08-23-2003, 08:45 PM
"One thing does seem clear however, I don't suspect that the people making these attacks are ever going to be satisfied with a peace agreement, no matter how generous the terms. "
This is probably my largest beef with what could be called the "Sharon position", that is to say retaliating hard and fast to any provocation in order to "teach them a lesson" (paraphrase).
As moderation gains force, and violence is further rejected (I.E: The further along we get on the "road to peace"), the more desperate groups who don't want a moderate solution get. What are they going to do? Blow stuff up! It's predictable; It's almost like clockwork. And you know what? It's not going to stop until they're all dead or too old to care. That's at least twenty years down the tube.
This is simply a price of the endemic violence. There is no choice but to pay it; it's the cover charge at "Chez Peace".
Extremistis on both sides have played this card more times than I'd care to count (the PLO in the early 70's, and lately, as Yassir gets old; Israel in the 80's, for fear of an internationally backed/PLO endorsed return to the '67 borders). It's sick, but it's popular enough.
The problem with Mr. Sharon's (and Hamas', and Islamic Jihad's, etc...) idea of "teaching lessons" is that it keeps us permanently stuck at square one. There's no progress when the extremists only have to sneeze in the wrong direction to blow over the entire peace bandwagon.
Jester
This is probably my largest beef with what could be called the "Sharon position", that is to say retaliating hard and fast to any provocation in order to "teach them a lesson" (paraphrase).
As moderation gains force, and violence is further rejected (I.E: The further along we get on the "road to peace"), the more desperate groups who don't want a moderate solution get. What are they going to do? Blow stuff up! It's predictable; It's almost like clockwork. And you know what? It's not going to stop until they're all dead or too old to care. That's at least twenty years down the tube.
This is simply a price of the endemic violence. There is no choice but to pay it; it's the cover charge at "Chez Peace".
Extremistis on both sides have played this card more times than I'd care to count (the PLO in the early 70's, and lately, as Yassir gets old; Israel in the 80's, for fear of an internationally backed/PLO endorsed return to the '67 borders). It's sick, but it's popular enough.
The problem with Mr. Sharon's (and Hamas', and Islamic Jihad's, etc...) idea of "teaching lessons" is that it keeps us permanently stuck at square one. There's no progress when the extremists only have to sneeze in the wrong direction to blow over the entire peace bandwagon.
Jester