Israel Kills Rantisi, New Hamas Leader.

[Az]

I don't see it this way. What if he was just taking a ride with his dad? It's besides the point, it really is.

[Wezil]

Originally posted by Azazel
I don't see it this way. What if he was just taking a ride with his dad? It's besides the point, it really is.

So we understand each other....

If the son was a minor (pick an age) and out for a ride with nasty dad.... you think it is OK to do them both?

[Az]

However, I think that if you strive and become a leader of HAMAS, enemy of Israel, then you have accepted the risk of getting killed by the IDF. Comes with the job description.

precisely. It would be just as stupid if Israel claimed an assassination of a general to be a war crime. ( unless, of course, the assassin was unmarked ).

[Ted Striker]

Who is going to try and step up to be next?

[Tripledoc]

"We will all die one day. Nothing will change. If by Apache or by cardiac arrest, I prefer Apache."
Abdel Aziz Rantisi.

I have to respect that. A courageous man.

[Wezil]

....and he got his wish. Gotta love win-win situations.

[Az]

If the son was a minor (pick an age) and out for a ride with nasty dad.... you think it is OK to do them both?

Ok, let me use a hyperbole here, to illustrate a point.

HITLER is on a ride with his... son. Let's pretend, for the argument's sake, that he has a son. an allied fighter pilot/ communist partisan with an anti tank weapon/ someone else with a large impact weapon, sees them in their car. He knows that there is an innocent kid inside. Do you think he shouldn't take a shot? Now I agree that one should try and not kill the kid, if possible, but you DON'T have that luxury.

I have to respect that. A courageous man.

2/10, the 2 points being for the outstanding inflammatory value. Courage is making an ethical act while taking a risk. He ain't courageous.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Wezil


So we understand each other....

If the son was a minor (pick an age) and out for a ride with nasty dad.... you think it is OK to do them both?

I would say yes. Otherwise terrorist leaders could make themselves immune by surrounding themselves with sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, and cousins.

How much negative reaction was there to the US/UK bombing of Tripoli when Kadhafi's daugther was killed in the air strike?

[Tripledoc]

I think it's more of a lose-lose situation.

[notyoueither]

Of course you do, dear. If you didn't, you wouldn;t be the loon we all love so well.

[Agathon]

Hey, in the battle for hearts and minds in the Middle East, Osama bin Laden is winning. There's no doubt about it.

One way of minimizing support for his point of view is to do something that appears (but not necessarily is) even handed on the Palestine question.

OBL has tried to point out time and time again that the US is conducting a war on Muslims (well Arabs really, but the religious language serves him better). Now the US has invaded an Arab country for no worthwhile reason and has finally explicitly endorsed an anti-Arab policy in Palestine.

More and more Arabs will be looking at the facts and becoming more sympathetic to his (frankly bizarre) ideas. That means more terrorists, since terrorism is the only way they have of fighting back. The problem is that the lesson of history is that you may kill people and conquer territory but you cannot win unless the majority of the population is on side. Vietnam proved that, as did countless anti-colonial struggles. Bush and Sharon are on the wrong side of history, only they haven't noticed.

[Ted Striker]

You should just cut and paste that instead of rewriting it so much.

[Wezil]

Azazel:

I certainly understand the situation. First off - He wasn't/never would be Hitler (power potential, etc). Bad comparison....a notorius criminal perhaps....

Second - Was he intentionally shielding himself with children? Never w/o them around? If this was a deliberate tactic, fair enough and the child may be a victim. Otherwise, pick your shots carefully.

I see no moral equivalency between PALs blowing up busses and IDF taking out Hamas leadership. One is evil, the other is not. That said, if the IDF knowingly takes out children when an alternative exists they will lose the high ground. (Save the post Agathon, I hear your protests).

[SlowwHand]

Adios, mutha. Kill them off one at a time if need be.

[Agathon]

It's still true. I don't like it any more than you do - I'm no fan of OBL - that's why I oppose stupid policies that empower him and his ilk.

Or are you doing to tell me that he isn't winning hearts and minds. The US certainly isn't, even among it's allies.

I just saw Brzezinski and Kissinger interviewed on television. Both agreed that the Bush administration's FP is incompetent, unworkable and is doing more harm than good. Know what? They're right.