In direct contravention of my wife's explicit instructions, herewith I inaugurate my first blog. Long may it prosper.

For some reason, I think I have something to say to you. You think you have something to say to me? Email me at: gideonsblogger -at- yahoo -dot- com

 
It's too hard still to write about the details of the situation in Israel. The only way in which I resemble Shimon Peres is that I find it easier to retreat into abstractions when things look as bleak as they do. So, here 'goes: off to diplomacy-land. This article from the Jerusalem Post is more evidence that people are starting to think seriously about what the current war means for the Middle East. Borders are going to be redrawn, and Israel is not going to do the redrawing. There is no possibility - zero - of peace with the Palestinians, and there is no possibility - zero - that Israel will be able to successfully reassert its rule over the Palestinian population centers. That leaves only one realistic option: Jordan. Yosef Goell's idea - give the Hashemites southern Iraq as a reward for taking the Palestinian territories - is as good an idea as I've heard so far for how to get them to agree. It is increasingly likely that the United States will be occupying Baghdad in a few months' time. It is difficult to see how we will force the Kurds to fight for us unless they are promised a state of their own. And that leaves us the problem that a rump Iraq would be majority Shi'ite, and therefore more susceptible to Iranian domination. Sounds like Goell would be killing two birds with one stone.
posted by Noah at 7:06 PM