The Egyptian government daily Al-Akhbar exults over last weekend’s Palestinian suicide bomb attack against Israeli civilians: A Heroic Operation.

“The heroic operation carried out by the military arm of the Hamas movement, the ‘Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, in West Jerusalem is an important turning point in Palestinian resistance activities.”

“This is because it was 50 meters away from the official residence of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in one of the most [heavily] defended areas in Israel. This means that the resistance movements have developed and are capable of striking painfully at Israel, even close to the homes of the leaders of the bloodthirsty Israeli regime.”

“Maybe this operation did not [cause] the most bloodshed, but the important point here is the site where it was carried out. The target was a well-known cafe near Sharon’s residence. This was a direct message to the Israeli leadership: The Palestinians, who have nothing to lose, are capable of making horror, the Israelis’ daily bread.”

What a bunch of unbelievably bloodthirsty bastards.

This is a perfect example of why Anthony Zinni’s newest mission is doomed to failure, like the previous two. And why I’m disgusted with George Bush for caving in to terrorism in the Middle East, at a moment when it really matters. But maybe when this latest joke of a peace initiative fails like every other one has, the truth will finally be starkly obvious even to the most wooly-minded State Department drone.

One of the good things about Western civilization is that we want to give all people the benefit of the doubt; we assume that when they say they want to negotiate, they will come to the table with honorable intentions. But there has to be a limit, a point where we say “enough.”

Negotiating with murderous terrorists only results in more murder and terrorism. By blinking once more, in the face of the most horrendous wave of barbarism ever launched against Israel, the US is nothing more than an enabler for the terrorists. When the attacks begin again, with even more brutality (and they will), the US will bear part of the blame—for holding Israel to a standard we would never agree to ourselves.

(UPDATE: Jay Zilber and I are on the same page with this one.)