If Ariel Sharon were well and still in charge . . . .

[toomuchtime_]

If Ariel Sharon were well and still in charge, would Hamas ruled Gaza have been allowed to become a mini Islamist terror state with the capability of bombing Israeli cities? Would the IDF still be sitting on the Israeli side of the Gaza wall, as Olmert and Barak have them doing, counting scalps and waiting for just the right sunny day to launch its threatened ground assault seven days after the bombing began and all the targets on the IAF's list have been hit or would Sharon already have led a massive ground assault that had established Israeli control of all of Gaza, silenced the rockets and be in the final stages of rounding up the last scattered groups of militants?

Is Israel in more danger from the Palestinian and Iranian threats or from this weak and irresolute crop of current leaders, Olmert, Barak and even Livni?

 

[José]

Originally posted by toomuchtime
If Ariel Sharon were well and still in charge, would Hamas ruled Gaza have been allowed to become a mini Islamist terror state with the capability of bombing Israeli cities? Would the IDF still be sitting on the Israeli side of the Gaza wall, as Olmert and Barak have them doing, counting scalps and waiting for just the right sunny day to launch its threatened ground assault seven days after the bombing began and all the targets on the IAF's list have been hit or would Sharon already have led a massive ground assault that had established Israeli control of all of Gaza, silenced the rockets and be in the final stages of rounding up the last scattered groups of militants

Is Israel in more danger from the Palestinian and Iranian threats or from this weak and irresolute crop of current leaders, Olmert, Barak and even Livni?

LOL toomuchtime. Gaza will probably be reoccupied.

Politics in Israel has a strange tendency to stay the same.

An israeli citizen who went into a comma in 1969 would be surprised to see Member of Knesset Shimon Peres and General Ariel Sharon still around.

Even the legal status of Gaza hasn't changed, he'd think : )

 

[DavidS]

If Ariel Sharon were well and still in charge, would Hamas ruled Gaza have been allowed to become a mini Islamist terror state with the capability of bombing Israeli cities? Would the IDF still be sitting on the Israeli side of the Gaza wall, as Olmert and Barak have them doing, counting scalps and waiting for just the right sunny day to launch its threatened ground assault seven days after the bombing began and all the targets on the IAF's list have been hit or would Sharon already have led a massive ground assault that had established Israeli control of all of Gaza, silenced the rockets and be in the final stages of rounding up the last scattered groups of militants?

Is Israel in more danger from the Palestinian and Iranian threats or from this weak and irresolute crop of current leaders, Olmert, Barak and even Livni?

Olmet is weak. I don't know too much about Livini, but she seems a bit tougher than Olmert, but that doesn't take much.

Olmert, as currently seen, takes too much time to make a decision. We should've gone into Gaza the same day we started air strikes against Hamas. Taken them completely by surprise. Now they have landmines and suicide bombers waiting for us.

If Gaza is a disaster, Olmert will be booted out of office quicker than a shooting star. If Gaza is a success, Livini will win in Feb. If Schalit is finally rescued... well that would be nice.

 

[waltky]

Has been in coma for eight years...

FORMER ISRAELI PM SHARON IN CRITICAL CONDITION
2 Jan.`14 -- Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has been in a coma for eight years, was in critical condition on Thursday, clinging to life after a decline in the functioning of various bodily organs, his doctors said.

Dr. Zeev Rotstein, director of Tel Hashomer hospital, said Sharon's condition had deteriorated over the past two days and that a number of vital organs, including his kidneys, were suffering from "critical malfunction." "He is in critical condition and his life is definitely in danger," Rotstein told reporters at the hospital, just outside Tel Aviv. "The feeling of the doctors treating him and also that of the family with him is that there is a turn for the worse." Sharon's family are at his bedside, Rotstein said.

The 85-year-old Sharon, one of Israel's most iconic and controversial figures, has been in a coma since suffering a devastating stroke in January 2006. At the time, he was prime minister and at the height of his political power. Sharon's career has stretched across Israel's 65-year history. As one of Israel's most famous generals, Sharon was known for bold tactics and an occasional refusal to obey orders. As a politician he became known as "the bulldozer" - a man contemptuous of his critics while also capable of getting things done.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pauses during a news conference in his Jerusalem office regarding education reform. On Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014 the condition of the comatose former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has taken a turn for the worse, the hospital treating him said Wednesday. Sharon, 85, has been in a coma since 2006 when a devastating stroke incapacitated him at the height of his political power.

Sharon is credited with helping turn the tide of the 1973 Mideast war when Arab armies launched a surprise attack on Israel on the solemn fasting day of Yom Kippur, causing large Israeli casualties. He led an Israeli force across the Suez Canal, trapping part of the Egyptian army and turning the war in Israel's favor. A prominent hard-line voice over the decades, he was elected prime minister in 2001. In mid-2005, he directed a unilateral withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip, ending a 38-year military control of the territory. It was a shocking turnaround for a man who had been a leading player in building Jewish settlements in captured territories. He later bolted from his hard-line Likud Party and established the centrist Kadima Party. It seemed he was on his way to an easy re-election when he suffered the stroke in January 2006. His deputy, Ehud Olmert, took over and was elected prime minister a few months later.

Sharon had a first, small stroke in December 2005 and was put on blood thinners before experiencing a severe brain hemorrhage on Jan. 4, 2006. After spending months in the Jerusalem hospital where he was initially treated, Sharon was transferred to the long-term care facility at Tel Hashomer hospital. He was taken home briefly at one point but was returned several days later to the hospital, where he has been since. Although Sharon never regained full consciousness, his family has said he occasionally blinks his eyes and moves his fingers.

News from The Associated Press