Ariel Sharon may be a slow learner but our George is learning fast!

One of the cardinal rules of human nature is this: "Punishment ALWAYS leads to resistance." Human beings are hard-wired that way.

According to John Gray's excellent book "Children are from Heaven," if a young child thinks that a punishment is unjust, he or she will resist it -- even to the death. And this eternal truth also applies to grown-ups.

Ariel Sharon is a really slow learner. After all these years, he is STILL unclear on the concept.

KPFA reporter Aaron Glantz describes Sharon's policies in Palestine as "All stick, no carrot". Everyone who has ever raised a child knows that policy sucks eggs. But Ariel Sharon appears to be clueless.

If brutalizing and enslaving human beings was a valid technique of governance, we would have no Child Protective Services. If a child misbehaved, we would simply beat it to death and get another one. And we would all be happily ruled by, say, Genghis Khan the 28th or Adolph Hitler, Jr. What is it about Ariel Sharon? That he doesn't get that?

100 more Israeli tanks just rolled into Gaza. How is that supposed to make Israel safer?

100 new school teachers rolling into Gaza would have worked much better.

George Bush has taken Sharon's woodshed mentality and applied it liberally in Iraq. Bush appears to be a slow learner too. Unfortunately, with over 2,600 attacks on US troops there per month, Bush is learning fast. But what is even more tragic is that Palestinians, tired of spending their every waking hour locked in the woodshed, are learning rapidly too.

It's time to start offering carrots, guys -- and to put those sticks down before you hurt yourselves.

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Sources:

100 tanks to Gaza: http://iafrica.com/news/worldnews/350761.htm

Palestine Monitor: URGENT APPEAL; STOP IMPENDING MASSACRE IN GAZA http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout4.php&id=1940&blz=1

What Iraq is really like: A Reporter's E-Mail from Baghdad to Friendshttp://www.truthout.org/docs_04/100304X.shtml

From Ron: Last month, there were over 2,600 attacks on U.S. soldiers in Iraq.