To those who believe that Israel should pay 'any price' for Shalit
With those who believe that Israel should pay 'any price' to free Gilad Shalit probably long-since having abandoned my blog as not being in accordance with their notions of good taste, I am probably preaching to the choir by posting this one. Still, I thought this article by Martin Sherman at YNet was excellent (Hat Tip: NormanF). Clearly then, there is no reason to assume that freeing of the terrorists demanded in exchange for Shalit will not jeopardize the lives of yet more civilians, whose protection was the raison d'etre for Shalit's military service. It therefore follows that the release of convicted terrorists – especially those responsible for the deaths of many Israelis – would not only render Corporal Shalit's service worthless, but would undermine the very rationale of IDF service itself. For if the securing the fate of a single combatant can justify endangering life and limb of numerous civilians, the entire purpose of the military is annulled and the relationship between it and the civilian sector becomes grossly perverted – indeed inverted. For if anyone knew that Shalit's release would result in a further 200 deaths, would they still insist on it? And if it was 100 deaths? 50, 20…??Read the whole thing.
It is of course true that the IDF and other security services must foster an organizational ethos, an esprit de corps which instills the belief in all their combatants that, should they be taken by the enemy, extraordinary efforts will be made to secure their release. But these "extraordinary efforts" must involve only actions which impinge on personnel of the security forces and not on the civilian population as a whole. They cannot and should not include far-reaching capitulation to enemy demands. They cannot, and should not, include measures which nullify – indeed make a mockery of – the equally extraordinary efforts of fellow combatants, who through their daring, and determination, their willingness to risk to life and limb, brought about the capture and conviction of those who aspired to sow murder and mayhem among Israeli civilians.
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Fatuous remarks such "what would you do if your own son or brother was held hostage" should carry no weight with policy makers. Of course, private individuals who have had loved ones seized and carried off by cruel brutes will, understandably, be willing to make exorbitant demands to secure their freedom; but private individuals do not have public responsibility, and their private pain and anguish cannot be allowed to dictate national policies, especially if doing so is highly likely to cause equally great pain and anguish for other private individuals.
This does not mean that Israeli prisoners should be abandoned. Quite the opposite! There is a whole range of assertive, pro-active measures that can and must be employed not only to secure the release of abductees, but to convey to the other side that future kidnappings are likely to be highly unprofitable enterprises. These would include vigorous intelligence efforts to locate the whereabouts of the abductees, and to mount operational plans for their forcible rescue; retaliatory abductions of prominent personalities on the Palestinian side to use as bargaining chips to secure the release of Israeli hostages, and collective penalties on the population in whose "national interest" the abduction was purportedly executed and intended to promote.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:33 PM
4 Comments:
Thanks, Carl. I want to emphasize that I feel very much what the Shalit family is going through since I have suffered a personal loss in my own life. I'm not going to say theirs is the same as mine since we all have different experiences and every situation is unique as well as the way we deal with it as human beings. That said, I don't think any of us have any right to demand our suffering be made whole at the expense of other people. More to the point, no innocent person afflicted with a loss of a loved one can ever be made whole. When someone you love dies, your entire life changes. (That indeed happened to me with the death of my beloved father, may his memory be for a blessing.) Whether or not Gilad Shalit is restored to his family, their life has changed and it will never be the same again. Of course, all that should be humanely done must be done to save him. But never at the risk of endangering the rest of the Jewish people.
I do not minimize the loss to the Shalit family...
I FEEL their pain...
But I know that Hamas has NEVER allowed the Red Cross to inspect and check on Gilad...
I dont even KNOW if he is alive...
We have seen the pattern by Hezbollah, Syria, Iran and Hamas & Fatah (not to leave anyone one hostile arab group out) that they will torture, murder and lie about Jews and their condition..
Let us REMEMBER Ron Arad, Eli Cohen and the others that have been taken and held without any human rights...
To release murderers that will murder again only rewards the act of kidnapping...
Israel should match conditions (as much as legally possible) with those to any captured Israeli...
Currently Israel should cut off all communication with all Hamas captives with the red crescent, deny books, phones, privacy, qurans, personal belongings..
Israel should from now on give zero Geneva convention rights to any and all non-israeli terrorists it captures....
Israel should strip and film every Hamas leader in captivity and release these movies when and if they do anything unseemly...
Israel should give them ONLY spam for food, subject them to female guards (who are on their periods)
And upon any and all deaths, these remains should be stitched into pig skins and dumped into the sea or feed to dogs...
this should be FILMed and released on UTUBE
Israel is already hated and actively wished dead...
What will these vulgar acts make them really, really really hate us?
Or will scare them...
I suggest the ONLY way to defeat radical islam is to humiliate and disgrace both them and their evil faith...
To those that say i am immature and hateful?
I sadly agree... I am... But I didnt start the beheadings, the suicide bombings, the sniping, the stabbings, the hijackings, the smashing of Jewish kids skulls, the ripping of hearts out of Jewish men..
No, I didnt DO anything except get tired of being a target....
Time to fight back...
Time to HUMILIATE and SHAME the enemy...
Time to stop being PC...
Want Gilad BACK?
Start targeting Hamas Leaders on a daily basis...
Kill em, Kidnap them humiliate them, shame them...
I've read articles and listened to the arguments (biblical, humanistic, statistical, tactical, practical) of advocates on both sides of this issue and I have to say that after carefully weighing all of these arguments and evidence... I find it incredulous that Israel would swap the list of Hamas prisoners for Shalit.
Like other observers, I cannot imagine the daily, unremitting fear and desperation experienced by Gilad Shalit or his family over the last two years. On the same level, not having served in the military, I cannot imagine the excruciating pain and loss experienced by the devastated families of soldiers who are killed or maimed in battle.
But all soldiers and their families understand the risks associated with the decision to enter the service and face battle against a heartless enemy. The very real possibility of death, injury, and capture must be part and parcel of that calculation.
IDF soldiers know that their comrades will do all that is possible to protect them from being captured and they should also be assured that the army and intelligence forces will do all that is possible to rescue them if they befall that fate.
Beyond this however, it should be clear and understandable to all that serve that the government will not go to any lengths to spring them from captivity, i.e., the release of hundreds of mass murderers, a sizeable percentage of whom we know will return to terrorism and kill again.
There are a multitude of other sound reasons not to deal with Hamas on this issue -- and alternative bases to argue for negotiation -- but the preservation of innocent lives which will almost certainly be forfeit to a trade is, it seems to me, the highest moral imperative.
The Bible is willing to overlook a lot of things politicians do to maintain order. For example, when Syria attacked Israel, Elijah the prophet backed the pagan king Ahab because he believed Jews had the right to defend themselves from those who sought their destruction.
What the Bible unambiguously rejects is acceptance of and toleration of evil. That is an unforgivable crime, the very worst crime of all. And it has nothing to do with the worldly realpolitik it overlooks. Just the opposite.
Hamas should be destroyed, not treated like a civilized interlocutor and Gilad Shalit's capitivity can never be a justification to elevate its status. Again, that should be the reverse of what Israel was doing. It should begin and end with the principle Jewish freedom and safety is not open to negotiation. Period!
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