Solicit their views, and try to see the US as non-Americans see it. You might be surprised. PS: Invite Bill Clinton back for a night in the Lincoln bedroom. He will appreciate the irony, and probably won’t spend much time there at all. With any luck, he will talk into the night about what it is really like at the summit of world power in the 21st century He is the only one who can tell you..

A Palestinian gunman killed an Israeli soldier before being shot dead himself in the Gaza Strip yesterday, less than 24 hours after Yasser Arafat publicly called on his people to stop armed attacks from areas under his administration. A Palestinian gunman killed an Israeli soldier before being shot dead himself in the Gaza Strip yesterday, less than 24 hours after Yasser Arafat publicly called on his people to stop armed attacks from areas under his administration.
The gunfight is further evidence that the Palestinian leader is not in full control of the intifada that erupted in late September in a wave of fury and frustration over the failure of the Oslo peace negotiations, sparked by a visit by the right-wing leader Ariel Sharon to the politically sensitive Temple Mount.It happened in the early hours at an Israeli army outpost near land occupied by Jewish settlers at Kfar Darom in the fenced-in and now totally blockaded Gaza Strip, more than of a third of which remains under Israeli military control. Two Israeli soldiers were wounded, one critically.On Friday, after intense pressure from the US and others, Mr Arafat said on Palestinian radio that he was doing everything he could to “prevent any of our people from shooting from Area A (Palestinian autonomous areas) and this is a clear order from the High Security Council”. It was not clear if yesterday’s attack was mounted from Area A, or by a gunman who infiltrated an Israeli-controlled area.Ehud Barak, Israel’s Prime Minister, has made clear that he will not negotiate with Mr Arafat unless the latter can bring about a significant drop in the level of violence, pinning blame exclusively on the Palestinians, despite the fact that the Israeli army has carried on shooting dead Arab demonstrators.But it has always been clear that securing a ceasefire is no easy task for Mr Arafat, given the intensity of popular feeling – stoked up by the killing of more than 200 people, and inspired by the success of Hizbollah in Lebanon earlier this year.

His position is further complicated by the kinship that appears to exist between his own Fatah organisation and more radical elements, such as Hamas.Israeli leaders and commentators frequently blame the violence on Mr Arafat, and maintain that he is orchestrating it in order to strengthen his hand in peace talks. But his true authority and influence appear less clear cut.That point was reiterated anew last week by a group of Palestinian academics and activists which warned in February that the Olso peace process was in deep trouble and would lead to further conflict, and perhaps war.The “delusion that a deeply unjust agreement can be made by Israel with President Yasser Arafat alone, who is then expected to force his people into accepting it, is profoundly short-sighted and has inevitably led to the critical situation that confronts us now,” said a statement from the group, known as Miftah – the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy. “The naïve and dangerous notion that Palestinians took to the streets following Yasser Arafat’s orders is not only an insult to our intelligence but also a clear sign of the lack of understanding of the reality in which we live.”The Israeli army named the dead soldier as 21-year-old Baruch Plum, a staff sergeant. His death means that a dozen Israeli soldiers have been killed in the past seven weeks, a factor which could lead to a strengthening of feeling among Israeli liberals that the army should not be losing lives to protect Jewish settlers living on Arab land in contravention of international law – especially in areas that Israel was expected to hand back under a peace deal.. An Israeli Embassy employee was shot at near his home in the Jordanian capital Sunday and slightly wounded, Israeli and Jordanian officials said The gunman escaped.