<Nonsense. If that worked, Israel would be a safe, comfortable place to live. And, it IS NOT.

What IS real is that violence breeds hate. That works both ways, all ways. And then everything is "retribution", and nothing is anyone's fault, because it's always "them". And no one learns from history.



Compared to some regimes in history, Israel is about as scary as my grandmother. Carefully knocking Arafat's offices down around him is the military equivalent of an angry coach kicking dirt at an umpire. Maybe shooting him after the first terrorist act that could be laid at his doorstep might have been a bit more effective. The next guy in charge might try a bit harder. If not, well, then maybe the third guy will. Making the job of terrorist leader as attractive as being the captain of Darth Vader's star destroyer would certainly keep them on the defensive.

Ah, but of course, it would be wrong...

You keep acting like there's some kind of "arrangement" that can be made between Israel and Palestine that, if we just hit the right combination of agreements, just make nice in the right way, it would make everything all better. As long as those in charge in Palestine have the extinction of Israel as their goal, no such arrangement is possible.

The fact is, that if Israel pulled out of the West Bank entirely, tore down all the settlements, and hauled every last breathing Jew out of the territory and recognized it as an independent Palestinian state...

The Palestinians, under their current leadership, would STILL blow up buses full of Jewish kids. You know it and I know it. A lot of things breed hate besides revenge. Sometimes it's enough that someone is different.

If wiser heads in Palestine can move up the ranks without getting shot in the brains and dragged through the streets for their opinions, some progress might someday be made.

But back to the main subject:

Making harboring terrorists too expensive for a national government to tolerate is a good step forward, and should be handled on a nation-by-nation basis, since each nation has different handles to get a grip on.

Heard anything from Khadaffi since we dropped that bomb next to his bedroom?