I hear them everyday from the PLO officials on cable news.

Since you have announced here that you are taking the Pal side, I can't fault you for adopting the party line, nor can I tell if you really believe it or not. (Obviously there is a grain of truth in what you say.)

"guess they don't need you for strategy, Frank."

They need advice from somewhere. Their current strategy may lead them to extermination.

I disagree with your assessment. The rock throwers have mainly been kids harrassing the Israeli troops and yes some of them have been inexcusably killed. There has never been an organized effort by Palistinians to attack Israeli troops in masse. I believe that the best strategy would be an unarmed march on Israeli occupied areas but since civil disobedience is not the Arab style, an obviously futile gesture might work.

"Well, maybe it bothers them just a little bit"

Yes it does. I understand there are 3-5% of the IDF that are refusing to take up arms against the Pals.

"A once brave army, probably the best in the world, dedicated, fierce, well-trained, extremely well motivated, now reduced to killing a police force and civilians. Tragic. Wonder how they train for it? What kind of "battle" ribbon do they get? I'd like to read the citations for medals. Wonder if anyone would be able to keep a straight face? Probably. They've had a lot of practice."<i/>



Waxing maudlin aren't we Bowser? I give them credit for being a good enough army to have their way with anything that the Arabs could throw at them. Maybe that makes them the best in the world, maybe not.

We don't have to wonder what citations the Pals get for killing women and children with no Israeli soldier or policeman in shouting distance.

"Kind of hypocritical of Powell to cancel a meeting because a suicide bomber killed civilians, when an ARMY is killing civilians. Oh, that's right, they're not civilians, they're "soldiers". Well, if they're "soldiers", why is it "terrorism"?"

Once again, since say you are taking this position for counterpoint, I can only hope that you understand the difference in the IDF targeting armed adult males surrounded by bomb making parafenalia and incurring some (maybe too much) COLATERAL damage. I can understand the difficulty that the Palistinian person on the street has understanding the difference but the critical thinker should know better. One more time, any soldier or civilian that attacks an exclusively civilan target with the sole intent to kill only civilains is a terrorist.

"I wonder if the Israelis expect the Palestinians to forget the brutality? Forget that the Israelis not only rampaged through their towns, but wouldn't let ambulances in. I wouldn't forget that easily. In fact, I won't forget that. Israel has lost a tremendous amount of the resevoir of affection and respect they had."

I don't disagree with any of this but it has become apparent that the resevoir is located only in the USA.

(snip plucky tough nation stuff)

"And there's a certain kind of person that doesn't bother, who kinda glories in the situation. Brave people, aren't they?"

I know the type. I see them dancing in the street, celebrating the death of children. Nearly everyone in the western world is horrified by the suffering on both sides and desperately wants a peaceful resolution.