[BlackVeil]

'Sharon has been a disaster ... he's the one who started diverting money to build all the settlements in the occupied territories. He said he did it to establish "facts on the ground,"' And he did establish facts on the ground. As you say - what a problem. Sharon even put settlements in Gaza - the world's most densely populated place and he clears a space to put settlements. He was a failure in his military campaign in Lebanon too. He didn't achieve his objectives, and he put the Israeli army in a position where they faced steady losses, so then they withdrew. Sending a message to the Palestinians that while negotiations are no good (they don't alter facts on the ground) violence certainly works.

[DentsRun]

Well, you're right. Sharon has left the Israelis in a totally untenable position. He put settlements in the occupied territories. Now he can't draw back to defensible borders because that would leave the settlements on the wrong side of the fence. The only solution is to annex the entire west bank and gaza but then what do you do with 3 million fast-breeding Palestinians? That's why I say he's waiting for the U.S. to attack Iraq. Saddam will launch missles at Israel in retaliation. The Palestinians will go wild with joy and launch sympathy attacks all over Israel and the occupied territories. Sharon will send in the IDF to drive the Palestinians across the Jordan at a time when the world's attention is focused on the U.S. war with Iraq. When the dust settles, the west bank and gaza will be Arab-free. But first he has to get the U.S. to attack, which is why he sent Netanyahu to tell Cheney not to wait for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but to attack Iraq immediately.