Monday, January 3, 2005
I haven't done any real computer programming in a long time (cobbling web pages doesn't count), but when I did it was in BASIC on my of Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 1. There was a command in BASIC called the if/then statement. It would go something like this:
10 IF X=Y THEN GOTO 20
Translated into English that means that line 10 is telling you that IF variable "X" has some value "Y" THEN you proceed to do whatever command is in line 20.
Colin Powell says he was dismayed, as many of us were, at scenes of Abu Mazen being lifted onto the shoulders of terrorist leaders:
Powell says next Palestinian leader must end terrorist violence
Powell said nonetheless he remains convinced that Abbas' "prevailing position" is recognition of "the need to end terror and the need to try to persuade all segments of the Palestinian population to move away from terror and to move toward this opportunity for peace."
"If they don't move in that direction, then we're going to be stuck again. So we need reformed Palestinian leadership that deals with this terrorist threat," Powell told NBC's "Meet the Press."
Powell said that if Abbas becomes president, however, he may have to do more than just try to persuade terrorists to stop their violence. "He may have to undertake operations against them," Powell said.
"If he does that, and shows a real commitment to end terror, I think he will find an Israeli partner ready to work with him, and he will certainly find the international community, and the especially the United States, ready to play an important role," he said...
Note that "if/then" relationship: IF the Palestinian Arabs live up to their responsibilities, THEN they get to find out what comes next in the program - American and Israeli support and a road to a normal, prosperous life.
A lot of people are concerned that we're going to go down another Oslo path, where we set out a few conditions for the Palestinians, watch the new leadership do nothing and we're all expected to present the rewards anyway. There are indications that that's what's happening already.
Abbas Sees Duty to Shield the Militants [English translation: Abbas Sees Duty to Shield the Terrorists]
Mr. Abbas has been critical of Palestinian attacks against Israel, arguing that they are counterproductive, and he reiterated that position on Saturday. But at a campaign rally and in interviews in the Gaza Strip, he also said the Palestinian leadership would seek to shield wanted militants from the Israeli forces.
"We will not forget the wanted, the heroes," he said at a rally in Rafah, a much-battered town on Gaza's southern border with Egypt. "They are fighting for freedom." ...
"Heroes." Indeed. English translation: "Terrorists." Now if the terrorists were agreeing, as part of a great leap forward, to put down their weapons, and Abbas were offering to shield them from "retribution," that would be one thing. But that's not the case, of course:
Fatah armed wing vows to continue "armed struggle"
"The armed struggle will never stop until the Palestinian people gain their legitimate rights for freedom and independence and a Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as its capital,"said the group in a leaflet to mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Fatah movement.
"The historic struggle of the Palestinian people against the military occupation of their lands would be torches that wouldlight the path of fighting for freedom for the coming generations,"said the leaflet.
The group called on the Palestinians not to stop "fighting the occupation and to carry the torch that late leader Yasser Arafat carried," adding "we will never give up as long as there is an occupation."
It's important to remember that "occupation" has a very broad interpretation in these circles. (See also, Interview With a Gunman)
So why am I not jumping out of my tree over some of the things we're seeing Abbas do and say? Because the fact is he has to be a politician now, and a significant portion of the people he needs electoral support from either support the terrorists or are terrorists themselves. We're just going to have to sit-tight until after the election. As William Safire reports Ariel Sharon as saying:
"After their election, we'll see if they take the steps to stop the terror. If they do, it will be also quiet on our side." That seems to me to accept a cease-fire, qualified with "but if we have intelligence of a terrorist attack, we'll have to act."...
After the election, it will be time again to see what the Arabs do, and hold them responsible for that, not just what they say, as has always been the case until George Bush started giving Arafat the cold shoulder.
Positive outlook? Maybe. Dennis Ross in yesterday's Washington Post:
What struck me about these comments was that there was no hesitancy to make them. With the opposition sitting there, with the entire conference being conducted in Arabic and televised throughout the Middle East, declaring that violence against the Israelis was wrong bore no stigma and apparently little risk. Declaring that Palestinians had responsibilities to fulfill was also treated as legitimate, not sacrilegious...
Rest assured, it own't be the mainstream media that reports the truth about Arab irresponsibility, you'll have to continue to turn to alternative sources like blogs for amplification there, and we will amplify them. It's important to note that very often the motivation, here at least, is simply to present a more realistic picture - not that with each new terrorist attack, or lack of proper Arab response, we should throw our hands up and say, "OK, it's over." No, but what blogs like this one tend to do is present the stories that we feel are important so that when the various leaders decide on their courses of action, you, the reader, will be better informed as to why what is happening is happening and who's really responsible for it. The whitewashing MSM with their agendas and their access to keep can never be trusted to present a completely useful picture.
We all need to keep our fingers crossed for the moment about this election and Abbas's intention to deliver on security. There's another part of that BASIC programming command, you see..."ELSE."
10 IF X=Y THEN GOTO 20 ELSE Z
English translation: If X is equal to Y then you go to line 20, OTHERWISE (ELSE)...something else happens.
If Abbas goes the Arafat road, I'm not sure what "Else" is. In today's world where the perpetrators of violence are so often granted more in the way of their "human rights" than their victims are - whether in Criminal Law or International Relations - what will there be to look forward to but conflict for a long time to come? What can you do when one people has made it a part of their national identity to whipe another out, and the victim is expected to just sit there and take it?
"Rest assured, it own't be the mainstream media that reports the truth about Arab irresponsibility, you'll have to continue to turn to alternative sources like blogs for amplification there, and we will amplify them."
I'm assured... but in no way do I feel restful about that assurance.