resistance fighter (or freedom fighter) by Palestinians and their supporters, and as a terrorist by Israel and its supporters." I remember the PLO as the mother of all modern terrorist organizations, in the sense that it was the first "international" terrorist organization that I remember hearing about. One of its affiliate terrorist groups (or a branch) killed the Israeli olympic athletes. Arafat denied any connection with that, and managed to elevate himself to statesman status, even to peace talks at Camp David

I guess if you live long enough . . .

After Osama Bin Laden's telecast last month, my husband offered the theory that Bin Laden hopes to be the next Arafat, that is, the next terrorist to be elevated to statesman. If you remember, Bin Laden credited the 1982 Israeli attack on Lebonon, which was really an attack on the PLO, and the U.S. support of that attack, as the cause of his resentment against the U.S.

Things that make you go hmmmmmm.