But Arafat's personal effects, particularly those with bodily fluids on them, registered much higher levels of the element. His toothbrushes had polonium levels of 54mBq; the urine stain on his ...

When he fell ill, Arafat was flown to France, where he died in a military hospital on Nov. 11, 2004, of causes that remain unknown, something not entirely unusual for a man of 75.

Though Arafat, of course, bore ultimate responsibility for his many sins, he could not have been so destructive without so many outside enablers, ranging from the Soviet Union, which supported him ...