Mr. Bush is now putting this question before the world: "We have to do something. Don't pretend we can look away."
We can no longer pretend that World War III has not already begun. It started on 9/11/2001.
Then why is HE looking away when it comes to sealing our borders from illegal immigrants?
The basic problem is that Europe is still morally enfeebled by a half century of war that nearly destroyed it, and did destroy its power. Moral relativism and isolationism dominate the mood in Europe, and have for decades. Now, however, the piper demands to be paid. Now the Europeans are being forced to make a choice between good and evil, between survival and surrender. They have studiously tried to avoid any such choices for decades, and now they are paralyzed. Well, as the saying goes, lead, follow or get out of the way!
If the existence of Israel so antagonizes the Arabs, then why must we think about this "shitty little country"? Why won't Israel just go away? If the existence of the Jews antagonizes the Muslims, then why won't the Jews go away? ("Surely there are wide open spaces for them in Wyoming," as one correspondent unselfconsciously explained.)
Because Israel, unlike France, isn't full of snail-eating surrender monkeys. And, more seriously, because the Europeans themselves made it clear that Jews have nowhere else to go. Europe's prior promotion and toleration of the vilest forms of anti-semitism led to the Holocaust, which in turn led to the creation of the State of Israel. And the Arabs have also made their position clear, one which apes the European Nazi position: they want Israel destroyed and all of its inhabitants exterminated. So the Eurotwits will have to suffer Israel's existence. (/sarcasm)
At the time of writing, the operation still had not extended into the Gaza strip. I believe the reason is that the whole thing was aimed at Mr. Arafat's own terrorist infrastructure. With the isolation of Arafat in Ramallah, Gaza has increasingly become Hamas territory, to be dealt with separately...
Hamas is next. As soon as the present Israeli operation is over, the next Hamas suicide bomber will precipitate an Israeli action throughout Gaza.
Bush baits a trap for Arafat
I have believed this since the Bush speech. Bush knows that Arafat can't stop the terror, even if he wants to (which he certainly doesn't want, as he's the architect of the whole thing in the first place). Bush has given Arafat and the other Arabs a bone, in the form of telling Israel to pull back. This is viewed as a victory by the Arabs, as now Israel's ally is, apparently, no longer backing its actions. Note, however, that Powell will not arrive until sometime next week, giving Israel a nice amount of time to mop up. Also note that the Arabs were given a clear message: no more terrorism. Since it is obvious that they are incapable of meeting this condition, Bush will be free to condemn Arafat in public. The other Arabs and the Europeans won't be able to say diddly about it, nor about the Israeli reaction. By the way, this series of events will also allow the public to be aware of what Bush already knows - which Arab countries are with us (or at least not stupid enough to be against us), and which are with (or are) the terrorists. Bush is simply dividing the wheat from the chaff, and setting the chaff up for disposal.
By the way, does anyone think that there is the remotest chance that Al Gore would be doing the same thing, that Gore would have the moral clarity, the guts, the brains to do this? Not me. Yet the lieberal Democraps will still complain about how stupid Bush is. Well, GWB has already proven to me that he's a better actor than Reagan on this score - he's really lulled his political enemies into underestimating him. This, by itself, shows real brilliance. My respect for him grows daily, even if I don't agree with everything he does (like the CFR fiasco, or caving to the 'craps on domestic stuff). Bush will go down as one of our best and wiliest presidents.
The reality is that Europeans are increasingly afraid of their Muslim immigrants. They see what is happening now in the West Bank and Gaza, and they genuinely fear it may explode in Europe's face -- that the suicide bombers will soon be crashing into their coffee shops, their discos, their pizzerias. It is the fear that these attacks on Jews, by youth gangs from Europe's impoverished Muslim ghettoes and slums, are the dreaded precursor of a far worse "clash of civilizations" to come.
ITS AXIOMATIC......ITS AXIOMATIC......ITS AXIOMATIC......ITS AXIOMATIC......ITS AXIOMATIC......ITS AXIOMATIC......
World War III is long over. United States of America's President Ronald Reagan, with a little help FRom a Pope and a Polish dockyard worker, was awarded the win in that one upon his KO defeat of the Evil Empire.
United States of America's President George Walker Bush's task -- already well in hand and under control -- is to fight and to win World War IV!