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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Haim R. Branisteanu who wrote (2411)	4/14/2002 12:23:31 PM
From: E. T.	Respond to of 32591

Plotz is a respected reporter. But I'd appreciate if you could point to specifics, not for the sake of argument, but to inform me.

To: Haim R. Branisteanu who wrote (2411)	4/14/2002 1:13:17 PM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Respond to of 32591

In a nutshell this article is written by a person who deeply dislikes Sharon and tries to smear his character. For being straightforward and popular more so after the 1973 war most other Labor Party generals saw him as a treat to their political future ( more so Rabin, Bar Lev and others) one quote which is historically incorrect Sharon's commitment to abnormality helps explain why the old soldier still has the power - "grotesquely on display last week, when his visit to the Temple Mount sparked deadly violence throughout Israel and the occupied territories -"to throw his country into chaos. documents captured from the PLO prove that the PLO violence was pre-planed by the PLO as means to gain more concessions from then Israel prime minister Barack. Further Israel was not "thrown into chaos" after that visit and what was so "grotesquely" about that ....... after all plain exercise of the right of all people to visit the holly sites in Jerusalem? after all was not the intend of all parties to have free access to ALL Holly Sites ?? was raised on a remote desert farm by hardheaded Russian immigrants. not remote and not desert by Israeli standards The farm-boy Sharon was blunter: He believed in Jewish strength. Jews have the right - "God-given"- to do anything to defend their homeland. complete propaganda Sharon wanted to join the Labor Party (with Peres and Rabin) after leaving the army not some religeous or right wing party as Zeevi. (I was able to see both men during my army service and hear their approach to various defense issues). Further his interpretation of his book are completely wrong but that is after all an opinion issue. Housing Minister Sharon shanghaied billions of dollars to build 80,000 apartments for them. those funds were approved by the Israeli government and the Israeli Knesset nothing was done illegal or behind doors. Close to 1 million people emigrated from the former USSR to Israel in the '90s During the 1956 Suez-Sinai War, he exceeded orders and sent his troops into an ambush that cost dozens of lives. this is an outright lie the Mitle Pass issue - it was on explicit orders In 1953, his commandos killed 69 civilians in the Jordanian town of Qibya. Sharon claimed that he thought the Jordanians' houses were unoccupied when his soldiers dynamited them. another twist of the truth Sharon did vanquish the PLO, but he reportedly* attacked further than the Cabinet had authorized and misled Prime Minister Begin about it.* another twist of truth .. the reporter hides himself being "REPORTEDLY" His troops had permitted Lebanese Christian militiamen to invade the camps for the slaughter. another obvious lie - 1. it is not Sharon but now the blame is "on his troops" 2. The Christian Militiamen volunteered for a moping operation of terrorists within the camp which they claimed knew of the hiding places 3. To save the lives of his own soldiers the field officers let the Christian Militiamen in not knowing their real intentions of revenge. as such why to call Sharon "demonic" when he was not even at the place of the crime nor did he know in real time what was going on. He got word of the events at the same time as all members of the Israeli and US government received the same information. ....... which at first it was suspicion......... and which was vehemently denied by the people the US and Israel trusted as reliable - the Christian Phalanga (Militia commanders) who later became ministers in Lebanon government. even this paragraph sound so "bombastic" even that it tries to shed a positive light on Sharon. It is true that he is straightforward ..... and may be to much so for a politician and that is Sharon weakness. (BTW ever listen to Nixon tapes ?) And even Sharon's critics concede his straightforward integrity. "You may love him. You may hate him. But you have to respect who he is. No one can accuse him of not being clear about what he is fighting for," says Thomas Smerling, who directs the Israel Policy Forum's Washington office. As other old-timers-"Dayan, Begin, Yitzak Rabin -"died, Sharon's mythological stature grew. He remains a last link to Israel's fabulous martial past.