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To: Far Right Of Left
You just don't get it,the only thing these terrorists understand is direct & massive force.

I do get it, but you apparently do not. The individual terrorist organizations are pretty small and independent, and are basically defined by their leaders. Remove the leader, and the organization falls apart. This is, BTW, a good way to apply direct and massive force to the terrorists without inflaming the rest of the nice folks living in the PA (who, BTW, outnumber tie Israelis).

Killing the leaders is also an effective reminder to all who would step into the shoes of the dear departed that they, too, will be killed.

It's not possible to kill them all at once, of course, because they're never in the same place at the same time.

There are still ways, though. Israel's springtime invasion allowed them to target multiple bad guys near-simultaneously, and I guess they got quite a few of them. But their ability to continue the campaign had to be weighed against the possible loss of foreign support that that invasion provoked. (For Israel, please note, PR is a vital national security issue.)

I do see that they've been continually taking out one or two bad guys every couple of weeks. That's actually a pretty rapid pace, but spread out enough to allow the Israelis to avoid the bad PR that would accompany a concentrated and short-duration extermination effort.

The downside to this approach is that it does expose civilians to danger. But the alternative probably puts them in even greater danger.

Beyond that, killing the terrorist leaders will also probably have a greater long-term payoff than would creating a bunch of Palestinian "martyrs." For the former, the driving force behind terrorism is systematically taken away. As for the latter, you've just created a whole new batch of reasons for kids to strap bombs to their bellies.

Now it's your turn. What exactly do you mean by "direct and massive force?" Against whom? And to what end?

91 posted on 08/01/2002 12:17:03 PM PDT by r9etb
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To: r9etb
The individual terrorist organizations are pretty small and independent, and are basically defined by their leaders. Remove the leader, and the organization falls apart.

I don't think so. The gov'ts of Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia all finance terrorist activities, so they are by definition terrorist orgs themselves. So we won't be solving the problem by taking out a few Al Qaeda, Hamas, and Hizbollah leaders. Those people are replacable. Solving the problem requires regime changes in the above mentioned nations (among others), and this can only be accomplished by a full scale war.

96 posted on 08/01/2002 12:26:43 PM PDT by Mr. Mojo
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To: r9etb
Killing the leaders is also an effective reminder to all who would step into the shoes of the dear departed that they, too, will be killed.

It's not possible to kill them all at once, of course, because they're never in the same place at the same time.

An program of targeted killing of terrorist leaders could be effective, and as military leaders they are legitimate targets, the reprecussions of operating in civilian areas out of uniform is their responsibility, not Israel's. However to be effective the program must be stepped up, and Israel's allie must be supportive in confronting world opinion. An operation like last week, which is condemned by the US, is a terrorist victory, and a disincentive for Israel to continue what could be an effective strategy. The terrorists responded predictably, with another attack.

No terrorist should feel safe. No terrorist's family should feel safe being around him.

97 posted on 08/01/2002 12:26:57 PM PDT by SJackson
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To: r9etb
Remove the leader, and the organization falls apart.

This may work on some planets, perhaps yours, but the Pallies have become like the Borg. There are countless thousands of rag-waving replacements for dead leaders, who by the way expect and even welcome death. And don't forget that even if we somehow could take out every single Pallie that hates us at one whack, there would still be the radical Imams who are busily creating new generations of hatred in every mosque. They don't even wait for Sundays. And it's so un-PC to go after the slobbering Imams with gunships...isn't it? Hmm...

101 posted on 08/01/2002 12:34:51 PM PDT by Sender
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To: r9etb
Remove the leader, and the organization falls apart.I don't seem to have a leader.

Ok, lets go bomb all the folks in Iraq. We have to get the leader.

But Israel has to make sure they don't kill Arafat.

158 posted on 08/01/2002 8:01:33 PM PDT by carenot
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To: r9etb
Killing the leaders is also an effective reminder to all who would step into the shoes of the dear departed that they, too, will be killed.

Interesting. So let's say that a new leader takes over one of these many small groups. At the present rate, there is not much fear at all. Now if the IDF could bomb the entire city block of the leader's where abouts without concern for collateral (civilian) casualties, then I would agree that there would be a tremendous fear element, for the time from throne to grave would be just hours or days, not months or years as it stands now. But then we are talking war, not peace process.

183 posted on 08/02/2002 2:36:43 AM PDT by greggy
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