Required Reading

Charles Krauthammer:U.S. hypocritical to attack Israel for safeguarding itself from terrorists

The Israelis are not happy with the fence. They love the land as much as the Palestinians, and scarring it with any barrier is so painful to Israelis that for years they resisted the idea. The reason they finally decided to build it is that they could no longer in good conscience refrain from taking the one step that could prevent suicide bombers from sneaking into Israel to blow up innocents.

This is not speculation. There have been nearly 100 Palestinian suicide bombings. All the terrorists came from the West Bank, where the barrier is being built. Not a single one has come from Gaza. Why? Because there already is a fence separating Gaza from Israel.

The Palestinians hate the idea of the fence because it will work. It will end their ability to make many terrorist attacks, and in doing so, it will reduce the power of the only tool they've ever bothered to use.

The world has worked hard to give the Palestinians the idea that terrorism works. They kill innocents in pizza parlors, and diplomats come to visit them and pressure Israel to recognize their "statehood."

It is the inverted logic of the "peace process." And the Bush Administration sullies its otherwise excellent foreign policy record whenever it gets involved in it.

- posted by total @ 8/09/2003 06:55:00 AM .