I'm back and not in the manner I have hoped. It would have been nice not to have to live again in a Manechian world but we do and using language to obfuscate the matter merely makes it more so. Calling hostage taking of children a tragedy, the hostage takers "rebels" and the correct way of dealing with them, appeasement merely makes the world more so.

Had the world stood up to Palestinian terrorists when they held children hostage in Maalot, Belsan would not have happened. Alas, it did not and still does not. As far as the BBC, the NYT are concerned, the fact that the hostage takers made children drink their own urine, is really Putin's fault. Of course, It should not have taken Balsan for Putin to join seriously the American led war on terror and improve his homeland security.

And one shudders to think of the price it would take for the Western European elite to finally"get it." Clearly, the blowing up of the Spanish train and the slaying of reporters did not do it. How else can one explain the disgusting (if familiar to American and Israelis) EU response to the most recent terrorist crime?"It is not possible to react straight away, you have to look carefully at exactly what happened, and there are still many gray areas," Prodi said on the margins of a meeting in northern Italy.

What is to be done? Interim measures - As Dave Kopel argues teachers and guards should, indeed, carry guns.

Antiterrorist measures should remain secret. The hostage takers knew to smash cell phones and to carry gas masks.

Hanna Arendt was right. Hostage takers, like highjackers, should be resisted from the first moment - the cost will end up lower. Most of those who survived, ran. 35 persons cannot control 1200 people who refuse to cooperate with them. People who have no pity for their own children, cannot be expected to have them for others - PA boosts promotion of child Martyrs, Child Martyrdom promotion clip, returns to PA TV after year's absence )

In the meantime, The CIA+State Department Arabists are again looking to blame the Jews (Israel and AIPAC) for their failings. After all, the attempt to place the blame on the INC and Challabi failed .