Last month I thought that Israel would have to give up the West Bank in order to secure (a chance for) peace. After this past week, they clearly cannot concede anything, or they will fulfill the aim of terrorism - "the systematic use of violence as a means to intimidate or coerce societies or government" -WordNet(r)1.6. While there is nothing in that definition regarding the targeting of civilians, such actions ramp up the indignation -- and the right to respond with extreme force -- according to my view. The U.S. seems to follow this as well: when the 'Cole' was hit, or barracks bombed, the response was relatively low-key. Yet 9/11 generated outright (but not all-out) war--justifiably so, in my book.
If Arafat had wanted to halt funding of the 'bombers, he could have (which would probably be political suicide, but was his goal the welfare of the Palestinians, or hero/martyr status?). His actions have answered decidedly...[Not that I'm defending Sharon either.] Debbi __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/
