l as we know it. Sharon may have also unleashed or exacerbated anti-Semitism. There is no limit to the damage he is capable of doing. Today's murder of Sheik Ahmed Yassin in occupied Palestine showed the Israeli furhrer in fine form. Sharon committed so many self-destructive acts it is difficult to list them all. Here are a few examples.

Some weeks ago, I wrote of the dangers approaching as the United States entered the presidential election season. I predicted that both our friends and our enemies would take steps to complicate President Bush's life. In particular, I predicted the Israeli government, believing Bush would be prevented by the prospect of losing the "Jewish vote" from reacting, could launch provocative or extreme actions, including a land grab in Palestine. We are on schedule.

First, The murder of Sheik Yassin will prompt world outrage. But the outrage-and the injury--will be worst in the White House. President Bush faces an increasingly difficult reelection campaign. He has been forced to "go negative" earlier than any incumbent except Bill Clinton. Bush is in trouble, and he knows it. Most of all, Bush needs a quiet transition in Iraq on June 30th and beyond. He needs to be able to extricate himself without a bloodbath before Election Day in November.

Ariel Sharon has made Bush's Iraqi extrication plan vastly more difficult.

Sharon may have killed Sheik Yassin, but Sharon also stabbed President Bush in the back. It is difficult to conceive of a greater act of treachery than the way Sharon has now complicated and endangered Bush's position in the Middle East and especially in Iraq. But in stabbing Bush in the back, Sharon has stabbed Israel in the back. The last thing Bush needed, and needs, was images of an Israeli killing spree in occupied Palestine. His worst nightmare has come true. Bush has been betrayed. His loyalty to Israel has resulted in a backstabbing which will be remembered for a long, long time in Washington.

Bush's neo-con constabulary had promised that invading Iraq would force Palestinians to surrender and sign an Israeli-Palestinian settlement. The opposite is happening. By exposing U.S. policy to a potentially devastating retaliation as a result of Israeli aggression, Bush and his neo-cons have created a growing risk for the United States in Iraq.

Rather than strengthening Sharon and Israel, the Sheik's murder has endangered Israel's standing in Washington. Ariel Sharon the suicide bomber has just blown himself up-in the White House. Some friend, some ally, some democracy.

Second, Hamas initially came to power with Israeli encouragement and toleration. Israeli officials thought that Islamic militants would cancel out the influence of the secular Yasser Arafat and the PLO. Boy, was Israel ever wrong. And they claim "Israeli intelligence" is world class. The term "Israeli intelligence" is, rather, an oxymoron. The Mossad and the IDF have facilitated Sharon's latest rampage, just as they brought Hamas to life in the first place. They will be held to account.

Third, Sharon has probably signed his own death warrant. As long as Sharon did not kill Yasser Arafat, or Yassin, or other Palestinian leaders, he was also safe from an act of dramatic destruction. I can't predict a date, but you can be sure a massive attack is coming on Sharon and company. When, and where, I haven't clue. But once you start killing leaders, all leaders, every leader is endangered. It's obvious.

Indeed, if I were sitting back at the CIA headquarters, I could easily spin a scenario where Sharon has endangered Bush himself. By his act of infamy, Sharon has licensed unlimited warfare against national leaders. What better way to "retaliate" for the Sheik's murder than with a terrorist attack on Washington, on perhaps the White House, on Bush? How can we protest such attacks when we encourage Israelis to commit the same acts? We can't. This time, if America suffers a horrible loss there will be no world sympathy. Bush will be seen as getting his just desserts, "payback time." Not a pleasant thought. Bush pays for Sharon's arrogance.

And, if America is attacked in retaliation for the Sheik's murder, can increased anti-Semitism be far behind? By having linked America's future in the Middle East to Israel, Bush has endangered every American. The more you think about the long-term implications of what Sharon has done, the scarier it gets.

Sooner or later, the "slow death" which I predicted, will come. Sooner, not later. Under Sharon, Israel has become a terrorist state which commits atrocities at will. Foreign leaders, perhaps eventually even American leaders, will decide that Israel cannot be allowed by the world community to continue as a threat to world peace, a nuclear-armed outlaw regime every bit as dangerous as Saddam Hussein's was and backed by American weapons of mass destruction.

Thus, the Israeli state which emerges from the next round of the "peace process" will be a smaller, less powerful, significantly more contained nation. This won't happen overnight, but eventually other nations will decide to quarantine and contain Israeli militarism. Sharon's actions are a global threat. World leaders will see containment as an act of self-preservation and self-interest.

Some months ago there was controversy when a French Ambassador referred to Israel as that "ShaEUR|.ty little country." It seems that Ariel Sharon is insistent on proving the ambassador correct. At the end of the day, stabbing President Bush in the back is likely to prompt a long-term reaction that will not make Israelis very happy.

Bush had planned to welcome Sharon to the White House in a few days, a lovely pre-election tableau to solidify the "Jewish vote" which the Bush administration has worked so hard to cultivate. Can Bush really allow himself to be seen luxuriating with Sharon, a madman with blood on his hands? We shall see.

It is difficult being Israel's enemy. It is even more difficult being Israel's friend. Your call, President Bush.

--------------------------------------------

Andy Martin is Out2.com's independent Contrarian Columnist and chief national and foreign correspondent. He has made numerous tips to the Middle East and is scheduled to return to Baghdad in May. He has been involved in the Middle East since 1971 and is one of America's most respected foreign policy analysts. Media contact: (866) 706-2639; background stories: Out2.com (see Gov't & politics). Andymartin.com; E-mail: andy@andymartin.com. Martin is expected to return to Florida shortly and be a candidate for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator. Notwithstanding, Martin expects to be in position in Iraq on June 30th to cover the transition. MEDIA AVAILABILITY: Andy Martin will be in Washington DC on March 25th and 26th.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------