I beg to differ. George should have kept quiet. A private citizen is free to speak his mind, right or wrong.
But he doesn't deserve to be beaten over the head by a powerful President who advised Sharon to cede land. As stated in a separate thread, Robertson doesn't pretend to be "the voice of God", but speaks based on scripture. I think Ariel Sharon's stroke was caused by vast obesity and stress, not by an act of God. However, he WAS wrong to comply with the Bush administration's policy of vacating the Gaza Strip. Israel should not give up land to anybody.
For the umpteenth time....
Sharon used to be Mr Greater Israel in the 70's and 80's. But the intifada forced him to realize that Israel cannot rule 2 million Palestianans. He didn't get out of Gaza because of any Bush administration pressure. He got out because it was a hopeless, militarily indefensible position. He consolidated his lines and abandoned large Palestinian urban centers, which is the militarily correct thing to do.
This morning I was considering Irish history. In 1920 the British decided to make a compromise peace with the IRA. The peace was that Southern Ireland became de facto independent although legally a Dominion of the British Empire (Republic was unacceptable to the British and Dominion unacceptable to Sinn Fein so they called it the Irish Free State). This led to a civil war between Eamon de Valera and the Republicans who wanted to fight on till they got a united Irish Republic and Michael Collins and the Free Staters who wanted peace. Between the maximalists and the compromisers. Michael Collins was killed but the Free Staters won.
The Palestinians have never had to choose between their Republicans and Free Staters. But once they have an actual territorial base and a leadership vaccuum they will have to. The reason Arafat would never commit to anything was because he never wanted to take the responsibility Michael Collins did and choose compromise. He always wanted to be holding out for the better deal to keep the Republicans happy. He didn't want a Palestinian civil war. Now, they will have to have one.