And so Mr. Clinton, forgetting the fundamentals of blocking and tackling, blinded by the bright star of some future legacy, drags Mr. Barak, a man on his political deathbed, to the table with a publicly reluctant Mr. Arafat for peace chats. Mr. Barak is one of the greatest and most decorated soldiers ever to serve the Israeli army, but battlefield skills do not necessarily translate into shrewd negotiation abilities. To Mr. Arafat, however, the goal of diplomacy is not peace. The principles are the ultimate destruction of the state of Israel and the return of Israeli lands to Palestine. Recently, a Palestinian mother was interviewed, her hand on her son's shoulder, saying that she would be proud to have her son martyred fighting for the Palestinian cause.
Suicide missions are the order of the day.
Our statesmen need to understand the premise that peace is not the goal to a party that exists to smash the existing order. Mr. Arafat may not relish fighting, but perhaps sees it as an unfortunate but necessary tactic to realize a vision - a world without Israel. Seen in this light, few of Mr. Arafat's actions are surprising. Since the Oslo Accords, he has been given major concessions on almost every issue he has raised. And so, as Mr. Kissinger understood even then, peace is not always achievable, but stability may be, albeit within a broader international framework.