Sharon's gamble on Gaza fails to stop terrorists.

(From Irish Independent)

IN his heyday Ariel Sharon was a brilliant military commander, without whose talents Israel might not have survived the massive attacks on it by five Arab enemies bent on destroying it, in the weeks immediately following its declaration of independence when Israel stood alone, without a single declared ally.

Unfortunately Sharon is an incompetent and blundering politician.

He tries to appease people who want to destroy Israel, and his efforts to appease them only convince them that they are winning and that, if they sustain their attacks, Israel will collapse, quite soon.

This is not a matter of conjecture. I am referring to something that is happening in the here and now. Sharon, in an attempt to reconcile Israel's Western critics, withdrew Israel's forces from Gaza. That earned him no more than nods of patronising approval from Israel's Western critics.

Hamas suspended armed attacks on Israel, while the evacuation from Gaza was proceeding and they were rewarded by the release of a number of Hamas terrorists who had been detained by Israel.

But once the evacuation of Gaza was completed, Hamas resumed its attacks, as anyone who clearly understood what Hamas is all about foresaw that Hamas would do. Israel is now paying the price for Sharon's miscalculations. As a report yesterday from the Israeli village of Nitiv Ha'asra in Northern Gaza disclosed: 'The withdrawal earlier this month of all 20,000 Israeli troops from Northern Gaza and the closure of the 21 Jewish settlements has transformed the quiet farming village into a frontline community with a bunker mentality.