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poking intellectual holes in the lid of your simplicity

Friday, August 19, 2005

Here's my question:

Sharon was one of the architects behind the creation of the Jewish settlements in Gaza. He has always been a hardline militant and I have absolutely no idea why he has agreed to this pullout. It doesn't make any sense given his history and I'm wondering what's behind it. There is no way he's simply caving into pressure from Bush, Sharon has never operated that way before. I'm thinking he must have been promised something huge, but I just can't imagine what. The green light to bomb Iran, maybe? Does anyone have any ideas about this?

posted by Samwick @ 5:09 AM  

11 Comments:

  • At 1:09 PM, Blogger Girl With An Alibi said…

    I was naively hoping that Sharon had "got Religion" so to speak but you pose a more likely scenario; and it does scare me. Sharon doesn't do anything without getting something big in return. (Unless, perhaps Bush has pics of Sharon with little boys and small farm animals... then maybe it's like blackmail.... we can only hope.)

     

  • At 2:23 PM, Blogger Sheryl said…

    I thought they were moving into the West Bank while moving out of Gaza. I haven't been paying attention to this lately because I'm trying to compensate for overdosing myself on politics.

    If you want the full scoop though, watch Mozaic feeds. There's a link on my blog. They give reports from both the Israeli and the arab points of view, as well as the iranian views. It's all either in english or dubbed into english. Good stuff.

     

  • At 6:34 PM, Blogger Damien said…

    Well consider first that it's only 1 settlement out of at least 120 though the west bank. All things considered it is a huge move, I thing the general reality of having to secure 9000 settlers against 1.1 million Palestinians also contributed.

    As for the green light for an Iranian strike, dude I think your on to something there.

     

  • At 8:28 PM, Blogger Snave said…

    I think Girl With An Alibi gives the best analysis of this question!

     

  • At 2:33 AM, Blogger Samwick said…

    You mean with the boys and farm animals comment? I agree, that's the best explanation I've heard yet. Ms. Alibi is quite the analyst.

    Damien: "I think the general reality of having to secure 9000 settlers against 1.1 million Palestinians also contributed."

    This also makes sense. I've sort of been unsure about this possibility since Sharon is so militant, but it fits the facts. This explanation, that he decided to leave Gaza since it's clearly unfeasible, would imply that Sharon is a reasonable, flexible person, which is why I've been skeptical. However, it may very well be the reason. We'll just have to see what happens to Iran.

    Is it okay, Damien, if I steal your profile photo and tell everyone it's mine? Thanks.

     

  • At 9:59 PM, Blogger Impulsivecompulsive said…

    The Gaza Strip doesn't have anywhere near the same economic or religious importance of the West Bank, so if Sharon wanted to throw a bone (albeit a big fat bone), that'd be the one. Why throw a bone? I'm not up on the news much lately, but how's that wall going up? Because if they haven't started ripping that puppy down yet, pulling out of Gaza is a great way to keep the world focused on something that's not considered a violation of rights and a big ol' nono by the US, the UN, etc...

     

  • At 1:31 AM, Blogger Nauman said…

    Yes, Matt. You're quite right. I got the same feeling when i heard about the withdrawl. And the thing that's really weird is the intensity with which it's being done. I mean, FORCING the jews to get out. And this coming from Sharon.

     

  • At 2:15 AM, Blogger Samwick said…

    It definitely seems suspicious. I've also heard that the US is footing the bill for the entire operation.

    "if Sharon wanted to throw a bone (albeit a big fat bone), that'd be the one"

    That's a really good point, I hadn't even thought of that one. It's just going to be interesting to see how Sharon acts over the next 6 to 12 months.

     

  • At 9:25 AM, Blogger Sheryl said…

    The US foots the bill for everything in Israel, doesn't it?

     

  • At 2:47 PM, Blogger 1138 said…

    I think the promise is a permanant U.S. military presence in the middle east.
    Buffer Zones, we don't need no stinking buffer zones.
    We've got U.S. troops and nukes.

    The rockets launched from Jordan the other day are very suspicious.
    They are as likely to have been the work of Israel's fantatic right wing as AQ, more likely actually.
    Just because some attention seeking fool claims they shot Lincoln doesn't mean they were really the one that did.

     

  • At 9:35 AM, Blogger Samwick said…

    "permanent US bases in the Middle East"

    I agree. It makes me depressed when people talk about "bringing the troops home." That won't be happening for a long, long time.

     

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