Israel Matzav

Why arresting terrorists is a bad idea

Those of you who read my posts from this morning already know that I think that arresting eighty-seven Hamas terrorists this morning was a lousy idea. They're not criminals; they're terrorists. And we shouldn't be aiming to punish and rehabilitate them but to kill them.

The idea that you can deal with terrorism by arresting terrorists is one that the US got over after 9/11. We all remember how the US ran all over the world to arrest the terrorists responsible for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and how (in)effective that was in dealing with the overall problem. For those of you who want to read more about what I think should be done, you'll find it here. For those of you who want to read why Israel won't do what I think should be done - even though my suggestion is the Jewish thing to do - go here.

Now I'm going to show you why arresting terrorists is a bad idea. This afternoon, Fwance, one of whose 19-year old citizens is being held hostage by terrorists (hopefully) in the Gaza Strip, 'blasted' Israel's arrest of the Hamas terrorists this morning, saying that diplomacy was the only solution to the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians and that political figures should not be arrested. In other words, Fwance wants us to 'negotiate' with Hamas.

If we had killed these guys, Fwance would have said, that diplomacy was the only solution to the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians and that political figures should not be killed. But at least we wouldn't have anyone from Hamas with whom to negotiate.

And it isn't just Fwance. The Group of Eight industrialized countries said Thursday that the Hamas arrests raised "particular concerns." Like what?

But wait - it gets worse. Look at what the dhimmified Olmert administration said in response:

Israel stated that the arrests were made as part of a criminal investigation into the Hamas officials' involvement in a terrorist organization. Israeli officials insisted that the detainees would be entitled to legal representation, and would be released if it were to be found that the suspicions against them were unfounded.

Anyone who thinks that Israel is going to set up Guantanamo East to hold these guys is going to be sorely disappointed. (And after this morning's Supreme Court ruling, it sounds like Guantanamo West isn't going to last much longer either). And what will Israel do with them if they are convicted? Give them housing next to Marwan the Murdering Moron so that they can draft more 'Prisoners' Documents' that call for Israel's destruction? Release them the next time an Elhanan Tannenbaum comes along who has sensitive information and cannot be left to rot forever?

This is a lousy idea folks. The helicopters are quicker and more effective and don't bring any more protest from the world than we've gotten already.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:27 PM