Time to fold the 'road map to peace'

Was going to get into the specifics of what's happening now that Israel has pulled its settlements out of Gaza (plus a good number off the West Bank). But we'll give you the short form.

1) Israel pulled out, another step on the so-called "Road Map to Peace" brokered by the Clinton administration and inexplicably embraced by the Bush administration.

2) Hamas, which refuses to recognize the current authority of Palestinian Authority leadership, on Sunday randomly fired 35 plus explosive rockets into Israel, killing two people.

3) Israel responded with a rocket burst of its own, targeting suspected rocket factories in Gaza.

4) Hamas immediately calls for a cease fire.

5) The world media chastises Israel for endangering the Road Map.

Jay Tea at Wizbang does a better job of explaining what's going on, but makes the salient point that while Israel has taken several difficult steps of the peace process, the Palestinians have yet to accomplish their first promise: to stop the violence.

The whole Palestinian attitude towards the peace process reminds me of a couple of historical precedents. Ronald Reagan once described the Soviets' attitude towards arms negotiations as "what's mine is mine. What's yours is negotiable."
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The Palestinians have one defining national characteristic: they are losers. Whenever given the chance, they will cheerfully and passionately choose the losing side in any conflict. When the Arabs told them to get out of Israel while they drove the Jews into the sea back in the 40's, they voted with their feet -- and they're still waiting. They've backed every single Arab war with Israel, and watched as the Arabs lost every single one. When Saddam invaded Kuwait back in 1990, they cheered him on. When Al Qaeda struck us on 9/11, they danced in the streets.

One common definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results." The Palestinians have consistently backed anyone who attacks Israel and the US, and each time they end up losing even more ground. Hell, they say that Israel was the worst thing that ever happened to them, but Jordan killed more Palestinians in "Black September" than Israel ever did.

Isn't it time Americans woke up to the facts of the Middle East and demanded that our government quit pressuring Israel to surrender on the installment plan? It's time to fold up and put away that worthless road map.