It's the terrorists, stupid

[pistoff democrat]

The slogan "It's the economy, stupid" was the brainchild of James Carville, Bill Clinton's political strategist in the 1992 presidential election. It was devised to concentrate everyone's mind on what was deemed to be the central issue of the campaign. Indeed, it was this message that propelled Clinton to victory over George Bush Sr.

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It might not be a bad idea to hang the slogan "It's the terrorists, stupid" in the offices of government ministers to remind them of the overriding issue facing Israel in its quest for security and peace. It might quickly sideline such half-baked ventures as privately negotiated "peace accords", cease-fire proposals, and calls for unilateral Israeli withdrawals.

Palestinian terrorists hold the peace process hostage and no meaningful progress toward peace can be made until their murderous activity is ended. It doesn't matter if the Palestinian interlocutor is Yasser Arafat, Abu Mazen, Abu Ala, or Abed Rabo - nothing significant will be achieved as long as Jews are being killed by Palestinian terrorists in our streets and on our buses.

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It is the intention of terrorists associated with Islamic fundamentalism to shake the foundations of the states whose civilian populations they attack, whether it be in the United States, Turkey, Israel, or Saudi Arabia - they want to prove that these states have lost their "monopoly on domestic violence" and cannot protect their citizens. Their success would call into question the existence of these states as we now know them, and could plunge the whole world into anarchy.

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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/369807.html

[Parche]

1. terra

What terra ists???

Oh the ones with the box cutters and knives,
not the ones we were told that have
Weapons of Mass Destruction

[pistoff democrat]

2. Sounds like a good discussion!

Foreign Affairs is where the I could stand for Iraq rather than Israel. Also India, Indonesia etc.

Bush' friends, the Saudis and their adventures in Iraq really seem more appropriate to Foreign Affairs.

But, that's just me. It's not up to me. Oh, well. Not much is.

:hi:


:kick:

[pistoff democrat]

3. Oh, my, I forgot:

How about reading the article I posted and commenting on that? That would be nice. Thanks!

[bemildred]

4. OK, I'll risk it.

A.Palestinian terrorists hold the peace process
hostage and no meaningful progress toward peace
can be made until their murderous activity is ended.

This is indeed one of the terrorists' goals, but you don't
have to cooperate with them, you can do what they don't want,
you can attack their political base and work towards peace
with those who are willing to reciprocate. There is large
support for an agreement within the Palestinian population
now, why not make use of it?

B. A primary reason to "withdraw" is to construct a more
defensible position. No army in it's right mind hangs on
to a poorly defended position because they are worried that the
enemy might think they are scared. A really smart Army will use
the withdrawal to a better position as a chance to entrap the enemy.

C. The purpose of the Islamic Fundamentalists is to reconstruct
the Islamic Golden Age, or something like it, they are not interested
in conquering the USA or Europe (a ridiculous idea BTW) and would
probably put up with Israel as long as they got a chance to work on
their little private utopia. I admit they might well never stop being
annoyed about Israel, but there is historical precedent for ignoring
a bit of European intrusion where Israel sits now. In any case,
if you give the vast majority of Palestinians something more useful
to do, the fundies will rapidly run out of recruits.

I did read the whole thing.