THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VIII, Issue # 134, July 21, 2006
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
TARGETED KILLINGS
By Asaf Romirowsky
THE ISRAELI-ARAB CONFLICT, ISLAMIST TERRORISM, & ISRAEL'S POLICY OF TARGETED KILLING OF TERRORISTS:
THE VICTORY OF HAMAS IN THE PALESTINIAN ELECTIONS & SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN
CONFLICT -- VINDICATION & RENEWAL OF ISRAEL'S TARGETED ASSASSINATION POLICY -- HIZBOLLAH'S OPENING OF A
SECOND FRONT IN THE TERROR WAR AGAINST ISRAEL -- WHY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA SHOULD SUPPORT
THE STATE OF ISRAEL IN ITS ENDEAVOR TO ROOT OUT & DESTROY TERRORIST ELEMENTS WHEREVER THEY MAY BE FOUND
FULL STORY:
Since Hamas' victory in the Palestinian elections, we are witnessing a vindication and renewal of Israel's targeted assassination
policy. Even before Hamas was "legalized," Israel used this technique to cause disarray within terrorist groups. It is now timelier
than ever.
Historically, the U.S government never really approved Israel's policy of targeted killings, even when American citizens were
victims of terrorist bombings. As U.S. Department of State Spokesman Richard Boucher articulates,
"We [America] are against targeted killings. We're against the
use of heavy weaponry in urban areas, even when it comes to
people like Mohammed Deif, who have been responsible for
the deaths of American citizens."
But, if Hamas' attacks from Gaza were not enough, Hizbollah's opening of a second front war against Israel shows that America,
more than ever, should back Israel on her endeavor to root out the terrorist elements wherever they may be found. The U.S.A.
must begin to see Israel's war on Hamas as Washington views its own war against former government officials (FGOs) from
Saddam Hussein's Baath regime, as well as Washington's war against al-Qa'ida terrorists. The bottom line is that fighting
terrorism is useless, unless the top leaders, planners, and footsoldiers have been eliminated.
Even those Israelis who favored the Gaza pullout knew that many Palestinians would view the pullout as a strategic retreat and
a victory for Hamas. The notion that "today we got Gaza and tomorrow will get Jeruslam and Tel Aviv"continues to thrive in
Palestinian society. If Israel would respond immediately to every attack and rocket fired, regardless of Israeli casualties, true
deterrence would be restored. The relative restraint shown by Israel over the past six years since the withdrawl from Lebanon
has eroded the sense of cause and effect on the part of Israel's enemies, who lulled themselves, their populations, and Israel as
well, into a perception that Israel was strictly reactive.
Targeting the foot soldiers of Hamas clearly shook members of Hamas, inspiring them to scamper underground. Until Israel
targeted Hamas's spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yasin in September, 2003, Hamas saw those ‘minor targets' as warning shots.
Targeting Yasin was the beginning of a whole new ball game; then Hamas' spokesman Abdel-Aziz Rantisi, who was also
subsequently targeted, exclaimed after Yasin's death that Israel had "opened the gates of hell." But, after Yasin, the policy took
second place to continued strikes on ticking time bombs -- terrorists on the move toward their targets.
What Hamas and Hizbullah must now realize is that foot soldiers are not the only targets anymore. The lack of stability within
the Palestinian Authority, the increase in suicide bombings, and the massive rocket fire from both Gaza and Lebanon are
bringing Israel closer to an all out war. The American road map to peace is hardly on anyone's agenda anymore. Israel's
hesitation in gunning for the terrorist group's top leaders demonstrates how the Israeli security forces let outside foreign policy
considerations (not wanting to anger the U.S.A., Europe, Egypt, or Jordan) dictate how Israel should deal with terror. Conversely,
if America would be satisfied with only the foot soldiers of al-Qa'ida, the leaders would see themselves as indestructible because
they are not the primary targets. Zarqawi would still be alive and directing his own bloody campaigns in Iraq.
Targeted killing of terrorist leaders is, by definition, effective. Well-planned targeted killing by Israeli security forces can certainly
be a powerful tool for Israeli counterterror. Analyst Gal Luft explains:
"... constant elimination of [terrorist] leaders leaves terrorist
organizations in a state of confusion and disarray. Those next
in line for succession take a long time to step into their
predecessors' shoes. They know that, by choosing to take the
lead, they add their names to Israel's target list, where life is
Hobbesian: nasty, brutish, and short."
It is the same methodology the Bush administration has been using in the war on terror.
But, if Israel expects targeted killing to do more than scare Hamas operatives or disrupt the organization for a short time, Jerusalem
will have to focus on the top radicals and strategic leaders who constitute the very nucleus of the Hamas movement. To be sure,
attacking the lower and middle ranking radicals will keep Hamas on the defensive. Hamas's leaders like Mahmoud al-Zaharand and
Khaled Mashaal are safer now than the people they send out to the streets to blow themselves up. The religious and political
immunity Yasin and Rantisi claimed to have is now gone. The U.S.A. should realize that, just as killing or arresting Usama bin
Laden will be pivotal to weakening al-Qa'ida, and just as Saddam's removal was necessary to create a new regime, killing Yasin and
Rantisi undermined Hamas before, and such undermining of Hamas must be done again and again.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The Israeli-Arab Conflict
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
The Middle East -- Lebanon as a Geopolitical Problem
The Middle East & the Problem of Syria
The Middle East & the Problem of Iran
Islamism & Jihadism -- Radical Islam & Islamic Terrorism
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Asaf Romirowsky is a Campus Watch associate fellow for the Middle East Forum and the Israel Affairs Fellow for the Jewish
Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
The foregoing article by Asaf Romirowsky was originally published on FrontPageMagazine.Com, July 21, 2006, and can
be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum.
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
July 21, 2006
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