Prime Minister Sharon is scheduled to depart for a short visit to the U.S. tonight. Bush invited him for what many see as a pre-war briefing in which he will strongly request that Sharon not retaliate against an Iraqi attack on Israel. The Americans are also pressuring Israel to withdraw from at least one more Arab city in Yesha, and to transfer more tax monies to the Palestinian Authority. Sharon is expected to tell Bush of the fear that the Palestinians will escalate their murderous terrorism during an American attack on Iraq.