Jack The Sailor,

Agreed. My point is that Bush is not acting like a true Christian but through a warped interpretation of "Bible Prophecy". True Christians are compassionate, empathic, and here's a controversial idea, "non-violent". True Christians are taught to be humble, accept mistakes as part of the growth of their convictions,
loving, charitable toward the poor, cautious about the rich, question authority when it runs counter to these essential beliefs, and decry selfishness.

The punitive authoriarian view of Christianity comes later in the nineteenth century using earlier scripture to justify that view. Bush is the architypical
Manicheaen punisher, the Terminator, the Crusader who adheres to a dogma
that resonates with many in rural states. These are generally unquestioning
people who walk in lock-step not unlike those good Germans who lived in
Dachau, refusing to smell the smoke from the incinerators. These folks are imbued with "self-interest" projecting it onto the country.

Nerd, Sharon has made the uneasy pact with the aforementioned not much of a real win-win situation. You can't wall out terror. First it must be extinguished from inside. To be cliche, you can't fight fire with fire. Israel has nothing to be gained by accepting the Reactionary Republican Evangelism.

Frank