No remorse

Interesting article in the NY Daily about the recent assassination of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh, I think it frames the issue perfectly namely that this man was a terrorist, he was helping sponsor violence against a sovereign nation and his death should not and was not tragic. Anyway I saw this when I woke up this morning and thought it was worth having my own say as I’ve been thoroughly confused by the coverage of this event in the media over the last week. Enjoy that last line and take note, this is what happens to those who seek to do us harm.

On a more personal note, this is my own take: The Torah teaches us not to murder, but Chazal tell us that if someone plans on killing you, you’re to wake up early and kill them first. This is an interesting seeming contradiction. But when we examine the root of the two lines we realize that there is no contradiction. The first line commands us not to murder, murder in this case being an unprovoked attack, killing someone for no reason, someone who never intended us harm. The next line says if we know someone intends to kill us, we shouldn’t let them and we should employ any means necessary to stop them from doing so and sometimes this means that we must kill others so that we ourselves can be safe. This is exactly the principal that Israel demonstrated, if they indeed killed Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh. By killing him they helped ensure the safety of those who he was actively seeking to do harm to. This is what had be done. So let Europe get all up in arms about it and then when the dust has settled let’s remember why these actions are necessary.

My favorite lines from the article:

While Europe is up in arms over the slaying of top Hamas guerrilla Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh - and everyone blames the Mossad - the near-unanimous verdict in Israel: mission accomplished.

Self-described Tel Aviv "Communist" Haish Harel gave a thumbs-up to the Jan. 20 assassination in Dubai, which has brought Israel a blizzard of unwanted international attention."He wasn't a civilian. He was a fighter, and he was still active," one of a tiny minority of Israeli Jews who vote for a left-wing, Israeli Arab-led party, Harel insisted, "A sovereign state has the right to defend itself. It's better to do it like this, surgically, than by sending the infantry into Gaza."

Early last year, Mabhouh gave an interview to Al Jazeera in Damascus in which he admitted taking part in the kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1989."To the Israelis, my hands are stained with blood, but to God? This is what matters," said Mabhouh, whom the Israelis say was involved in smuggling weapons to Gaza from Iran.

"Any country in Israel's position has a right to eradicate these kind of people," Willie Malkinson said. "The world is now a safer place." As his soldiers gathered round, a young sergeant concluded on a buoyant note. "The Hamasniks should be afraid," he said. "Write this down: Hamas, Hezbollah, all the terrorists - we're coming for you."