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

To: aladin who wrote (48514)	10/1/2002 12:14:45 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

That was then, this is now. We did not have the technology then to focus only on German military and industrial targets (which were also integrated into highly populated regions). I fear you misunderstand.. I was using Hyperbole to counter what I felt was "slight" exaggeration on Bilow's part.. War is a horrendous state of existence for a society to live in. Push ANY society far enough and they will lose their veil of civilization and engage in atrocities that were unspeakable only several years before. WWII is a prime example.. Before Guernica, it was unthinkable for civilians to be directly targeted as a deliberate terror campaign. But Hitler brought such a nightmare into the realm of reality.. then the British and Americans perfected it. Both the Israelis and Palestinians feel they have been pushed against the wall, despite the fact that both need each other to maintain economic stability and growth. And while in Israel the more liberal and tolerant sector of society has been rendered politically impotent in the face of horrendous suicide bombings against civilians, in Palestine, the corrupt and brutal leadership of Arafat has prevented the emergence of a tolerant and moderate political class that could realistically negotiate with Israel for their own state, while creating sufficient trust and confidence that Israelis would feel secure with such a state. The one thing that few people can ignore is the the West Bank borders leave Israel extremely vulnerable (again the theory of "interior lines of communications"). And the fact that both Israel and the PA require open borders to sustain their economies, requires cooperation and tolerance to rule their relations. Palestine will receive economic security in exchange for Israel receiving physical security. Something folks may have clued into about my perspective is that I'm not particularly enthused about the right of ethnicities to all have their own independent states. That's just not practical, and it's devisive and jingoistic. More wars have been fought over blood, soil, and religion than most of us would care to recount. But "nationalism" based upon ideals, namely freedom and opportunity, as well the promotion of cultural tolerance (though never perfectly achieved) is something I can identify with, and am willing to defend and fight for. And that is what America stands for.. nationalism based upon ideals, not blood and soil. As imperfect as we are in our democratic progress. So while I sympathize with those you may opine that the Palestinians deserve their own state, I disagree with it. What is more important is to merge both the Israeli and Palestinian societies in a manner that "forces" tolerance between the two peoples, and eventually cooperation for mutual benefit. Hawk