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American Morning

In Mideast, Another Round of Deadly Violence Raising Stakes for U.S.

Aired January 28, 2002 - 08:08   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Up front, the Mideast, where another round of deadly violence is raising the stakes for the U.S.

A bomber attacked a crowded street in Jerusalem yesterday, killing two, including the bomber, injuring over 100. An Israeli police shot and killed a Palestinian man in Tel Aviv. Just today, PLO leader Yasser Arafat dismissed one of his top security officials and issued the arrest warrants for two others in connection with the arms shipment intercepted earlier this month.

But is it too late and too little? And the eyes of the Bush administration is said now to be considering a number of options regarding the Palestinian leader, including isolating him. In a moment, we're going to talk with the Palestinian Authority's chief negotiator, but first, Major Garret reports on the president's diplomatic dilemma.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAJOR GARRETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More dead, more wounded, more mayhem in Israel, and the White House seriously debating whether to cut all ties to the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are not going to get a handle on the peace process until somebody gets control of those terrorist activities, and that's Yasser Arafat's responsibility. He has not fulfilled those responsibilities.

GARRETT: The White House accuses Mr. Arafat of failing to halt terror attacks. It also says Mr. Arafat knew of a shipment from Iran to the Palestinian Authority of 50 tons of weapons aboard this vessel, the Karine A, weapons like missile launchers and plastic explosives often used by terrorists.

The arms cache came via the known terror group, Hezbollah. As for Mr. Arafat's denials about the shipment?

CHENEY: We don't believe him. He has been implicated now in an operation that puts him working with the terrorist organization, Hezbollah, and Iran, a state that's devoted to torpedoing the peace process.

GARRETT: To administration hawks on this issue, among them Cheney, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, these reported connections prove Mr. Arafat is aiding terrorists, and that means the Palestinian leader must be isolated, punished even, if the Bush doctrine on terrorism is to retain the global credibility it currently enjoys.

But more cautious voices, among them Secretary of State Colin Powell, fears even more bloodshed, chaos and regional instability if the U.S. gives up on Mr. Arafat. Former national security advisors to Presidents Bush and Carter agree.

ZSIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI, FORMER NATL. SECURITY ADVISOR: I think severing the relationship with Arafat would help the extremists, both among the Palestinians and among the Israelis and would make things much worse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until you figure out where you are going, getting rid of him seems to be counterproductive.

GARRETT: These and other analysts accuse the Bush White House of failing to offer the Palestinians a vision of peace more enticing than random violence designed to break the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

(on camera): But the White House says Mr. Bush was the first U.S. president to explicitly call for a Palestinian state, and that bold gesture, they say, was merely followed by more Palestinian violence. It's not a new vision, these aides say, that's missing. It's a Palestinian commitment to negotiations without terrorism.

Major Garrett, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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