1. Bill Levinson said:

If the Palestinian Authority cannot or will not shut down the terrorists, Israel should terminate the peace process, annex Gaza and the West Bank, and declare open season on Hamas. If a Hamas member appears in public, he gets a Mossad/IDF bullet in his head or a helicopter-fired rocket. In fact, Israel should declare open season on every terrorist group in the region, with any Israeli being free to kill any positively-identified member of Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, and so on.

Terrorists should be exterminated the way our frontiersmen and ranchers once wiped out entire animal species (wolves, coyotes) that threatened their livestock. This policy was even extended to Native American tribes, with bounties awarded for every scalp received. (That wasn't anything to be proud of, although there was right and wrong on both sides.) The point is, however, that humans should have less of a problem with killing terrorists than with gassing cockroaches with Raid or Black Flag. A cockroach can't help being vermin but terrorists are vermin by choice.

2. Bill Narvey said:

Bill, you advocate that Israel go back and and take Gaza and annex Judea and Samaria and couple that with a blood, guts and go get 'em approach towards terrorists.

Venting rage and frustration at being fed up with Palestinian lies, dishonesty, moral bankruptcy and terrorism, as well as Western democracies blithely giving the Palestinians a pass for their perfidy and always putting pressure on Israel to concede more is understandable, but it is not a plan. It is a wet dream goal.

Doubtless that same rage and frustration is felt by a great many Israelis and including I would just bet, Sharon.

Recall that Israel did target terrorist leaders, the two most significant being Sheik Yassin and Rantisi. As justified as such action was, it drew enormous condemnation from the U.S., from Europe and even our eunuchian Liberal government in Canada cried crocodile tears over Yassin, as if some innocent was taken out and expressed its disapproval of Israel's actions, Canada staunchly supports Israel's right to defend itself as staunchly as it condemns Israel for doing just that.

By an act of annexation, apart from issues of extreme anger by most of the world and courting the extreme risk of setting off an Arab allied war against Israel, just what is Israel to do with all the Palestinians who would, if Israel annexed those areas, again come under Israel's control and actually be within the expanded borders of Israel?

Its easy to say Israel would deport them, but to where when no Arab nation and indeed no Western nation would take them in because to do so would be helping the Israelis. Should Israel send them out on boats into the middle of the Meditteranean and let them fend for themselves? Its kind of hard to do that with 2 million people.

Clearly Israel cannot take those annexation actions for a number of reasons, some of which are fairly obvious and others are doubtless bound up in the nature and extent of the pressure Israel has been under from America and other nations since its creation in 1948. This unfortunately as things stand now is not a realistic option.

Israel can of course continue to target terrorists because they seem to only have to suffer loud outcries against its actions.

Annexation of land will be a whole different matter.

Israeli politics and focus on a united game plan to maximize Israel's strength of purpose to take tough positions vis a vis the Palestinians is now in disarray.

Even if Israelis wanted to take back land and positions bargained away for Palestinian lies, the political parties are presently too weak and fractious amongst themselves to seem to be able to focus on doing that or on any big and essential picture which is to be united behind ensuring Israel's strength and security against not just the Palestinians, but 500 million hostile neighbors.

It will take the various Israeli political parties managing to forget their differences for now and coming together on the one goal of a strong Israel and a game plan to achieve that goal. That game plan must be not only focused on denying Palestinians anything more if not also pushing to take back what was given in exchange for Palestinian lies, but to also better withstand the pressure being put on Israel by the U.S. and others.

All of Israel putting aside their differences to unite in such goal and game plan to get there does not at the moment look too promising. That is not just frustrating and maddening. It is cause for sadness as well.

The Israel - Palestinian conflict is probably more correctly characterized as a war. The peace process can also be characterized as a war process that hopefully will at some time lead to peace. So far the peace the process seems to be leading to, is for the world to ultimately stand at Israel's graveside and say a prayer that it rest in peace.

Israel needs a passionate, charismatic, wise and great leader to unite all Israelis and those who care about Israel, to take Israel back from the brink and restore it to strength and good health.

Biblically, such person was described as a Messiah. The likes of a messiah is just what Israel very desperately now needs to come to its aid.

3. rocky said:

Bill, targeting terrorist leaders only gives them glamour in the eyes of the potential terrorists.

As for yet, no effort has been made in tackling the problem of terrorist being bred. Those mosque schools and all the other arab schools are not giving proper education. They just breed hatred, militancy and religious fanaticism.

They are the root of the problem. The terrrorist organizations and leaders are mere leaves and buds.

4. Bill Narvey said:

Rocky, the lack of effort to take on the breeding grounds of hatred terrorists is not just in the Israel-Palestinian theatre, but in the broader world theatre.

As for the Palestinians, Abbas like Arafat before him had promised to go after terrorists and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure. The further promise was made to cease inciting Jew hatred in the media and educational systems, including getting rid of all written materials and books that were disseminating Jew hatred and replacing them with appropriate non- racist materials.

Just like the promises of Arafat, Abbas' promises have been broken or were just empty words in the first place.

There is however a greater problem with Palestinians' dishonesty and failure to abide by their word. It is that the U.S. and the other nations involved in this questionable road map peace process, not only have ignored Palestinian failures, but more recently have continued to press Israel for more concessions without even calling upon Palestinians to meet their primary obligations.

The Rafah agreement is a case in point.

On the world stage however, the U.S. is battling the foot soldiers of radical Islam, but are doing nothing to destroy the breeding grounds for radical Islam. That would entail engaging in a war against Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations as well as Iran.

It is disgusting that the Palestinians are rewarded for their disgusting dishonesty, lies and deceits and that the U.S. has virtually given the Palestinians a green light to continue their terrorism and incite Jew hatred.

It is disgusting that America's war against recently announced radical Islam is just the same old war against the soldiers of radical Islam but not the generals and infrastructure of radical Islam.

Samuel Huntington's theory that global conflict is moving to a "Clash of Civilizations" is in my view already upon us. Western nations however are to frightened to admit that because dealing with it means an all out bloody deadly war between the West and Islamic nations and the West, unlike its Islamic counterparts, has no desire to lose blood and lives and is prepared to do almost whatever it costs to avoid it.

The West however turns a blind eye to the fact the the more it appeases or ignores radical Islam, the more empowered radical Islam becomes.

5. Ted Belman said:

Bill

Your views often expressed here are well written , well thought out and very much appreciate.