1. Ted Belman said:

"Thus he ceded land to the Palestinians, but entirely on Israel's terms — and was clearly preparing to do something similar to the vast majority of the West Bank."

This is idiotic. It wasn't remotely on Israel's terms.

2. radiorote said:

"So Sharon blazed a new trail, borrowing from both. He washed Israel's hands of the Gaza Strip with a unilateral declaration that it would henceforth be Palestinian territory. Thus he ceded land to the Palestinians, but entirely on Israel's terms — and was clearly preparing to do something similar to the vast majority of the West Bank."

Nice Spin. How about this, Podhoretz: Mr. Sharon was not being chased out of town -- he was leading a parade.

3. kuhnkat said:

Ted,

a little off subject but BIG:

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/1/6/231235.shtml

I think John was saying that by doing it voluntarily Israel did it when and how THEY wanted to as opposed to an outside group coming in and dictating when and how the people would be moved, what would happen to the possesions...

In the end you are more right. John sounds like a sour grapes excuse.

4. Ed D said:

Kuhnkat, you explanation smells to high heaven. In Sharon's old age his wisdom became warped. We, the Israelis, and the Jews worldwide do not have to bow to any country or organization, but only to G-d. As an ex military guy, one knows that territory taken in war is fair game and is never given up. The only security for Israel is to retake all of Gaza, expelling the inhabitants that are militants. This way every bit of land on the western side is not threatened and Jordan, in the east, is an ally and poses no danger. Yhe northern part of the Shomron along with Gaza should be immediately annexed.

This is where Sharon should have led Israel; however, I still pray for his recovery.

5. J. Lichty said:

Exactly Ted. This is the kool-aid that the National Review crowd has bought. They view Sharon as some sort of Israeli Messiah who
"won the war"* (a war which we all know is not over), much like they view Bush** and are unable to even objectively look at the facts on the ground. Just as Christopher Hitchens has a blind spot when it comes to Israel, so does the Commentary/National Review crowd when it comes to Sharon.

* Charles Krauthammer declared the war over a few months ago.
** in his endorsement of the Gaza retreat (breaking the heart of his daughter Ruthie Blum) the Dean of Commentary and "neo-con" movement, Norman Podhoretz, declared his blind faith in Bush (hinting at the same for Sharon).

Gaza has already proven a disaster in terms of tactics and strategy. It has become more armed, the border is pourous thanks to the retreat not being on Israel's terms, the former residents have been treated horribly, rockets rain on western Negev, where else to I go.

Olmert plans to be much worse

6. kuhnkat said:

Ed D.,

Look up the term Sour Grapes in reference to psychological attitudes. I thought I said John Podhoretz wrote about something he didn't like and couldn't do anything about saying that is what he really wanted in the first place.

Where did I say anything about agreeing with it??

Reading my other posts you will find that I am in favor of Israel attacking the so-called Palestinians and evicting them from Israel (cis-Jordan). They could then allow the ones willing to swear allegiance to Israel back in on an INDIVIDUAL basis. Where the people stay in the meantime can be up to the RELIGION OF PEACE BROTHERS who have kept them in poverty for 60 years and propagandized them into the violent Islamofascists most of them are today!!

Israel also needs to give up its leftie tendencies and implement healthy policies like the DEATH PENALTY for people involved in terrorism and murderers in general.

How many terrorists are back out there attacking Israel who were caught and could have been convicted and executed for deaths caused??

Israel also needs to make very clear to the WORLD what their boundaries ARE and what they are willing to FIGHT to KEEP!!!!! They need to tell the US they WILL NOT NEGOTIATE WITH MURDERING TERRORISTS EXCEPT THROUGH THE BARRELS OF THEIR GUNS!!!

(we in the US need to be doing more of that also. Condi is scaring me.)

The political process is a slow DEATH for ISRAEL!!

Now, if you are commenting on my GUESSES or HOPES in another post as to what Sharon MIGHT have been doing, in reference to all the US prezs who ALLOWED or CREATED atrocities to get the US population behind a war effort, what the HEY??

Now, as an ex-military guy, how many people in Israel can you count on right now to FIGHT FOR THE STATE, WITHOUT BEING ATTACKED BY EGYPT OR SYRIA... Apparently not too many based on the people who are being voted for and the PLANS those people are putting forward as a reason to vote for them. What I am seeing through the elections and the media is that Israel has appeasers every bit as bad as the US. Please, show me that I am WRONG HERE!!!

The US has a less violent, but, analgous problem in its southwest. The Politicos and appeasers won't even accept the fact that there is a group of Mexicans that believe in a future for Aztlan. The part of the Southwest that we obtained from Mexico. If we do not beat illegal immigration and drug culture we could lose a huge chunk of the US just like Israel lost Gaza and may lose the West Bank.

At some point every person has to decide what they will DIE for and, just as important, what they are willing to KILL for.

7. Philip Blom said:

"Three-dimensional vision," my foot! This glorifying of Arial Sharon by the liberal media because he was giving them what they wanted, makes me sick. I've posted the following "complaint" at bbcnews.com:
Your reporting about Arial Sharon's illness is done without acknowledging that he, his family and his "career" loyalists are causing Israel to be regarded to have the seventh most corrupt government in the world. The reason why Ariel Sharon isn't in jail, where his son Omri is now going and his other son Gilad should also be, is that he is helping the liberal world to dismantle Israel to prevent her from becoming too powerful to be controlled in a global ruling system.

Dr Aaron Lerner of IMRA mentioned on 09 January 2004 about the ramifications of Sharon's planning for Israel, " ...Others argue that his actions reflect his 12 hour planning horizon..." Now, having seen bulldozer Sharon's scheming for two more years, I don't agree that he has a limited planning horizon. He (and his advisers) planned skillfully and deceitfully and he acted one-dimensionally (unilaterally/undemocratically) to achieve exactly what he wanted - or his handlers and co-conspirators (like Shimon Peres and the extreme left) with total disregard of the consequences for Israel and the Jewish people -- viz. that he was helping to turn the land of the Bible into the land of the Koran (under Sharia Law) and that he was cutting Israel to a width that left her without the necessary strategic depth to defend herself - according even to the Pentagon (http://www.hirhome.com/israel/pentagon.pdf).

Arik Sharon's "unilateral" style mostly did more harm than good in Israel's wars as well, viz. in the Yom Kipur War in 1973. Turning the Arabs around and running for their lives, made Israel the righteous victors in this defensive war, but then Sharon had to invade Cairo, that turned Israel into the aggressor that needed to yield under int'l pressure. His invasion of Lebanon in 1982 (behind PM Begin's back), was nevertheless the best thing to do for Israel - whether he intended it to be or not. However, Israel would have had way fewer problems later in history had he okayed killing Arafat, the man the CFR and the State Department were grooming to become a thorn in Israel's flesh, when he was squarely in an Israeli sniper's cross-hairs. Obviously, he was then already part of the long-term "peace, peace" thing that the prophet Ezekiel saw as a flimsy whitewashed wall. He was also told that the wall would be brought down and it's whitewashers with it...! (Ezek 13:10)

I was, therefore, delighted when Sharon left the Likud and put himself and his fellow whitewashers in the same box - it's a pity Bibi Netanyahu, Limor Livnat and some others didn't go with him -- those who are now trying to turn the Likud into a centrist party. Anyway, I soon realized Sharon WAS Kadima and that everyone who joined him would go down with him should he go down...! And then it happened...! I'm therefore not worried about the present good showing of Kadima in the polls - without Sharon. Let's pray nevertheless for something to happen that would further strengthen and unite the Bible believing nationalist camp - the "sons of Zion" according to the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 9, where it is shown that they will defeat the "sons of Greece" [Freemasons/liberals/globalists/humanists/agnostics, etc.]).