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• Sunday, January 8, 2006 04:36 PM

  A Monster, hunh?

  1) Israel intervened in the Lebanese civil war. They were initially,

  under General Sharon's leadership, welcomed openly, especially by the

  Christians who were being decimated by the Moslems. To say that Israel's intervention into this conflict constitues a war crime clearly disinguishes Mr. Valdron as someone, like many these days, who doesn't have the time or patience to crack open a history book before opening his mouth.

  2) "In 1956, it appears that during the Suez Crisis, Sharon executed 40 captured Egyptian Prisoners of War, that's a war crime." Oh yeah, where's the source for this?

  3) "In both 67 and 73, Sharon was active in theatres where Prisoners of War were murdered, though its not clear whether he was doing it then." Oh, you mean during the '67 war when the Arabs blocked the straits (itself a declaration of war) and prepared a full-blown onslaught to kill every Jew they could? Or how about in '73 when they slaughtered thousands during a solemn religious holiday? There are no accounts of General Sharon killing any prisoners of war during a time when the Arabs were killing as many Jews as they possibly could.

  4) "He helped to pioneer the Settlement Policy, which created the settlements in the occupied territories, resulting in displacement and disenfranchisement, and often outright killing of Palestinians." Who killed these Palestinians? Where and when did these acts happen? Have you bothered to read a book instead of repeating propaganda?

  5) "The Siege of Beirut and the Sabra and Shattilla massacres, both war crimes, can be laid at his door. His deliberate actions triggered the second intifada, and then through use of assassinations and raids on refugee camps, he ensured that the pot would keep boiling every time it seemed to be settling down." The Sabra and Shatilla massacres were commited by Lebanese on their own. If you want to blame the man for anything, you can blame him for not protecting people who hated him and the rest of the Israelis. His deliberate actions did not start or trigger the "second intifada". (A) The Temple Mount is supposed to allow ANY ISRAELI access. (B) Arafat had already planned his "second

  intifada" long before Sharon did anything. That's common knowledge and has even been reported in Salon.com. Sharon certainly incited the situation, but it certainly highlighted something important, didn't it? Jews can't go to the Temple Mount without armed escort. Ever been there? Ever had a rock thrown at you by an Arab?

  6) "Ariel Sharon spent a lifetime murdering and brutalizing women, children, civilians, noncombatants and the helpless. He committed war crimes. Every step he took was drenched with blood." When was he ever

  involved in the brutalization of women? When was he every involved in hurting the helpless? What about children? I'd like your sources and the times and places of these events. They'll be hard to find since they don't exist.

  This is the same kind garbage I've come to expect from people who repeat ad nauseum what they read on Hamas' website or believe in the dignity and honesty of people like Arafat. PM Sharon was a war hero,

  and I wish him a speedy recovery.

  —jpincus Read jpincus's other letters
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