one of the members said to him, prime minister, these cuts are killing the people. and mr. sharon s response to this was to lean forward and say, listen, i m the only one in this meeting who has actually killed people. and then he leaned forward again and said, i did it with my bare hands. so he may have had a smile on his face when he said that, but it was that tough guy approach, which made the man. made him a vilified man amongst palestinians because of the often brutal military campaigns that he pursued against them. but crucially, made israelis confident in him when he decided the time had come to make concessions to the palestinians and to withdraw from some of the occupied territory, israelis felt confident he would keep them safe while he did that. and it is, of course, one of the big what-ifs of history in this region. where would the beleaguered peace process be right now if this strong man, if this man of action, had not been cut down. indeed. i know you re there in tel av