Brothers: Our leadership deplores the loss of Palestinian lives but justifies the repeated incursions of Israel into Palestinian territory by saying that Israel has a right to defend itself. Our own new "first strike" policy makes it easy for Sharon (and any other nation in the religon) to defend any military action on the basis of potential harm that could be done by a neighbor. Think about it. It was a helicopter gun ship that fired a missle into a busy Palestinian street. The "collateral damage" consisted of over 100 civilians wounded as well as a large number dead. But who is counting? Little wonder that Arab nations are nervous when we talk about liberating the Iraqis. They have witnessed how our ally is liberating the Palestinian Westbank and Gaza. Charles ------------------------------ Sharon Calls Gaza Strike a Success; Says More Will Follow By JAMES BENNET JERUSALEM, Oct. 8 — Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today praised an Israeli raid on Monday into the Gaza Strip that left 15 Palestinians dead and dozens wounded, expressing regret for civilian lives lost but brushing aside international criticism as he promised more such attacks. "It was important, and it was successful," Mr. Sharon said of the mission. "There will be more operations in the Gaza Strip." Palestinians said that the dead were civilians, most of them killed by shrapnel when a missile struck a crowded street, but the army said that most of dead were armed fighters. The State Department declared itself "deeply troubled" and called for an investigation. Israel has now seized military control of most of the West Bank, and Mr. Sharon has repeatedly suggested recently that he would like to shift his focus to Gaza, the stronghold of the Islamist group Hamas and home to about 1.2 million Palestinian and 7,000 Israeli settlers. Late last month Mr. Sharon said that stepped-up operations there were only a matter of when the army, now stretched thin, could "concentrate the appropriate troops." Today, after meeting here with Israel's president, Moshe Katsav, Mr. Sharon said, "There is a need to be certain that terrorist organizations will not have the freedom to carry out intentional murder." _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx