[tw]

Originally posted by Undertoad
<i>There comes a time when you must answer this. Is Sharon an honest man or is he guilty of crimes against humanity? That is basically what your dispute with anything I have posted comes down to. An honest man would have stopped believing numbers from the Israelis long ago - just as honest men in VietNam called US government reports in VietNam the 5 o'clock Follies. </i>

This is, I think, your problem. Having determined that Sharon is a dichead, you have decided that the entire government is not to be trusted under any circumstance. It gives you license to entirely dismiss any facts you don't like.

Sharon has proven himself to be a dichead extraordinare. There is no doubt about his history over generations. I did not 'determine' that. Sharon has proven himself to be that dishonorable. What he is and what I have posted are irrefutible facts.

Sharon represents what has changed in Israel. When right wing extremists suddenly feared loss of the occupied territories, then a facade was removed. They remember the humiliation of peace with Egypt - and the removal of Sinai settlements. Never again. Outright racism has replaced the "ohh poor Israel has so much to fear" lie. We need only look at the Nightline Town meeting or listen the extremist 'preaching' by Ed Koch on Bloomsberg radio every weekend to see how suddenly racist and outright 'cold war' lies are being promoted. Ed Koch was an honest man. But with a new reality for the occupied territories, even Ed Koch sounds like a "Twana Brawley was raped" Al Sharpton.

Was the Barak - Arafat deal in Camp David an honest deal? Of course not because it was not complete. It suffered from the same problems with previous agreements - too many holes that an extremist Likud government would obviously utilitize to destroy the deal. The Guardian only gives another reason why the deal was unworkable. However you would not know those facts if limited to domestic news sources. Furthermore, Barak did not have Rabin's advantage. The right wing then was not yet so militant - so fearful of what is absolutely necessary to create regional peace. The right wing Likud party was not yet ready to demonstrate how racist they were.

After Oslo, Israel changed. The right wing rose up to grab power and to promote racist actions. Israel is now considered one of the world's most racist nations. This from Amensty International and from the UN Conference on Racism that convened in South Africa. Virtually the entire world considers this new Israel to be a government of racists. Racists, especially when criticized by 90+% of the world, become defensive and lie more often. We have that with the current Israeli government - outright lying in the Sharon tradition.

And so we have the rediculous number - 95% of all killed were combatants. Yes, they lived on the same block as combatants and therefore they too must have been combatants? Put this spin on it and a lie can be turned into truth? This Likud government has no credibility in the world. It exists, in part, because its members advocated the murder of an Israeli Prime Minister. A man killed because he moved in the only direction possible for peace.

Isreal will always fear enemies, real and imaginery, as long as Israeli settlements exist in the occupied territories. But extremist right wing, anti-humanity Israelis cannot even be honest enogh to admit their agenda - the total annexation of all occupied territories and ethnic cleansing therein. Tell me that is or is not Sharon's agenda. Tell me that the Likud government is not racist, and wants to annex the occupied territories.

This from Andy Rooney on 14 Apr 2002 Sixty Minutes:

Ariel Sharon does not want peace. He loves this war.

A comment based upon facts and the history of Prime Minister dichead.