[mugs99]

Does anyone here think this handover will satisfy the Islamist extremists who crave the destruction of Israel?

Of course it won't and Sharon knows that. I may be wrong, but only if Sharon has become senile. What you aren't factoring in is the Arab nations themselves. The Arabs hate Palestinians as much as they hate Jews. "There's just so many of them" is a comment you hear often from Arabs. They support the giving of Israel to the Palestinians for the simple reason that they do not want the Palestinians in their lands. They also don't want the Palestinians to be allied with the Jews, and that is why they do everything they can to keep the Palestinians and Jews enemies.

We are at the beginning of this conflict and there will be total war in the mideast before it is over. Bush's roadmap will not succeed for the simple reason that liberals here and in the UN want it to fail. I am not a Bush supporter but I voted for him twice. I did not like the invasion of Iraq, but I support the administration's attempt to stabilize the mideast. That others can't put their partisan politics aside to try to stop world wide conflict makes that conflict a certainty.

I see Hitler in the UN, not in the Palestinian ranks.
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[chimera]

What you aren't factoring in is the Arab nations themselves. The Arabs hate Palestinians as much as they hate Jews. "There's just so many of them" is a comment you hear often from Arabs.

While that may be true, I have a hard time believing that if it came down to brass tacks the Arab states would do anything other than support the Palis against whomever they were in conflict with. Too strong of a group-victim identity for them to do much else, other than sit things out.

I understand the no-love-lost relationship. The Jordanians gave the Palis the boot a few decades back and there has been bad blood ever since between them. Likewise the Saudis, albeit for different reasons, would rather not get stuck on the tar baby of Pali statehood. As I recall, the Shah, when he was in power, also expressed some concern about the idea of a Palestinian state.

They support the giving of Israel to the Palestinians for the simple reason that they do not want the Palestinians in their lands. They also don't want the Palestinians to be allied with the Jews, and that is why they do everything they can to keep the Palestinians and Jews enemies.

Palestinians allied with Israelis? You know, that is a picture that I have never considered, and have a hard time visualizing under almost all credible scenarios. Although, I'll admit, it is an intriguing gambit. It's just hard to imagine any (credible) circumstances that would bring that about.

I see Hitler in the UN, not in the Palestinian ranks.

Again, that is a hard one to visualize. Hitler was a man of action. He had (perverted) ideas and he acted, albeit with ruthlessness and for a diabolical purpose. The UN today is far too ineffectual for action. I can't think of many cases where they have acted with decisiveness since the Korean conflict. The UN of today is hobbled by scandal and maladministration, which has made it a toothless tiger, all symbolism and no action. They are basically an ego-inflated debating society. The damage the UN does today is largely a result of ineffectiveness and obstructionism, as well as scandal and draining of productive resources from dues-paying nations. In terms of addressing real problems, it is largely irrelevant.

[johnb838]

I'm not so sure I don't see Hitler in the United States of America. Wait -- before you zot me... I don't see him now, but I'm so sick of this namby-pamby give away the store to swine that don't know what to do with a civilization besides crap in it that I'm already ready to vote for a strongman who can restore order. And I'm enough of a student of history to know that that is the predictable end of a Republic. But what are ya' gonna do, let it descend into anarchy and a Blade Runner world? I don't think so. I suppose politically I'd me more of a fascist because I don't believe in socializm in any way shape or form, but I believe it is possible to be a Nationalist without descending to the level of fascist, and that's what I'd like to see here.

But I don't even know if that's possible because I think we need some martial law, and some suspension of the free press in the case of irresponsible, treasonous, and seditious reporting, and some jailing of traitors in Congress, among other places. Put me in the category of Lincoln on the Constitution. No point in following it to the letter if that's going to get us all killed anyway. I'm not ready to die to make an abstract political point. I'm only ready to die for God's Truth, not man's politics.

OK.