Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: stockman_scott who wrote (29553)	5/14/2002 1:26:24 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Respond to of 281500

The offensive was meant to provide security for Israelis. Manifestly, it did not. What it really did was smash what there was of Palestinian civil society and bring blame on Israel This is the kind of reasoning that most liberals (who are still mired in Oslo-formed outlook that the PA is a 'moderate' force) are still clinging to, but it is absurd on its face. It is absurd to say that Sharon's attack failed because there has been one bombing since the attack ended. Remember, before the attack started, there was one or more bombing every day. It is absurd to say the attack destroyed 'Palestinian civil society'. Let's all hope that the PA does not really constitute 'Palestinian civil society' because that's like saying that the Cosa Nostra constitutes Italian-American civil society, so one mustn't attack organized crime. If that's true, then Palestinian civil society needs to be rebuilt from scratch because it consists of nothing more than a terrorist thugocracy. But it's not true, and the fact that it's not true is shown by the demands for reform in the PA that are coming from the Palestinians themselves, demands that were suppressed by the ascendancy of the thugs with guns in the intifada. In fact, the aim of the attack was to show the Palestinians that they could not win by terror, to suppress the attacks (knowing that it could not be done totally), and to create a respite, a relatively quiet space where diplomacy might be able to operate again. The attacks have succeeded in this, though in my opinion the job won't be done until Israel goes into Gaza and beheads Hamas. Sharon was dissuaded this time, but I don't think Hamas is bright enough to lay low on its own (I certainly have no faith in Saudi attempts to persuade them), and is egged on by all the kids in Gaza, who don't have any experience with the IDF as a fighting force. So the next time Hamas has a real lucky day, it will happen.