Israel!

So, you thought I was going to beat up on Israel for its beating up on Hamas? Not me. I've given up. There's no use losing sleep over people who will never change their ways - and that's both Israel and its bitter enemies. It's a fight to the death, and this is just another skirmish on the way.

In my view, the only way this will ever end is for Israel to tell its Arab neighbors that Armageddon is here: "fix our security permanently or we are going to go out with a bang and take you all with us!" That outcome is probably some years down the road, but I see it coming. In the meantime, there will be lots of these Israeli forays against those who provoke it repeatedly or in one-time successful operations.

Is this a good situation? No. Ugly. Can it be changed? No. Neither side will budge. Hamas (maybe) believes demographics and world opinion are on its side, but, then again, maybe these guys are just insanely certain that they can ultimatly win without losing everything. Israel will do whatever it takes to save itself, even to the extent of using its atomic weapons in a final act of vengeance.

The only solution? An imposed solution that neither party would be happy with. Perhaps the civilized world will, at some point, feel the danger is so great that such an imposition would be implemented.

There are lots of places where impositions sound good (Darfur, perhaps?), but none may be so important in the long run as in the middle east, where countries like Israel and Iran can cause chaos far beyond their normal stature in the world. Anyone want to bet how long it takes before this happens? It's Israel's only hope.