*Originally posted by sdimbert *
**
First of all, don’t worry about my name. I’ve been called worse than that. 
Second of all, I said, “…when the rest of the world is finally willing to sit back and let Israel deal with her enemies on their terms (like Israel did in 1948. And 1967. Etc…), you’ll see an end to the current ‘crisis.’”
I meant exactly that.
The US has a policy which seems sensible to me. It’s become a bit cloudy since September, but basically, according to the US Government, Terrorism is a crime. Not statemenship. Crime.
The Middle East is a murky issue, because it involves a recently-formed independent nation (Israel) and an emerging nation (“Palestine.”)
Now, for the purposes of this post, I am going to put aside my feelings on the legitimacy of “Palestine” as a nation-state. Suffice it to say that Israel has demonstrated a willingness to allow autonomy to the PA. That’s enough for me.
The problem is that the PA is not acting like a nation. When nations have grievences against other nations, they use two tools: diplomacy and war.
War has rules. And the PA doesn’t follow them.
Blowing up civilians on a bus (7 more, this morning, BTW) is not an act of war, it is an act of terrorism. It is crime, not statemanship.
Somehow, the media, in it’s well-meaning search for equity, has fooled the world into believing that the PA is a legitimate nation acting legitimately based on legitimate grievances.
When I said that Israel should be allowed to retaliate “on her terms,” I meant that she should be allowed to punish the criminals perpetrating the crimes. **
