National Review Online just published my piece on Arafat's legacy.

In particular I focus on Arafat's relationship with Hezbollah's top killer - Imad Mughniyah, who got his start with Arafat's personal bodyguard Force 17. Mughniyah met with Bin Laden and played a key role in cementing the al-Qaeda-Hezbollah relationship. I conclude:

"Mughniyah was only one of many who learned the terrorist trade from Yasser Arafat; and it would not be accurate to say that Arafat was directly behind 9/11 and the growth of al Qaeda. But Arafat's life's work was to justify the use of random violence and equip a generation with the means to do so. He helped set in motion the web of alliances that has manifested itself in today's super-terrorists. This is Yasser Arafat's terrible legacy."

I am also writing and trying to publish about Hezbollah's infiltration of the Palestinian organizations and how, in the power vacuum created by Arafat's death, Hezbollah could become the dominant player among the Palestinian organizations. This would have severe consequences both for there ever being a modus vivendi for the Israelis and the Palestinians and for the region as a whole. Palestinian terror networks would augment Hezbollah's terror, Palestinians could be recruited to fight in Iraq, and the Palestinians could be used to pressue Jordan.

It is true that Arafat's passage creates an opportunity for peace - but the future is not written in stone, it also creates opportunities for the bad guys.

In "Strange Way of Managing the Affairs of State" Dr. Mohammed T. Al-Rasheed, in Saudi Arabia's English language daily Arab News describes Arafat's refusal to step down from power, writing:

"The obscenity of clinging to power and life is beyond belief.... We in the Arab world refuse to take this honorable line in our daily political life. It is indeed strange behavior for a nation that firmly believes in destiny and is more or less fatalistic....

Arafat might be a symbol of something. To the majority outside Palestine, he is a symbol of failure. He fought and lost; he made peace and found himself imprisoned in his office. He started from Kuwait, swung into Jordan and then Lebanon....

Esotericism in our political scene means only the ones who have been there forever can manage our daily lives when reality and history knows perfectly well that they are responsible for our demise and malaise.

How else could one interpret Mrs. Arafat’s outburst? She now believes that she is his heir and she has the providential right to his money and his power. She is following a set path opened to her by decades of Arab politics. She was not wise enough to see otherwise, but on the whole, she behaved admirably as an Arab."

The irony of course, is that right next to the article is a link to a tribute to 20 years of King Fahd's reign. The Saudi monarch has been in failing health for nearly a decade. The Kingdom is being run by his brother Crown Prince Abdullah and it is unclear if the 84 year old monarch is alert or mentally competent.

That being said, the way Dr. Rasheed telescopes out to question trends in Arab politics in general, indicates that he is also well aware of this irony and addressing it with the only means he has available.

South America's most fearsome terrorist group, Columbia's FARC, has called for the assassination of Columbia President Alvaro Uribe. Uribe was elected in the aftermath of the breakdown of Columbia's peace process, in which the FARC was given a territory to administer but instead used it to rearm... stop me if you've heard this one before.

Uribe promised to crackdown on FARC and Columbia's other terrorists and either negotiate from strength or defeat them outright. He has had some notable successes, including capturing top FARC leaders. There have already been at least 10 serious attempts on his life. His efforts against FARC are apparently hurting it.

Unfortunately, one consequence of success against a large terrorist group like FARC is that they will turn to large-scale urban terror and even strike their government's leading foreign supporter - i.e. the U.S. It is believed that FARC has been receiving specialized training in urban warfare and explosives construction from the IRA. (Remember the IRA figures arrested in Columbia in August 2001? They were found innocent of terrorist activity in June 2004 and sentenced to time served for traveling on false passports. They said that they were studying the peace process and eco-tourism. Conveniently this allowed them to meet with FARC leaders. The Columbian government is appealing the case. Nice people with nothing to hide don't travel with false passports.)

Oh, and speaking of the IRA and the Northern Ireland peace process, the Independent Monitoring Commission in Northern Ireland released its third report a few days ago and found that, "some paramilitary groups have scaled back the intensity of their activity but none have materially wound down their capacity to commit violent or other crime.  Dissident republican groups are the most committed to continuing terrorism."

One of the benefits of living in the Capitol region is that with some effort you can meet people who for most of the country (and world) are just figures on TV.

I had the pleasure of participating in a small meeting with Tom Daschle. Politics aside, he was just about the most likeable, charming guy imaginable. (Granted, I have not met Bill Clinton). It is no surprise to me that he was his party leader in the Senate. I find it difficult to imagine anyone meeting him and not coming away thinking favorably. And South Dakota is such a small state, that he could meet a substantial portion of the electorate.

Maybe it is more than just a popularity contest.