This seems like a reasonable, or at least satisfying, way to deal with terrorists. Ignore the foot soldiers and take the punishment straight to the top:
Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas warned Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh that Israel will strike out at him if harm comes to the Israel Defense Forces soldier kidnapped by militants, the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported Tuesday.During a particularly tense and hasty meeting held Monday night in Gaza, Abbas told Haniyeh that Israel would also strike out at his fellow Hamas members Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud a-Zahar and Interior Minister Said Sayam if anything happens to Cpl. Gilad Shalit.
Abbas reportedly hurled accusations at Hamas during the 15-minute meeting which otherwise produced no results.
Michelle Malkin links to a letter from Gilad Shalit’s parents.
Meryl Yourish makes the case for kicking ass:
Imagine that Mexico was firing rockets on San Diego every day. Imagine that this happened in San Diego. Now imagine what the reaction from the government would be, and tell me why Israel is not allowed to do what any other sovereign nation would do.Olmert needs to send the troops into Gaza. Olmert needs to tell Hamas that if the rockets don’t stop, no member of Hamas will be able to sleep in the same bed two nights in a row.
Clarity & Resolve highlights Israel’s restraint:
Again, if Israel fought in the same manner as its enemies, Gaza would be a pile of smoking rubble by now.
It’s true and nothing sends moonbats into orbit like telling them that you think Israel needs to stop holding back.
David Bernstein poses an interesting question:
What if, instead, Israel informed the kidnappers that if harm comes to Shalit, Prime Minister Olmert will call on the Knesset to immediately institute the death penalty for terrorist murders, and apply it retroactively? Instead of securing the release of terrorist prisoners, several dozen murderers in Israeli prisons (who richly deserve it, anyway), connected by political or family ties to the kidnappers will be executed. I’d much rather see the lives of guilty terrorists threatened than IDF soldiers and Palestinian civilians.
Not everyone is moved by Shalit’s plight:
What most readers won’t know, however, is that we have our nineteen year old poised to take out an indigenous people, many of them refugees in clear sight of their personal property within a few kilometers of Gaza so that he, and other Jews from all over the world, may live unhindered in a Jews preferred state and that Shalit is part of a military that daily engages in war crimes on behalf of this state that, among other breaches of civil and human rights, refuses to implement the inalienable right of 7.2 million Palestinian refugees to return home.Wilson’s spin and lack of context is little more than an Amber Alert for a vulnerable and slight Jewish boy with big rimmed glasses.
Peace and justice…just not for Jews.
Carl in Jerusalem suggests another target:
Instead of targeting Haniyeh, I would target someone else first: Meshaal. Sure it’s a much harder target, especially because he’s in Syria. But the Syrians would not (and probably cannot – except through Hezbullah) retaliate, and with Meshaal out of the picture, Haniyeh and Abu Mazen would become more pliable – and they could still be targeted later if need be.
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June 27th, 2006 at 3:20 pm
Why is this considered a ‘terrorist’ attack when it was on a purely military target? Why was the soldier ‘kidnapped’ as opposed to ‘captured’?
June 27th, 2006 at 6:48 pm
Introduce The Death Penalty
David Bernstein at Volokh writes that: Israel should institute the death penalty for terrorism, as keeping leading terrorists in jail has for decades given their compatriots an incentive to hold hostages in the hopes of securing their release, and Isra…
June 27th, 2006 at 9:21 pm
IDF Crossing Into Gasa
Israeli planes have attacked a bridge inside Gaza, and ground troops and tanks are on the move.
June 28th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
As Operation Summer Rains begins, another Israeli
The IDF has entered Gaza to search for and free Gilad Shalit, the soldier who was kidnapped by PLO/Hamas terrorists (Hat tip: Michelle Malkin, who’s got more coverage here). Be sure also to read this important article by Caroline Glick, in which she …
June 30th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
Gregdn,
Look up the defintion of captured and kidnapped. This should provide some insight.
The soldier was ambushed and his fellow soldiers were killed while guarding a checkpoint. This not a description of combat operations.
He was not captured but rather, kidnapped as he was not inside enemy lines. He was kidnapped from his post while manning the check point within Isreal.