Lynn B is challenging disengagement supporters to come to grips with Hamas's escalation. Here, as we see it, are some short-term gains:
* The military flexibility to use heavy artillery for the first time in Gaza.
* The political will to resume targeted attacks against terrorist leaders.
* The strategic context to settle some old scores.
* The diplomatic flexibility to get US support, at least temporarily, for those measures.
In the medium and long term, Israel's options will narrow as such support - domestically and internationally - begins to dissipate. But in the long term, the Israeli presence in Gaza was untenable anyway. Evacuating now was better than evacuating later - precisely because it gave Israeli military and diplomatic maneuvering room now rather than later.