...Before reaching their decision -- predictably execrated in capitals around the world -- the security cabinet reviewed recent evidence linking Arafat directly to several of the terrorist hits within Israel's Green Line. To their information, he didn't just know about them, he ordered them.

And he did that, not out of any psychopathic desire to see more dead Israelis on TV, but rather out of cold political calculation. He decided it was time to rid himself of Mahmoud Abbas, a.k.a. Abu Mazen, the prime minister he appointed to be the "acceptable face" of Palestinian terror for the Israelis and Americans to negotiate with. It was time to remind both the foreigners, and his colleagues, who is boss.

The new "prime minister" is Ahmed Qureia, a.k.a. Abu Ala. His background is almost identical to that of Abu Mazen; another veteran of the Oslo process.

The idea that Arafat had been sidelined was one of the more ludicrous of the "pious frauds" circulated by all partners to the "peace process" recently. I 'm sorry to say President Bush invested some of his credibility in this.

Arafat was never sidelined, and the appointment of Abu Ala to replace Abu Mazen changes nothing. The men of Arafat's diplomatic wing are as interchangeable as the men of his military-terrorist wing, it's all one bird. The strategy remains, wear Israel down by both terror and diplomacy, as opportunities arise, and continue wearing her down, patiently, until eventually she collapses...