Here's a nice little excerpt from the Chicago Tribune. Mirrors my opinion of the Israeli mentality and their actions pretty well...
Quote:
"The Israeli air force this morning killed the mastermind of all evil (emphasis mine), Ahmed Yassin, who was a preacher of death," said army spokeswoman Brig. Gen. Ruth Yaron.
The Yassin assassination was seen as an enormous gamble by Sharon, who is trying to score a decisive victory against Hamas ahead of a possible Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, but risks triggering a dramatic escalation in bloodshed that could turn the public's mood in Israel against him.
Sharon's critics in Israel warned that the Yassin killing could be seen as an attack by Israel on Islam and unnecessarily widen the circle of conflict.
It's all about one-upmanship with Sharon. It always has been. "Yes, we'll make concessions, but not before we kill a few more of your people..."
Sad....
Chinney:
All I could get from your link was this
Quote:
A statement from Hamas also made the group's first ever threat against the United States, which it said made the assassination possible by its support for Israel.
"All the Muslims of the world will be honoured to join in on the retaliation for this crime," the statement said.
I don't really see a quoted threat there, but more of a broad interpretation. Seems like if the Hamas guy said "we're going to kill Americans everywhere" or something like that, that is the first thing that CBC or anyone else would quote... no?
OK. Wasn't necessarily saying there was no threat, just that I didn't make any out from the CBC article. Either way the whole thing is bad news when you look at the big picture... maybe one day soon the citizens of Israel will realize Sharon is one of their biggest enemies. Hopefully a reasonable man will have that post sooner rather than later.
I know the Israeli cheer-leaders here will come up with some weird and wonderful reasoning but...
If this guy was a terrorist mastermind, (and let's forget the fact that they had him imprisonmed for a moment) why not just arrest him, put him on trial- expose his attrocities for what they are and then punish him?
Apparantly Israel doesn't give a damn about world opinion or seeking support during their troubles but can there be a good reason not to take the high ground? Why not act civilised, show their detractors that the fight against terorists is a real one, that their cause is unjust and that the Palestinans have alternative, legitimate means to address their grievances.
Although...an old man in a wheelchair would be a serious challenge to arrest!
"the more extreme extremists?" I can tolerate the more moderate extremists, it's the radicals extremists that are the problem. j/k
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It's probably not going to help in the big picture politically or in terms of the amount of violence. But I can't say I shed a tear. Mind you, I wouldn't shed a tear for Sharon either.
How do we know he is really dead? Missiles dont exactly leave much in terms of identifiable remains. If I were him and somehow survived the attack, I'd make it seem like I'm dead to rally my cause and demonize the opposing side.
NPR said this morning the only identifiable thing left was his head.
Well I think this was a good thing, but consequences are a bitch.
Why can't an assassination be quiet? Why would you use a helicopter to kill someone when ya could use a sniper? It's not like the guy was on the run in the desert, they know where he is. Shouldn't this be done under the due process of law, it would at least give some legitimacy to this.
Well an assasination will never technically be "legal" under international laws, but you are certainly correct that Sharon picked a lousy means to achieve this particular end. Missile literally hits guy in wheelchair outside mosque.
If this guy was a terrorist mastermind, (and let's forget the fact that they had him imprisonmed for a moment) why not just arrest him, put him on trial- expose his attrocities for what they are and then punish him?
I think the basic reasoning is that being the head of Hamas is atrocious enough. Sure, he looked about to croak anyway, but that's probably part of the reasoning for getting him now. Israel probably wants the world and namely the US to refocus its attention on their corner of the Middle East rather than Iraq. What better way than to goad terrorist groups into planning something big...really big.
Will it be OK to respond by assassinating Sharon? Supporting assassinations is about the most anti-American activity you can support. It just proves how out of touch with America and the Constitution the right wing really is.
Will it be OK to respond by assassinating Sharon? Supporting assassinations is about the most anti-American activity you can support. It just proves how out of touch with America and the Constitution the right wing really is.
Will it be OK to respond by assassinating Sharon? Supporting assassinations is about the most anti-American activity you can support. It just proves how out of touch with America and the Constitution the right wing really is.
It's an act of war. No different than killing Hitler.
Comments
Originally posted by Harald
To paraphrase:
More dead Israelis then would otherwise be the case = blah blah blah.
That would imply there was an end to violence in sight.
As I see it, a dozen dead Israelis a month from now until forever is about equal to two dozen dead Israelis a month from now until forever.
Considering the last passenger bus suicide bombing was a month ago, I really don't think either side was going to kiss an make-up anytime soon.
Originally posted by Eugene
That would imply there was an end to violence in sight.
As I see it, a dozen dead Israelis a month from now until forever is about equal to two dozen dead Israelis a month from now until forever.
Considering the last passenger bus suicide bombing was a month ago, I really don't think either side was going to kiss an make-up anytime soon.
yeah, uh-uhm, ethnic groups killing each other is like a law of nature... certainly has nothing to do with politics at all...
Originally posted by New
yeah, uh-uhm, ethnic groups killing each other is like a law of nature... certainly has nothing to do with politics at all...
Not a law of nature, but so far beyond resolution that infinity seems less exaggerated than it should.
Originally posted by Powerdoc
Hamas threaten to strike USA. This is bad news.
Linkage?
Originally posted by Moogs
Linkage?
Mentioned in this (most of the way down), for example.
"The Israeli air force this morning killed the mastermind of all evil (emphasis mine), Ahmed Yassin, who was a preacher of death," said army spokeswoman Brig. Gen. Ruth Yaron.
The Yassin assassination was seen as an enormous gamble by Sharon, who is trying to score a decisive victory against Hamas ahead of a possible Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, but risks triggering a dramatic escalation in bloodshed that could turn the public's mood in Israel against him.
Sharon's critics in Israel warned that the Yassin killing could be seen as an attack by Israel on Islam and unnecessarily widen the circle of conflict.
It's all about one-upmanship with Sharon. It always has been. "Yes, we'll make concessions, but not before we kill a few more of your people..."
Sad....
Chinney:
All I could get from your link was this
A statement from Hamas also made the group's first ever threat against the United States, which it said made the assassination possible by its support for Israel.
"All the Muslims of the world will be honoured to join in on the retaliation for this crime," the statement said.
I don't really see a quoted threat there, but more of a broad interpretation. Seems like if the Hamas guy said "we're going to kill Americans everywhere" or something like that, that is the first thing that CBC or anyone else would quote... no?
If this guy was a terrorist mastermind, (and let's forget the fact that they had him imprisonmed for a moment) why not just arrest him, put him on trial- expose his attrocities for what they are and then punish him?
Apparantly Israel doesn't give a damn about world opinion or seeking support during their troubles but can there be a good reason not to take the high ground? Why not act civilised, show their detractors that the fight against terorists is a real one, that their cause is unjust and that the Palestinans have alternative, legitimate means to address their grievances.
Although...an old man in a wheelchair would be a serious challenge to arrest!
Originally posted by Powerdoc
Hamas threaten to strike USA. This is bad news.
Is this really much different than before though?
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"the more extreme extremists?" I can tolerate the more moderate extremists, it's the radicals extremists that are the problem.
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It's probably not going to help in the big picture politically or in terms of the amount of violence. But I can't say I shed a tear. Mind you, I wouldn't shed a tear for Sharon either.
Originally posted by Existence
How do we know he is really dead? Missiles dont exactly leave much in terms of identifiable remains. If I were him and somehow survived the attack, I'd make it seem like I'm dead to rally my cause and demonize the opposing side.
NPR said this morning the only identifiable thing left was his head.
Why can't an assassination be quiet? Why would you use a helicopter to kill someone when ya could use a sniper? It's not like the guy was on the run in the desert, they know where he is. Shouldn't this be done under the due process of law, it would at least give some legitimacy to this.
Brilliant.
Originally posted by Zarathustra
If this guy was a terrorist mastermind, (and let's forget the fact that they had him imprisonmed for a moment) why not just arrest him, put him on trial- expose his attrocities for what they are and then punish him?
I think the basic reasoning is that being the head of Hamas is atrocious enough. Sure, he looked about to croak anyway, but that's probably part of the reasoning for getting him now. Israel probably wants the world and namely the US to refocus its attention on their corner of the Middle East rather than Iraq. What better way than to goad terrorist groups into planning something big...really big.
Time to train some more Greek security forces.
Originally posted by bunge
Will it be OK to respond by assassinating Sharon? Supporting assassinations is about the most anti-American activity you can support. It just proves how out of touch with America and the Constitution the right wing really is.
I thought we were talking about Israel.
Originally posted by bunge
Will it be OK to respond by assassinating Sharon? Supporting assassinations is about the most anti-American activity you can support. It just proves how out of touch with America and the Constitution the right wing really is.
It's an act of war. No different than killing Hitler.