Re: Hamas founder killed
 

One dead terrorist = a good start.

My only question is, what took them so long? Israel should have killed this guy a long time ago.

As for Hamas' threats to attack Israel for "revenge," what are they going to do now, send suicide bombers? Gee, I bet Sharon is shaking in his shoes! There have been over 100 separate suicide bombing attacks in Israel in the last 3.5 years. When Hamas is already doing everything it can to murder Israelis, threatening to kill Israelis in retaliation doesn't really carry much weight.

Since Hamas has repeatedly shown that they will carry out terrorist attacks regardless of what Israel does, Israel should try to kill every last one of them (starting with their leaders), as soon as possible.

Re: Hamas founder killed
 

[ QUOTE ]
Amazingly, things are going to get uglier over there.

[/ QUOTE ]

What's amazing is that nobody made this observation after the terror attacks against Israel the last few weeks.

It\'s really as simple as this
 

Yassin mindfucked impressionable young Arabs into believing that the only way to make something of themselves is to become a "martyr" for the Palestinian cause.

How does he do this? By expounding and furthering the notion that it is a required duty of Muslims to liberate "Muslim lands" from non-Muslim rule. It is this fanaticism that is bred in the territories, NOT an opposition to "occupation". And it is that fanaticism that the Israeli government must quell in order to allow the Arabs who value life to step forward and lead their people out of squalor.

If you believe Sharon will deviate from any course he has set his mind to, you're quite mistaken, and Gaza will be cleared of Jews quite soon (interesting, Cyrus hasn't said a word about that ethnic cleansing.

Now putting aside all conspiracy theories and your projections of what you all think what your motivation might be for such an assassination, and consider the people who are the foundation of the fanaticism described above have to be silenced, or more Israelis will die. This is not a war one wins by giving in to the other side, it is a war that will only be won when one side wins outright. You simply can't negotiate with people who don't value life. Why they don't value life is irrelevant.

But a million times I'll say it: given a choice between lowering their quality of life or preserving my right to life, the choice is automatic.

A short-sighted policy to say the least, but the man is responsible for targetting and murdering hundreds of innocents, and ironically, he would have been the happiest if he knew the way he went.

Re: Hamas founder killed
 

what took them so long?

While there's tons of intelligence data, to get the exact time and place one person will be, when any suspicious activity is enough to get you executed, is not as easy as it sounds.

Re: Hamas founder killed
 

Some aired recordings of Yassin, saying, "We chose this road, and will end with martyrdom or victory

More telling words were never spoken.

They chose this road.

It will most certainly end in the former.

Blair Comdemns Atttack
 

If even beligerant old right wigners like Michael Ancram have condemed this its diffuclt not to conclude it's a bad move for Israel.

UK condemns 'unlawful' Yassin killing

Matthew Tempest and agencies
Monday March 22, 2004

Tony Blair today condemned Israel's assassination of the Hamas spritual leader, Ahmed Yassin, calling it a "setback" for the peace process.

"What has happened this morning is clearly a setback," Tony Blair's official spokesman told reporters. "There is no point pretending otherwise." "It goes without saying that the prime minister also condemns today's killing. We have repeatedly made clear our opposition to Israel's use of targeted killings and assassinations.

"We recognise Israel's right to defend itself against terrorism, but equally any steps should be within international law and should be neither disproportionate nor excessive.

Earlier, the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, accused the Israeli government of committing an "unlawful killing" and urged it to act within international law.

Arriving in Brussels for EU talks on tackling terrorism, he said: "All of us understand Israel's need to defend itself against terrorism which affects it - within international law."

He called the missile strike, which killed the 67-year-old Hamas leader and seven other Palestinians, an "unlawful killing, which we condemn".

"It is unacceptable, it is unjustified and it is very unlikely to achieve its [Israel's] objectives."

The foreign secretary added that he did not believe that Israel would benefit from the killing of an old man in a wheelchair. The shadow foreign secretary, Michael Ancram, said Yassin's killing represented a "regrettable escalation" of violence in the Middle East.

"I quite accept the right of countries to protect their citizens - and this man may well have been the instigator of many terrorist acts against Israel - but I think the sadness of this is ... there is no military solution to this," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"The only resolution of the problem in the Middle East is going to be through talks and that solution is further away now than ever."

Mr Ancram said everyone knew the answer to the Middle East situation was a "secure" Israel and a "viable" Palestinian state alongside it on the West Bank.

Once the peace process resumed, America, the UK and other parts of Europe would "have a role in encouraging that dialogue forward", he said.

"But I don't believe you can fight your way to the [negotiating] table, that you can actually bomb, shoot or kill your way to the table.

"I think it has to be done by building confidence and restoring confidence and I'm afraid what has happened today is the antithesis of this," Mr Ancram added.

Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, said: "It is hard to think of a more provocative act than this.

"Assassination as an instrument of foreign policy is illegal, and has a long history of making matters worse.

"The killing of Sheikh Yassin in this way will put back for months any prospect of negotiation." Labour MP Joan Ruddock, who recently returned from Israel and the occupied territories, also condemned the assassination.

Ms Ruddock, who travelled there last week with fellow British MPs on a fact-finding mission organised by Christian Aid, said it would only result in more violence.

"While I condemn suicide bombings, there can be no justification for the political assassination of Sheikh Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas," she said.

"Such assassinations are illegal and can only foster further violence.

"The Palestinians I met were in total despair as to how the peace sought by the vast majority of them and the vast majority of Israelis could be achieved.

"The conditions in Gaza and the West Bank which have just been imposed and which we saw last week are the equivalent of a lock-down at a prison.

"People will be prevented from going to work, going to school, going to hospital, and the sense of outrage and despair will only deepen the cycle of violence."

Afif Safieh, Palestinian general delegate to the UK, said: "I think it is a sad day and I personally feel ashamed of the world in which we live.

"I think prime minister Sharon is taking full advantage of the American presidential election year and the paralysis that results from that.

"This assassination will inflame the entire region and I believe that the world should be aware that every day we have an average of five Palestinians killed.

"I believe that today anti-Semitism is the persecution of Palestinian society by the Israeli state."

From http://politics.guardian.co.uk/forei...175312,00.html

Re: Blair Comdemns Atttack
 

[ QUOTE ]
Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, said: "It is hard to think of a more provocative act than this.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not really. Apparently this idiot hasn't heard about the 100+ suicide bombing attacks in Israel the last few years, including the attacks of the last few weeks. I guess murdering babies, women and children is not as "provocative" as killing a terrorist...

Re: Blair Comdemns Atttack
 

Actually "this idiot" is one of our most respected Parliamentarians, highly intelligent and well educated and qualifed (MA in Law from Glasgow, MA in International Law from Stanford), he's a QC and a CBE and as a Shadow Foreign Affairs Spokesman and Foreign Secretary has taken a commited and deep interest in Israel & Palestine going back many years. He has visited the region many times in a political capacity and has ties with various Israeli and Palestinian figures.

So perhaps you'll forgive me if I take rather more account of his views than your rather emotive analysis.

Re: Blair Comdemns Atttack
 

Regardless of his education, his comment was absurd and showed ignorance of the conflict.

Perhaps he would like to retract his statement.

Re: Blair Comdemns Atttack
 

So you are saying that the assassination is less "provocative" than the terrorist attacks?

Just because someone went to school doesn't make him immune to bias. After all, many say Daniel Pipes is an anti-Muslim racist, when in fact he owns a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies. I, for one, think he tells the truth, but I'm sure you would disagree.

Though, it would make more sense on a strictly logical scale that only the Israeli action is to be viewed as a provocation while the terrorism is more benign. Terrorist attacks generally result in little more than national mourning and policework/arrests by IDF soldiers. On the other hand, any IDF counter-terrorist action, including fence-building/arrests/raids on terrorist bases results in rioting and outright insanity in the Territories.