Well, this latest bombing was more of a strategic disaster for Hamas than they could have imagined--they killed three Americans. And they did it in the Frank Sinatra cafeteria.

President Bush's moral clarity had seemed to become increasingly muddled and muddied over the past few months as he waded into the Middle East situation, which was exactly what our enemies were looking for. But his speech a few weeks ago, in which he stated clearly that Arafat was not someone with whom to deal in good faith, was the first step on his path out of the moral wilderness, and I suspect that today's attacks have completed it, based on the Jerusalem Post article cited above. Here's the key sentence:

...there was no call at the White House and the State Department for Israel to exercise restraint.

I'm only sad that it took the deaths of Americans to reach this point.

[Update on Thursday morning]

Now it's five Americans killed.

Dirty little secret is that several Americans have been killed by the Palestinians -- some recently. This won't make a difference.

By the way, they now say it was five Americans.

President Bush stumbled through his press availability this morning, not a very commanding performance. He's still talking about the Palestinians having a need for a security force that fights terrorism. Building a Palestinian state, etc.

Time to break out the stupid bombs. Just hit the right time zone.

Huge mistake. They've spilled American blood and cheered about it. Like the Taliban the only thing we should be asking for on their behalf is that God have mercy on their souls.

transcript from White House phone:

"Ariel, this is George. Take the kid gloves off, whatever you've got planned, we've got your back."