How could it be Worse in the Middle East? Let's just start Armaggeddon now, before the November elections... Sharon Hints He Has Dropped Vow Not to Harm Arafat By JAMES BENNET JERUSALEM, April 5 — Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has suggested that he no longer feels bound by a three-year-old commitment to President Bush not to harm Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader. Mr. Sharon's spokesman, Raanan Gissin, said that Israel had no immediate intention to act against Mr. Arafat. But the substance and timing of Mr. Sharon's threatening remarks, in an interview published here today, were significant. I only wish I was flexible enough to kiss my own ass goodbye (though the recognition exercise I've been going through of "your ass" versus a "hole in the ground" has been coming along nicely).