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Originally Posted by richlevy
Just remember that Sharon did his part to help that along, also. I'm glad that he is now making up for lost time in trying to work on the settlement.
In the end, peace requires not only the big stick, but 'speaking softly'. I think Bush learned that too late. You can't threaten someone and then ask them to disarm. "Crusade" and "axis of evil" have really set him back.
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Unfortunately as he is moving people out of Gaza and token parts of West Bank, so he is building new settlements on the outskirts of Jerusalem. On top of that Israel will not be relinquishing control of Gaza. So net result he doesn't move anything forward so far as the Palestinians are concerned. Sceptisism remains and is not addressed. Lost opportunity. But then, if I am reading it right, it appears to be a one-off, high profile initiative with no comprehesive agreed plan behind it. One-sided solutions don't work. The other party has to be involved. If you want to be cynical, maybe this is behind Sharon's effort - 'Look, I did all this in Gaza and still they attack us.' If you want to be optimistic, the withdrawal in Gaza could provide the jolt needed to allow Abbas to address terrorist activities as a means and reason to push Israel to extend disengagement even further. It really shouldn't be a guessing game, though.