Colin Powell has the unenviable job of meeting and talking with some of the world’s worst people—but in one US policy that has remained consistent, he draws the line at Arafat: Powell lashes out at Arafat. (Hat tip: Carl in Jerusalem.)

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday blamed Yasser Arafat for blocking U.S. efforts to strengthen Palestinian security forces as a means of ending terror attacks on Israel.

Winding up his latest effort to push peacemaking forward, without any apparent concrete results, Powell also criticized Arafat for a statement the Palestinian leader made Saturday to his people urging them to “find whatever strength you have to terrorize your enemy.”

“Mr. Arafat continues to take actions and make statements to make it exceptionally difficult to move forward” on peacemaking, Powell said at a news conference before returning to Washington from the World Economic Forum held at an isolated Dead Sea resort.

He said Arafat “refuses to allow consolidation of security forces” among the Palestinians, a key U.S. demand intended to curb terror attacks and motivate Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to push ahead with efforts to reach a settlement with the Palestinians.

“What I need from the Palestinians is for them to get themselves ready to exercise solid political control over Gaza when it’s turned back to them and to put into place security forces that can do that,” Powell said later in an interview taped with ABC for broadcast on the network’s “This Week” show. “What they need to do is to wrest control of the security forces from Chairman Arafat. … The Palestinian leaders can do it and the leaders of the Arab world can do it by saying to Chairman Arafat that you’re policies have not been successful, your leadership has not be successful in moving this process forward.”

I know, I know, he has to say this stuff.

But the way Powell sums up the situation is sheer fantasy. To the leaders of the Arab world, Arafat and his terrorist “policies” have been a tremendous success. They’re getting exactly what they paid for. Why would they want it to end?

And why would it be such a disaster for the US to openly acknowledge this fact?