Monday, January 05, 2009

CEASE-FIRE/ gas tax

To the world (except the US) a ceasefire is desirable,since Israel's firepower and technology is so overpowering that surely " innocent lives "will be lost. By the way isn't it interesting that when the Palestinians death toll is announced on Cable TV, it's something like"40 deaths,all civilians,of which 35% are children". Amazing! I guess Hamas fighters are just a figment of our imaginations!Interestingly
The world doesn't comment on the use of mosques as a depot of arms and supplies.
To Israel however,the talk of a ceasefire must contain the answers to a number of questions :
How do you stop the rockets permanently?
How do you stop the smuggling of weapons ,weapon components and other condiments of war?
Who will police the ceasefire? what will be their makeup?-If it is an international force-will they be from nations that do not recognize israel?what will be their power to enforce the quiet?How large will the force be?
Will Egypt and the US-French create some type of construction that will phsically prevent the digging of new tunnels?
How do you convince China to stop allowing Grad missiles to be smuggled to Hamas?
The answer to these questions and similar issues will determine whether the operation is a success or another failure as in Lebanon.
As an addendum -as of 10.30 AM NY time-30 rockets have been fired toward Ashkelon today.It is obvious that the IDF effort while supposedly moving as planned,still has a way to go.

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The tax and spend beaurocrats want to add a 10 cent gasoline tax in this country.True, gas prices are now low,but that is temporary,and surely within 18 months as hopefully world economy improves ,even in the absence of a major International crisis(ie Israel bombing Iran)the price of oil will rise.
This kind of funding for highway infrastructure is the path for corruption In addition, the new stimulus package has funds for that purpose.
Indeed the low level of gas prices has only been in effect for a few short months.Its salutory effect on the economy is in the billions.WHAT WITH AUTO SALES AT SUCH A LOW POINT,THIS IS NOT A PRUDENT MOVE,AND SHOULD BE DEFEATED.