First, the Israelis elected two terrorists as prime ministers: Menachem Begin (head of Irgun) and Yitzak Shamir (head of the Stern gang).  Now they have outdone themselves by electing a war criminal, Ariel Sharon, the butcher of Beirut.
 
On October 18, 1953, Sharon personally commanded the raid on Qibya in which 69 men, women and children were massacred.
 
The Kahan Commission ruled that Sharon was "indirectly" responsible for the Sabra and Chatila massacre begun on September 16, 1982. Over three days at least 800, and as many as 2,000, Palestinians were slaughtered by Israel's Lebanese allies under his watchful eye.
 
On June 6, 1982 Defense Minister Sharon ordered the Israeli army to invade Lebanon.  It besieged and mercilessly bombarded Beirut for 63 days from land, sea and air. An estimated 20,000 civilians died in this assault.
 
Sharon's political career is no better.  As a cabinet member in 1979 he voted against a peace treaty with Egypt. In 1985 he voted against an Israeli troop withdrawal to the so-called "security zone" in South Lebanon. He opposed Israel's participation in the Madrid peace conference (1991); voted "no" on the Oslo agreement (1993); abstained during a Knesset vote on a peace treaty with Jordan (1994); voted against the Hebron agreement (1997), and objected to the withdrawal from Lebanon (2000).   When Pollard was arrested Sharon was the only Israeli cabinet member who resisted the American demand for the return of stolen secrets.
 
Shakespeare said it best:  "Who chooses me will get as much as he deserves."
 
February 13, 2001