Rather than take note of the fact that the Palestinians have not even taken the first steps required of them in Phase 1 of the so called roadmap for peace in the Middle East, our State Dept. is criticizing the construction of the fence by Israel. Krauthammer says it's a last resort to stop the killing:
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 Palestinian 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.
UPDATE 8/8: Amitai Etzioni's op-ed on "the fence".
Posted by dan at August 8, 2003 07:32 PM