Who among us couldn't have seen that this was what was needed, back in 2004?
Authorities are having a 10-foot-deep ditch dug around the Shiite holy city of Karbala, in hopes of keeping criminal elments out fo the city - src, Juan Cole, today
Meanwhile, one cannot help but notice that Juan Cole mentions this off-hand. I guess it is o.k. when the Iraqis try to protect themselves, but when the Israelis dig trenches, such as has been done for Jericho, it is an outrage of sorts ... ah La Drame Palestinian!
Separately, it occurs to me that the Hamas' "official" ( *cough*) fashioning of themselves as a governmental group gives an opening to the peace process.
Abbas, who is a negotiator and who can take an initiative now, might move forward with 'final settlement' talks with the Israelis, under the umbrella of the Saudi sponsored framework. Wouldn't it be grand if the Hamas woke up in a few months to find that they had been flanked on the peace process? Wow, would that ever put them behind the eight ball.
It's not clear (to me), however, whether Abbas can garner the support of the former Arafat loyalists for such a move, but it could set the stage for the end of Hammas, the rejectionists.
