>Z, and I don't understand why you don't see it. Arafat is an asshole no question but Sharon is only slightly better. He did not come by his nicknames by chance.
>Most Israeli government members have army nicknames... they all have to be war heroes to win elections. I don't think he's done much to justify the world's hatred of him.
>He has an axe to grind...maybe for good reason...and he's grinding.
I would hope that a leader of my country would have an axe to grind with a person who's killed thousands of my fellow citizens, and I have it in Bush (I think). I'd have been done with Arafat long ago.
>IMO, that's not what's needed right now. The Israelis are top dog that need to be doing everything they can to stop the suicide bombers........but in Israel, not in the West Bank. Can't you see they are not doing squat by invading the W.B? It has not deterred the suicide bombers as you had hoped. In fact, I think it has made them more determined.
I don't think I've given the impression that everything would be solved in a week or two... Israel has accomplished a lot while in the West Bank. They've killed and captured many Palestinian terrorist leaders, they've closed down many weapons factories, taken away lots of guns, destroyed missiles, rockets, and mortars, and proven to the world that Arafat is a terrorist.
Israel is going to do what it can now, but will have to continue occasional strikes.
The fact is, that every day that Israel stays out of the West Bank, the ability for the terrorists to obtain more powerful weapons increases. What if the Palestinians come up with missiles that can take out entire checkpoints, or even settlements or cities?
>And I think Sharon knows that......but he likes p*ssing them off, he likes harassing them, he likes pushing the Palestinians' buttons........and they know that too, so they respond in kind. This thing is spinning out of control. An analogy would be two members of an organization who at every meeting go after each other. If allowed to their own devices, every meeting would be disrupted completely and eventually they would end up killing or seriosly hurting each other. So what happens is the more responsible members of the organization step in and try to mediate and calm things down. However, one day the responsible parties may not be around or may not want to play their role........and that's when the sh*t hits the fan. Israel and Palestine are very close to that place right now.
Come on... how did Arafat reward Barak's offers? With an intifada... playing nice, playing tough... either you show yourself as weak and vulnerable to an attack, and the terrorists take advantage and attack you, or you upset them and they use it as an excuse to attack you.
>That's why I think Sharon is the wrong person for the job; in fact, his party is the wrong party to be in control right now. They hate the Palestinians with a passion and there is no reasoning with them. And what they forget is that there is blame on both sides which is typical of any blood feud between humans......and not until both sides start accepting that blame will there be peace, IMO.
Disagree. Sharon's called for a number of cease-fires while in office... he's cited the need for a Palestinian state more times than Bush has. Arafat could've called off the intifada at any time, and Israel would pull out. He chooses not to.
-Z |
