WorldNetDaily reported yesterday on the discovery of a State Department document released earlier this year (Here it is, converted to an HTML doc by yours truly for easy reference). State acknowledges, apparently for the first time, something that Scott at Powerline (here and here) demonstrated definitively more than three years ago from other available evidence.
The admission is that State has known for decades that the late Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the head of Fatah, plotted and supervised the 1973 murders of three diplomats: two from the United States (Cleo Noel and George Curtis), and one from Belgium (Guy Eid) who was apparently in the wrong place at the wrong time, in Khartoum, The Sudan.
Specifically, from that document:
The Khartoum operation was planned and carried out with the full knowledge and personal approval of Yasir Arafat ..... Fatah representatives based in Khartoum partcipated in the attack, using a Fatah vehicle to transport the terrorists to the Saudi Arabian Embassy.
Story Continues Below Ad ↓..... The terrorists extended their deadlines three times, but when they became convinced that their demands would not be met and after they reportedly had received orders from Fatah headquarters in Beirut, they killed the two United States officials and the Belgian Charge.
The document was declassified and apparently went unnoticed until very recently, when James J. Welsh, who was at the time the National Security Agency's Palestinian analyst, found it in what WND called "a routine Internet search."
Arafat won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.
How much different would the history of the Middle East be if the world had been forced to face the reality of Arafat's involvement in the murder of American diplomats over 30 years ago?
Formerly Mainstream Media interest in this story is currently non-existent, as a Google News search on "Arafat 1973" (without quotes, with a date range of Dec. 25 to 28) shows.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
____________________________
UPDATE, 10 AM: Here at their web site is the State Department's undated "Summary." The document itself was released on May 4 of this year. Daled Amos sent me an e-mail this morning letting me know that he blogged on this in mid-June, pegging off this very long Powerline post where the doc release was noted and excerpted. Though some could have taken place, I have found no formerly Mainstream Media coverage from that period either.
—Tom Blumer is president of a training and development company in Mason, Ohio, and is a contributing editor to NewsBusters
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Comments Policy
Tom,It sure would be nice to
December 28, 2006 - 07:21 ET by Indiana JoeTom,
It sure would be nice to have someone really give a damn about this now. But we all know how that story goes in the MSM. It's been over 30 years, so it's "time to move on." Liberal-speak for "we don't want to talk about it." Plus, with Arafat dead anyway, I believe this will get little, if any, play at all.
After all, the only purpose it would serve would be to make the appeasers and the Palestinian apologists, specifically the ARAFAT apologists, look like the suckers they were... and ARE.
Meanwhile, the rest of us, mainly the Israelis, are stuck with the consequences to this day.
IJ
A man of peace
December 28, 2006 - 07:41 ET by bulbasaurYasser Arafat won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994?
What a disgrace.
Didn't Jimma Hussein Carter a
December 28, 2006 - 11:13 ET by mattmDidn't Jimma Hussein Carter also win it? Kinda shows what a worthless award it is, don't it?
Liberals: "Another one o
December 28, 2006 - 07:53 ET by Airforce_5_OLiberals: "Another one of our heroes has been proven to be a murderous terrorist. What do we do?"
MSM: "Go into ignore mode, it will go away."
The new world order is in power. God help us all. Airforce_5_O, 2330, November 7, 2006With all due respect AF 5_0..
December 28, 2006 - 07:57 ET by Indiana JoeWith all due respect AF 5_0...
MSM: "...we'll make sure it goes away."
IJ
What was I thinking? It wil
December 28, 2006 - 10:30 ET by Airforce_5_OWhat was I thinking? It will go and die quickly.
The new world order is in power. God help us all. Airforce_5_O, 2330, November 7, 2006
Terrorism Arafat
December 28, 2006 - 10:15 ET by pbanks7"One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter." One of my Ell-word friends actually said this about that terrorist marxist billionaire thug.
Ignorance is bliss. It's easier to repeat a mindless slogan than to do some actual research.
Arafat gave us Terrorism, Carter Iran - Nobel Peace Prizes.
December 28, 2006 - 09:14 ET by acaiguanaArafat gave us Terrorism, Carter Iran - Nobel Peace Prizes.
Got a clue yet?
Everyone knew Yas was a terrorist. Everyone. I clearly remember the first picture published world wide with Yas holding a baby. We sat around the coffee table and said, "Whoo Boy, look at this Terrorist holding a Baby. They'll give him the Nobel Peace Prize for sure."
I remember the 444 days Carter 'talked' to Iran, wrote them a personal letter praising the Ayatolla as a 'Man of God'. We sat around the coffee table and said, "Whoo Boy, look at this guy who destroyed the US credibility abroad by caving into OPEC; delayed the supply chain delivery capacity and timeliness by 25-40% by reducing speed limits on the Interstates; destroyed capital investment by 25% interest rates; destroyed the will of the American people by the chiding them to wear sweaters; and finally ruining more small family farms and businesses than one can count by his economic policy. They'll give him the Nobel Peace Prize for sure."
Duh
ACA
...
Acaiguana says: "Ya can't win if ya don't play."
Thanks acai
December 28, 2006 - 18:54 ET by SportPoliticsThanks acai, it's good to hear it flat out. Just amazing.
I have Lou Dobbs on and his replacement is in, and of course they started the program with a USA troop death and injury count. It amazes me that it's their profile plan for every news show they ever put on. I have pretty much stopped watching, but everytime I do, the first thing up is they launch into USA troops deaths and injuries in Iraq. Don't they ever get sick of themselves ?
I laughed when she said, " 10,000 troops injured so severly that they couldn't return to work for more than 3 days." A twisted ankle is that "severe". " So severely". What a bunch of yapping pukebags they are. Lies and Gorian exaggerrations issue forth like water. I can't stand them anymore.
.
December 28, 2006 - 09:34 ET by directorblueCoddling dictators and terrorist thugs... Clinton/Arafat, Clinton/Jong-Il, Carter/Chavez, Carter/Castro, Assad/Nelson, Assad/Kerry... you would think the Democrats would have started to detect some sort of pattern...
Not only was Arafat a terrori
December 28, 2006 - 10:16 ET by donsalesNot only was Arafat a terrorist, he was a very stupid terrorist.....
Bubba on a roll to garner a Nobel prize before he left office promised Yasser baby the moon (while sucker punching the Israelis at the same time); and old Yasser said NO.......
Thank goodness for stupid people in high places on the other side of the negotiating table from the Clinton cabal.......with the exception of North Korea who played Bubba and friends (Mad Dog Not So Bright, Sandy "Thief in the Night" Berger and Bill "If I Only Had A Brain" Richardson) for the fools that they were and continue to be......
The emptiness of their minds is breathtaking.....as is the larceny they inflicted on the American public then and now......limousine liberals telling Americans what to think and how to think.....Pappa um Mao Mao.......some things just never change......
Nowhere to Run....Nowhere To Hide.....
The Nobel Peace Prize always
December 28, 2006 - 14:35 ET by bigtimerThe Nobel Peace Prize always seems to go to filthy leftists....
I want to know how much Yasser baby's widow got away with, or the French Bank, or both.....it is after-all our tax dollars at work...besides going to the terrorists groups everywhere.
Of course the leftist media isn't going to pay attention to this anymore than they do anything else when it comes to their real hero's that get out-ted.
Speaking of the enemy and Nobel Peace Prizes..... did anyone else see or hear about the full page ad some group (do not recall the groups name) took out today that was published in the NYT's or WaPo denouncing Carters latest book and asking for corrections and the truth to be fully exposed once and for all!
That will happen when pigs fly! I thought it was great just the same.
"If we ever forget that we are a Nation Under God....then we will be a Nation Gone Under." Ronald Reagan
Tom - plenty of stories on Arafat's death
December 28, 2006 - 14:37 ET by Gary HallTom - plenty of stories on Arafat's death - I'm referring to the mainstream media's very active imagination in promoting the stories (conspiracy theory's) of his death.Secondly - You are suggesting that there was literally "no" mainstream coverage of this story back in May when it was declassified and relesased and since? My goodness - what a surprise.
arafat
December 28, 2006 - 17:24 ET by Tom BlumerI haven't seen Powerline peg to any LSM report at the time of their June post, and I looked around for some evidence of LSM coverage myself and couldn't find any. "Of course," no one in LSM pays attention to what World Net Daily puts out, even tho WND scoops the rest of the media with a fair degree of regularity.
Damn that MSM!! Where are t
December 28, 2006 - 19:24 ET by JohnboDamn that MSM!! Where are they when you need them? As well as ignoring the Arafat story from ’73, they completely neglected to include any mention of the invasion of East Timor by Indonesia in ’75 in the obituaries of former President Gerald Ford. President Ford and Henry Kissinger were well informed of the pending invasion and, even though Indonesia's military was supplied and trained by the U.S., allowed it to happen. The report of East Timor’s Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation report released in January of this year found that U.S. "political and military support were fundamental to the Indonesian invasion and occupation" of East Timor from 1975 to 1999 . . .”
How does an the ruthless invasion of a defenseless country that resulted in the death of anywhere from 180,000 (from the final report of East Timor's landmark Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation) to 250,000 (Asia Times, July 13, 2004) somehow get lost when telling the story of Ford’s presidency?
Brad Simpson, a professor at the University of Maryland who works for the National Security Archives and is head of the Indonesia/East Timor Documentation Project has worked for over 25 years to get the release of sealed documents and memos that show Ford and Kissinger’s involvement. When asked recently about what he learned from those recently released documents Simpson said:
Gerald Ford actually met twice with Suharto, first in July of 1975 when Suharto came to the United States. And later in December of 1975, of course, on the eve of his invasion of East Timor. And we now know that for more than a year Indonesia had been planning its armed takeover of East Timor, and the United States had of course been aware of Indonesian military plans. In July of 1975, the National Security Council first informed Henry Kissinger and Gerald Ford of Indonesia’s plans to take over East Timor by force. And Suharto of course raised this with Gerald Ford in July when he met with Gerald Ford at Camp David on a trip to the United States. And then in December of 1975 on a trip through Southeast Asia, Gerald Ford met again with Suharto on the eve of the invasion, more than two weeks after the National Security Council, CIA, other intelligence agencies had concluded that an Indonesian invasion was eminent. And that the only thing delaying the invasion was the fear that US disapproval might lead to a cut-off of weapons and military supplies to the regime.
The invasion started as Ford and Kissinger flew home via Guam where Ford gave a speech to memorialize Pearl Harbor. In the speech Ford said, “never again should the United States allow another nation to strike in the middle of the night, to attack another defenseless nation.” A few days after the invasion, Ford sent a telegram to the State Department asking that an emergency diplomatic cable be sent to General Suharto, in response to his recent visit. And inside the cable, which was sent by diplomatic pouch from the US Embassy, was a set of golf balls from Gerald Ford.
When Americans wonder why people around the world hate us or at least have a hard time believing our intentions are pure, they might want to contemplate stories like this. That is, if they can find them. A lot of it won’t be found in the MSM. But then, you knew they were biased already, right?
**Yawn**
December 28, 2006 - 19:38 ET by Blonde**Yawn**
This might hurt...
December 28, 2006 - 19:49 ET by UnsaneJohnbo, you really need to accept the cold, hard, bitter truth:
1) You are over two centuries late. People have hated the United States since the Declaration of Independence was signed. You have clearly hated the United States since birth, and people like you and other America haters around the world WILL all fall madly in love with the United States...When It Is Gone. (hat tip to Nightwish)
2) Until such time that nations outside the United States start getting electoral votes, I do not care what the whiny ingrates outside this country think of us.
3) Foreign policy is not a vote for prom queen; it is, as one put it some years ago, "a game for grownups".
"Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy." -Sir Winston Churchill, British statesman (1874-1965)
Hey, try this "cold, har
December 28, 2006 - 20:11 ET by JohnboHey, try this "cold, hard, bitter truth". . . what goes around, comes around.
That easy enough for you to get your simple mind around?
You call me the simple mind,
December 28, 2006 - 20:20 ET by UnsaneYou call me the simple mind, yet I understand what realpolitik is. You don't. You just think that if we just dissolve our military entirely - or just make it the logistical arm of the International Red Cross - we will be universally loved by all and nothing bad will happen to us ever again.
See, with your logic, if we dissolve our military, no one will ever attack us again, because the entire world will see us as THE most super-nice people on earth. I, on the other hand, know and accept - because my simple mind is wrapped around the simple matters of HUMAN NATURE and HISTORY - that the only reason the United States exists and is what it is is quite simple: the occasional application of violence in order to get our point across.
Violence works. Violence is sometime absolutely 100% necessary. And human nature is immutable and unchanging. This country didn't break free of Britain because we asked King George III's permission. The Soviets didn't keep out of Western Europe because we asked them to play nice. That easy enough for you to get your chronically naive mind around?
"Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy." -Sir Winston Churchill, British statesman (1874-1965)
johnbo's prim and proper
December 28, 2006 - 20:28 ET by JABJohnbo, could all this come from the same source as the "Rathergate Memo's"? I did notice a lack of links that could verify your vitriol.
A serious C&P (from DU or DK) comes to mind at this point, unless of course you can verify some sources. Prove me wrong and I will acknowledge it for all to see. Stand up and show me your intellectual worth or my lack there of.
Awaiting your response, JAB
"Too bad Ignorance isn't painful to the Ignorant"
Here’s two that I used and
December 28, 2006 - 20:36 ET by JohnboHere’s two that I used and some more that I didn’t have time for on the same subject:
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB176/index.htm
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/FG13Ae03.html
"Report: U.S. Arms Helped Indonesia Attack East Timor," Washington Post, January 25, 2006
"New documents expose US backing for Indonesian invasion of East Timor," Agence France-Presse, December 2, 2005
"Thirty Years After the Indonesian Invasion of East Timor, Will the U.S. Be Held Accountable for its Role in the Slaughter?" Democracy Now!, December 7, 2005
"Files show complicity on Timor," By Donald Greenlees, International Herald Tribune, December 1, 2005
"Documents show Britain covered up murders of 5 journalists in RI's 1975 invasion of E. Timor," Associated Press, December 1, 2005
E Timor
December 28, 2006 - 21:07 ET by Tom BlumerWiki say this:
This looks like a tough call, but the best call at the time, Johnbo. How "odd" that you didn't mention Chicom support.
Also, recall that since we left Vietnam and had a Congress and population unwilling to engage anywhere militarily, we had to acquiesce in other governments, imperfect as they might be, keeping communism in check. Surely the Chicoms were emboldened by the results of Vietnam.
The actions of the Indos after taking East Timor should properly be seen as yet another failure by the Israel-obsessed UN to do anything meaningful. Exactly why wouldn't a UN peacekeeping force have been sent there much sooner with things as ugly as they were?
Note one other thing: East Timor eventually became free, something that has not occurred in, say, Cuba and North Korea, where systematic persecution and in the case of NoKo, starvation continue. I daresy your silence on these modern matters is more than likely deafening. Correct me, of course, if I am wrong about the previous sentence.
Thanks for the Wiki post. I
December 28, 2006 - 22:23 ET by JohnboThanks for the Wiki post. I checked Wikipidia for "East Timor" and looked for the very information that you found. I looked there and other places trying to answer the question why Ford and Kissinger supported Suharto. All I could find was a vague mention of our need to support an anti-communist regime in Indonesia. Didn't find the details about China and the Fretilin party. So, thanks for that.
As I told Unsane, international diplomacy isn't for the faint of heart. It's not always an easy call, as you point out. However, the U.S. violated much of our basic principles over and over during the cold war. Yes, there was real danger in the world. But, so often the strivings for an overthrow of colonialism got either labeled "communism" or the people behind these movements were pushed into the arms of the communists because we refused to support the nationalists efforts to overthrow a colonial power (Viet Nam/France) or we actively fought against them. That caused as many problems as it solved. I can't say how connected the Chinese Communists were with the Fretilin party but it could have been real or it could have been exaggerated as an excuse.
We could be the great country we like to think we are if we stand firm on our principles of law and justice. What's happening now with the Bush Administration is a text-book study of how to lose friends and alienate people. When we allow suspect means to justify the ends, we end up losing in the long run.
The end justifies the means
December 28, 2006 - 23:12 ET by UnsanePosts like these show me why you need to stay as far away from international relations as possible. If we stuck slavishly by principles, instead of doing what had to be done, the Soviet Union would still exist with its 250 million + slaves, they would still be threatening and blackmailing the world with nuclear weapons and proxies, and the Cold War would be ongoing. But you are more concerned about "principles".
That is why I like Machiavelli so much...
The story of the Coventry bombing must keep you WIDE AWAKE at night...talk about a violation of principles...
"Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy." -Sir Winston Churchill, British statesman (1874-1965)
Johnbo
December 28, 2006 - 21:21 ET by JABI must, as I said I would acknowledge you have proven my initial read on your post as wrong. Good links to back your claims and justify the rebuttal on this conversation.
However, I must also ask why the distain for President Ford? Did he not do anything good for this country? all negative's are most certainly not the end result nor objective.
What will be your legacy be when you depart from this earth? I can only guess that you wish to shine President Ford's shoe's?
"Too bad Ignorance isn't painful to the Ignorant"
Well, I agree the timing coul
December 28, 2006 - 22:04 ET by JohnboWell, I agree the timing could be better to talk about this but what to do? He's in the news NOW and this is part of his legacy. It bothers me that we the facts of this chapter were locked away for years out of sight of our eyes. It was only in the past few years that much of the documents were released.
I don't dislike the man. In fact, I think there was much to admire. However, I do have a problem with the moral blindness this country is capable of. It's not only unhealthy, it's dangerous.
We asked after the 9/11 attack, "Why do they hate us?". But, it was impossible to even discuss what could have been at the roots of the attack. That was "blaming America" according to some. To the extent that we refuse to take responsibility for what we do wrong, we leave ourselves blind to the shortcomings that we can and should correct. Isn't that what a great country or person does?
Why do they hate us? I don'
December 28, 2006 - 22:16 ET by UnsaneWhy do they hate us? I don't care. Foreign policy is NOT a popularity contest, or a vote for prom queen. You may exit the doors of high school at any time now...
The United States has to be loved by SOMEBODY. If this country is so hated and despised as you say it is, why are people always lining up to emigrate to this country? Perhaps it is only YOU who hates it, because in the United States, you will not be coddled and babysat by the government (and that detail enrages you daily).
If they hate the United States, they don't have to do business with us or associate with us. But the instant they start killing our citizens, its time they lose a LOT of theirs. End of story.
"Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy." -Sir Winston Churchill, British statesman (1874-1965)