Arafat's turn was next to Saddam. This was reflected in the official statements of Sharon government (ref. Netanyahu's open speech on Arafat's future). But as Europe gave its support to Arafat, he was not physically thrown out of Palestinian territories; he was, however, confined to his headquarters in Ramallah which was battered several times by the Israeli army.

As Iraq became too much of a burden and also for showing to the world that America wants peace in the area, President Bush and his administration went for a sort of "Road Map" for Peace between Israel and Palestinians, but insisted on no role for Arafat.

Arafat who remained virtually a prisoner in his headquarters in Ramallah, was obliged to go for some form of democracy in his own administration and grudgingly nominated Mahmud Abbas as the Prime Minister. Abbas had support of Bush Administration and Sharon government and had some form of success in negotiating a ceasefire. Surprisingly even Hamas and Islamic Jihad agreed to stop attacks against Israel.

This was a great achievement which Sharon government could have taken full advantage of to take the American Road Map toward peace. But Sharon apparently was not interested in peace. His government continued to carry on its targeted killing of Palestinians by branding them as terrorists. To justify their killings, Israeli army simply declares some persons as terrorists and tells the world that such persons have been involved in series of suicide bombings against Israelis though they never produce any proof.

They think that they need not produce any proof as Sharon government considers all Palestinians as terrorists. Unfortunately Bush Administration goes by what Sharon says as President Bush declared Sharon, an alleged war criminal, as a 'man of peace'. What a travesty of truth! Sharon became a man of peace and Arafat, a co-sharer of Nobel Peace Prize, became an "obstacle to peace". It is this belief and consequent misguided Middle East Policy of Bush Administration, which has led to present situation in the area.

The high-handedness of Sharon government exceeded all limits. An invalid octogenerian Sk Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas, became the target of Israeli assassination. He was attacked but luckily escaped death. There could not be any bigger stupidity than going for killing of Sk. Yassin. It was known that any attack on him will inflame practically the entire Palestinian community. The result was obvious -- there were two suicide bombings on Tuesday, September 9 in Israel that killed at least 15 Israelis and injured scores. Who is responsible for this disaster? It's Sharon government and its disastrous policy towards Palestinians.

Mahmud Abbas has already resigned and speaker Ahmad Korei has been nominated as the next Prime Minister of Palestinian Authority. But he has not yet assumed the responsibility and has asked for Israeli government commitment to ending targeted killings, withdrawal from the Palestinian areas etc. But Israeli killing machine continued its operation and hence the present killings and counter killings.

Though a large number of Israelis belong to "Peace Now" movement, Israel has the most extremist government headed by a known Sabra-Chatilla butcher Sharon. Unfortunately, Israeli majority voted him to power and they to pay for their mistake. Israelis are likely to be the biggest loser as Israel may ultimately turn out to be an unlivable place for the Jews -- both good Jews and bad (extremist) Jews.

The Palestinians lost their land long ago and they have nothing more to lose; they are now engaged in the resistance movement which is seen as terrorism by Israel, USA and probably some others who have links with Israel. But the fact remains that Israel has been engaged in State terrorism and it is Israel which is responsible for America's present woes in the Middle East and elsewhere.

There was no 9/11 before George Bush. No proper and impartial investigation has ever been undertaken on who really carried out the 9/11 attack. Why no Jew was killed in 9/11 incident though more than 2000 Jews worked in the World Trade Centre. Why Sharon allegedly abandoned his trip to New York during that time? Time has come to find out the truth. There is a view that those Saudies who were named as terrorists and alleged to have piloted those aircraft to WTC were only the passengers and indeed were the innocent victims and the actual operations were done by some others who had high precision knowledge of the aircraft and the navigational system. The said Saudies obviously did not have this sort of knowledge and skill.

In any case there is no solid proof yet to the general public about who did it and how the events took place. Therefore the view that Israel under Sharon did it to create a division between Muslims and Christians gains further grounds. It is really necessary to ask an independent investigation commission to inquire into the sad episode and inform the public about the facts.

Let this 9/11 and days henceforth pass peacefully. Time has come for the Americans to reassess their position in the world theatre. If American public and the Congress, in large numbers, continue to support Bush Administration blindly, the future may continue to remain uncertain not only for Americans but also for the rest of the people on earth.

Muslehuddin Ahmad is a former Secretary and Ambassador and presently the Vice Chancellor (designate) of Presidency University.