Something I never thought I'd type...

I hope Ariel Sharon recovers, and quickly. But it doesn't look good to say the least.

Normally folks that had a direct hand in mass slaughter (Sabra & Shatila), I tend to eschew from praise. But in this instance I'm going to make an exception.

Sharon had recently left the Likudniks in an untenable position and was forging a third party (Kadima) with its primary platform to reach an accommodation with the Palestinians. This accommodation had overwhelming support and in elections planned for March, Sharon was heading for a mandate to make an agreement. But that third party is based in large part upon him personally, if he is gone, then it all goes into the blender again.

It is true that one could hope it would benefit Labour, but who knows. There is, in Sharon, much of the "only Nixon can go to China" effect.

But as seems to be the constantly recurring story of the Middle East, at the point where the bastard is attempting to do something positive, he dies.

If one believed in God, and one believed the Middle East is important to its plans, one could certainly come to the conclusion that God is one malicious bastard.