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I think we have been soft too, but there must be caution exercised with that.

Unexplained hardness won't be productive. Being difficult for no reason other than being difficult is not good. It must be accompanied with incentives, learning, education, and a clear cut message about what we expect.

If someone whipped their kid and did not tell him why, or without trying to do any find outs or teaching, then the whole learning process is out the door.

If we want long term better results, we have to mix our hardness with something, and be clear and consistent about it.

I don't want us to be nice to them. They don't respond like a dog does or a child. They do however respect strength, consistency and clarity. The Clintons blew this on all counts. Bush will do better but I was somewhat disapointed with the handling of the EP-3 affair. I thought the proper course of action would have been to destroy the aircraft after our people were returned.

Perhaps Bush was giving them a chance to correct the error of their ways before using stronger measures.