What a Nice Man

The Weekly Standard ^ | March 29, 2004 | Larry Miller

[MEG33]

How distressing.Perhaps they might just ask Israel to line up for the showers.

[M L Crassus]

"both nations have the right to self-defense."
absolutely. but the nature of that defense and how it will be executed are debatable. i am not sure how this assassination will keep israeli women and children safer.
put it this way: i think yassin as a martyr can inspire and organize more attacks on israelis than he could in life.

[M L Crassus]

i do not think the situation of israelis is as dire now as it was during WWII. similarities between the islamofascists and the nazis aside, how can you logically draw that connection?

[AnAmericanMother]

my main concern is with the thousands of israeli lives that will be put in jeopardy (!) b/c of this assassination.

Since Israelis already lived with the possibility that they may be blown into vivid strips and strings at any moment at a lunch counter, on the bus, or in the market, by direct order from this maniacal mass murderer . . . how can they be any MORE "in jeopardy"?

This is no "assassination." This is taking out the trash.

[M L Crassus]

well i must head down the road, it's been fun discussing this with all you lovely people.
peace,
"MLC"

[Lijahsbubbe]

Ta ta!

[Dog Gone]

I will grant you that the Israelis have vacillated in their approach to the issues with the Palestinians and that some of their actions appear clumsy and heavyhanded over the years. Some of those perceptions are distortions of fact, I think, but perception is more important than reality, because it becomes the established "truth."

The problem the Israelis face is that some Palestinian terrorist groups, most notably Islamic Jihad, state on the record that no peace deal with Israel on any terms is acceptable. Ever.

Now how do you deal with that? By negotiating? By unilateral concessions?

Israel is responding by building a defensive wall and trying to take out the leaders preaching a genocidal message. We might argue about the specifics of where that wall goes, or the tactics employed in eliminating the terrorist leaders, but it's pretty darn hard to find fault with the overall strategy. It's legitimate self-defense to take those steps. Israel has shown on numerous occasions that it wants a real and final deal. Its enemies have shown on an equal number of occasions that it wants continued war and terror until Israel no longer exists.

The leader of Hamas was not a nice man. He did not use his influence to reach a political settlement. His organization was largely responsible for the cycle of death and retribution in that region. If you can cite a single positive thing he did for his people or for the peace process, I'll be surprised. Introducing the suicide bomber to the conflict won't be considered positive.

I don't know if killing him will help things. Obviously, it will inflame passions on the Palestinian side, at least temporarily. But things couldn't get much worse than they are right now, and decapitating a terrorist organization, and I'm sure you'll agree that Hamas is a terrorist organization, can only be viewed as positive by civilized people who don't like terrorists.

[ASTM366]

For all you Sheikh Yassin lovers, here's the last picture of the child-killing, maniacal, islamic satan worshipper:

http://www.palsat.net/yes1/7.jpg

Take a good look - this unrepentant killer who worshipped a false God for his entire life and killed innocent men, women and children will be suffering eternally.

THE USA AND ISRAEL ARE AT WAR WITH RADICAL ISLAM.

[Paulus Invictus]

Yamamoto was the architect of Pearl Harbor and needed to be taught the ultimate lesson--don't mess with the Eagle!

[MEG33]

I ran out of patience on my last post to him.#61

[mhking]

[MeekOneGOP]

hahaha !

[MeekOneGOP]

Oh, yeah ...

[driftless]

I don't doubt that there are other Muslims eager to be human time-bombs. But I'll bet, like that Palistinian boy who begged the IDF not to shoot him, there are many who don't. It seems that all these bombers have one thing in common: youth. You notice that it's not the old b------s who are volunteering, it's the impressionable, gullible youths. Which leads me to believe that if we can eliminate the cold-blooded killers who are masterminding these terrorist attacks, we and Israel can put a severe crimp in their murderous plans.

But what is the alternative? Give in to terrorists? Never! Hamas and other Islamic terrorist orgs have made it clear that their goal is the end of the state of Israel not accomodation.

[Radix]

....prudence and caution are never a bad policy.

That is utter nonsense. There is a time, and a season for everything. Sometimes prudence and caution will get you killed. Sometimes you simply take action.

[weegee]

Same argument as was made against military response in Afghanistan and Iraq. "Stirring up a hornets' nest".

Is a terrorist network hiding underground more preferable to one operating in the open? Or should the effort be made to eradicate terrorist cells wherever they are?