crumbbum

And BTW, as far as this "terrorism met with terrorism" argument goes, the IDF is not a terrorist organization. They don't target civilians, they have clearly defined rules of engagement, they avoid harming innocent people as much as is possible in their situation. If you take away all consequences of terrorism (I don't think there are enough at this point- the response to terror, as the US got right off the bat, needs to be greater than the terror itself- terrorism, if we are serious about stopping it, needs to be a net loss for those who would use it to advance political goals. If it was a losing tactic, they wouldn't use it), the terror would just multiply exponentially. What is really needed is zero-tolerance- no matter what your cause is, no matter what the situation, if you kill innocent people deliberately, you will lose, and it is the surest way NOT to achieve your goals.

And it needs to be said that Palestinian terrorism is not reactionary in it's origin- attacks happen when the IDF does nothing also. In fact, every time in the past there has been a cease-fire, or the IDF pulls out of an area, more attacks inevitably come from that area. The most recent example of the misguided "reaction" observation was that bus bombing in Jerusalem last week- it happened 2 days after a strike on Rantisi, one of the 2 head honchos of Hamas. Everyone assumed that the bus bombing happened in retaliation. But in fact, Israeli intelligence and Hamas themselves both said that it was not connected. These attacks take a long time to plan. They have to recruit the useful idiot to carry it out, brainwash him (this takes weeks), get the bomb, prepare the bomb, train the useful idiot, coordinate where the attack will be, arrange transportation, how to get past Israeli security, etc. The bus bombing was planned as a reaction to the AQABA SUMMIT. It would have happened even if they hadn't targeted Rantisi.

Unfortunately, by talking about a Palestinian state AFTER all this terrorism there in the past two years, I am afraid that it is demonstrating the terrorism (in the eyes of those who would use these tactics) as effective, thus encouraging it's further use not only against Israel, but against us and the rest of the free world. Not only is there an ideological connection, but even if there weren't, we are talking about the same methods- don't think these people aren't taking notes on each other. These things don't happen in a vacuum. People need to understand that no peace will ever be built on the deaths of innocent people, like that 7 year old girl who was in the car with her siblings and grandfather, targeted for death by Palestinian gunmen as they drove home from a Bat Mitzvah celebration. There is nothing in any way equivalent to that happening to Palestinians. Tolerating such disgusting acts will not bring peace, it will only ensure that these things continue to happen. The lack of consequence is seen as a green light.

Despite the fact that a majority of Palestinians support the terror, there are surely some that don't. These people can't speak out though, because in the past, dissenters have been branded "collaborators with Israel" and killed publicly as a warning to others. If someone (Israel, US) went in and totally wipe out the terrorists, the Palestinian Authority(an incarnation of the PLO), and actually set up a new infrastructure with new schools that didn't teach hate, a free press, etc., not only would said Palestinians probably breathe a sigh of relief, but in a few years (maybe many), after the society had been de-brainwashed, real peace could be made. But there is no way to make peace now- the only thing that can be done is to defeat the terrorists and those who support them.

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Truth is peace. We are all souls in bodies.