If they can't, well, it's either time for those European countries so passionately in favor of the Palestinians to put their own troops on the line to calm things down.

Yeah, but we both know they won't. What then?

I noted over on The Belmont Club that his move may be a high-stakes gamble by Ariel Sharon to force the Palis' hand: either they want peace and will respect the border; or they don't and will turn Gaza into exactly the rats' nest of terror ops that Netanyahu fears it will be.

I think it goes without saying that Netanyahu is right and the Palis will turn Gaza into Terrorist Central, and that Israel will once again be under siege. But what response will come from the Israelis? It depends on the cost Israel is made to bear for this action: one big suicide attack in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem could mean fire and sword for Gaza.

Let 'em kill each other.

As for Israeli's security-- the wall seems to be fairly effective.

If I'm not mistaken, a lot of the emphasis is being taken away from having Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian areas at checkpoints, looking for weapons and stuff, and having instead a wall and checkpoints only at the crossings into Israel.

It seems to me that's a better plan. For one thing, it reduces friction with the Palestinians because you're only stopping them at the border to Israel. For another, you don't have soldiers all over the place, easy targets for terrorists; they're back at better defended positions on Israel's border.

And it seems more effective to have all of the security back at the actual border.

Having a big wall should help with patrolling that border.

The problem is with the fragmented security services ostensibly under Abba's control. I will grant the longevity and, by rock standards, the cohesiveness of this group over the decades past. But to believe this can be extended into a unified police and security force beggars belief. I anticipate an S-O-S.

Add to this the potential for a nest of ugly terror groups each trying to out-recruit each other by sponsoring more and more outrageous terror attacks and you can see why it just doesn't seem like some guys named Ule and Gretel can get the job done.

Sorry to rain on the parade.

ace:

You're forgetting that Gaza has a seaport, and that this provides an avenue for a lot of ugly stuff to come in and go out. Explosives and weapons can go in; terrorists can ship out. Gaza could become the armory for that entire region of the middle east. An operational seaport could allow for the importation of heavy weapons like tanks and howitzers, not to mention surface-to-surface missiles.

The Israelis aren't stupid, though -- they'll have ELINT and HUMINT resources crawling over the seaport like ants on an anthill. Still, there's a limit to what intelligence of this kind can achieve; heavy weapons are almost inevitably going to be smuggled in.

If Israel makes Gaza into a de facto (and maybe even de jure) country, then when the innevitable mortar and rocket attacks occur, Israel will be justufied under international law in going apeshit on their ass - it'll be an armed attack from a foreign country, meriting a response up to and including war. At present Israel has to act with the restraint required of an occupying power.

Sharon may be fat and obnoxious, but he's been beating Arab armies and nations his whole life.