Sharon says, 'We aim to defeat the terrorist organizations.' This is a good aim, to be sure. But if we are to judge by recent history, Sharon cannot possibly mean what you or I would mean if we made this statement. I know that I can't know what is happening behind the scenes--the pressures, the deals, the threats, the promises.

So I continue to puzzle over the situation as a "black box" problem--to try to predict the behavior of the "black box" of the government of Israel (or any government, for that matter) on the basis of inputs and outputs.

On that basis, I am still mystified.