I feel that Sharon's policy of disengagement is a winner. Withdrawing all forces from West Bank and Gaza, closing off all borders with the Palestinians, and setting up a de facto border delimited by the "fence" will make further attacks few and far between. Tourism can return to Israel, and to Palestine as well, when the violence subsides.

I forsee some occasional rocket attacks from the West Bank, but, if replied to sternly</strong., these will become infrequent. By "sternly", I mean that every time a rocket comes across the border from the West Bank or Gaza, the Israelis respond with an artillery barrage of perhaps a thousand rounds of 155 mm or larger. Modern radars permit the Israelis to pinpoint the launch point and blow the area to smithereens. As far as those persons who are stupid enough to allow rockets to be launched against Israel from their neighorhoods, they simply will not have any neighborhoods left. Tough.

David F Mayer