Ok. All right.

[marlowe1]

Well Arafat's dead. That takes some of the sting out of Kerry losing the election. Of course Arafat was a bit player by the end, more of a symbol than a person. He was irrelevant but he still wielded some degree of power. Abbas couldn't work with him. Qureria was a bootlicker and he was showing signs of straing. Muhammed Dahlan fucked off to Gaza and is carving out his little fiefdom (ever since he caused riots by actaully ordering the arrests of Hamas operatives, Israel has been grooming him to take over in Gaza after they pull out. That's why they've been killing off the leadership of the Hamas with a near reckless abandon. Makes Dahlan's job that much easier.)

of course Arafat was an easy enemy and it was always easy to blame Arafat for every damn thing when most of it was an unwillingness to stop terrorists. By the time he was trapped in his compound he was irrelevant. He no longer ordered terrorist attacks (well nothing that you could approve) but he liked to have them happening on his watch as a "if you think I'm bad just see what will happen if these guys take power" trick.

But he's dead. Ladadadada. Arafat's dead.

I would be pouring champagne but I still gotta move.