Ngorr, Dave & Joe:
Thanks for your always valuable input into this topic.

IMO, there is no excuse for morally reprehensible behavior such as that of
the suicide attackers.  The IDF also are no saints as it pertains to horrific
acts such as the virtual bulldozing of Jenin or the constant assasinations of
Palestinian militants.  Both sides because of a culture of violence and hate
are to blame.  Israel should also  stop building settlements in the occupied
areas. This just adds fuel to the fire.

The USA and in particular the Bush administration with it's hands-off policy
has failed miserably in this case.  The Clinton administration must receive
credit for actively engaging the two sides and in effect preventing a
situations like we have there now.  This said, since Israel is the USA's
chief ally in the area, it is up to the Bush administration to make sure a
bold proposal for a settlement is reached.  In ithis light, it is quite
unfortunate that Powell's mission failed.

I hope something +ve some out of this conflict.

-Yus

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~