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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (28332)	5/4/2002 3:24:09 PM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

My interpretation of this remark (which I agree was polemical & over the line) is that the Middle East policies which you espouse, which you believe will lead to a rational compromise and the best deal for all, would, if implemented, actually lead to the destruction of Israel and the ensuing ethnic cleansing of Jews from the Middle East. You're wrong. What else is there to be said. I happen to think that the two state solution with Israel retreating to the Oct 67 borders is the best solution. For everyone. Hard to see how you can get from that to the destruction of Israel.

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (28332)	5/4/2002 3:34:15 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 281500

My husband agrees with you, and says the same thing to me. My own belief is that you and he would be right, if we just sat around and did nothing. One of the costs of living in an advanced society, culture, whatever, is that it's not like living in a state of nature. You can't just sit around and let things happen. You have to be constantly vigilant, working to keep bad things from happening. Here is an analogy from when I was a scrub tech: in surgery, you can't ever relax your vigilance. You have to wash your hands constantly. You have to scrub everything with disinfectant constantly. You have to clean the instruments constantly, and autoclave them constantly. You can't ever relax your guard against germs, because if you do, the patients will get sick and die. You can never say, ok, we did a good job, time to stop. Infection and death are the natural state, surgical cleanliness is unnatural. But it's preferable. Same thing with crime. Cops may sit around eating donuts but they have their radios on 24/7. The dispatchers who get the 911 calls are there 24/7. So are the magistrates who issue warrants. So are the guards in the prisons. It never ends. You can never say, ok, we apprehended all the criminals, time to take a break. Violence is the natural state, peace requires vigilance. The violence in Palestine will never end, either. So it needs to be monitored, 24/7, and dealt with. Apprehension and punishment must be swift and certain. That's why I propose a real peace-keeping force, with the ability to arrest, prosecute and punish offenders. Continuing on the path of same-old same-old will lead to another regional war. It's time to make a change. Off to the library. Later.