Worse, to Israelis, their subsequent pullback appeared to be on American orders, which I'm told it was not. His strategy, it seems to me, is to apply the Powell Doctrine of disproportionate military response to the warring Palestinian leadership - while now easing economic pressures on the Palestinian people. The hope is to build bottom-up pressure on the swaggering warriors from suffering working people. That requires a fierce answer to Arafat's undeclared war. As Americans painfully learned in Vietnam, when one side fights to win and the other side fights to settle, the side fighting to win wins.
Nothing silences guns like the prospect of no victory.
If this is not the time for peacemakers, history can still honor the war-enders. William Safire is a New York Times columnist. This website is best viewed by Netscape 4.5 or better and Internet Explorer 4.0 or better. Earlier browsers may result in issues with javascript and Y2k non-compliance with dates. This website is a member of the Vermont Today Community.