(LOS ANGELES)Two recent events illustrate the threat that failed states pose to the stability of the Middle East and the broader global community.
On June 25, Palestinian gunmen emerged from the Gaza Strip through a tunnel into Israel, killing two Israeli soldiers and abducting a third.
The Israeli military then launched the ongoing operation in the Gaza Strip.

All persons who believe that the maintenance of the “special relationship” between the United States and Israel is of critical importance for the future of Israel, Jewish-Americans and, indeed, the US position in the Middle East, need to be concerned about how Israel is being taught to American students at the high school and university levels.

Many present and former government officials in the United States look back wistfully at the era of the Cold War observing that “at least back then, you knew who your enemies were.” Similar sentiments can be found among those who are charged with confronting the threat of global terrorism.

Jerusalem Post Online Edition
by: Tom Tugend
Nov. 3, 2003

The recent Israeli government’s decision to undertake a large scale military operation (dubbed “Operation Summer Rains”) in the Gaza Strip is likely to prove highly misguided and counterproductive and constitutes proof of the amateurish nature of the policies adopted by Prime Minister Olmert and Defense Minister Peretz.

Hizbullah has not made significant progress toward any long-term goals.
By Nadav Morag

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has proven once again that his political instincts are still sharp. When Sharon decided on the evacuation of the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank he knew that he would have to confront opponents on the Right. The ranks of the Right consist of people within the Prime Minister's own Likud party, the members of two rightist parties (who make up two of the Likud's three coalition partners) and the settler lobby.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Unilateral Withdrawal calls for an Israeli withdrawal from heavily populated Palestinian areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the relocation of Israeli soldiers and settlers away from Palestinian cities to ostensibly more defensible areas, many (though not all) behind Israel's new "Separation Barrier."