ZINNI'S REAL MISSION:Cover Boy

Publicly, the Bush administration says there is no link between the Israeli-Palestinian war and the one Washington wants to launch against Iraq. Linkage makes life complicated: It forces American leaders to pressure Israel--something no U.S. politician likes to do--in order to gain Arab cooperation against Saddam Hussein; and it holds any offensive against the Iraqi leader hostage to the whims of Yasir Arafat. That's why Vice President Dick Cheney, kicking off his Middle East tour last week, told reporters in London that such a connection was "inappropriate," and why President George W. Bush a few days later said that each policy "stands on its own." It's also why almost everyone in Washington will tell you--on the record--that it's merely happenstance that Cheney and U.S. Special Envoy Anthony Zinni were in the Middle East at the same time.