Israel Matzav

An improper liquidation

Paul Mirengoff comments on some of the improprieties in the liquidation of Hamas terrorist and arms dealer Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

[P]assport fraud and identity theft hardly exhaust the ways in which the slaying of Mabhouh affronts modern sensibilities. For example, the photos of the 11 suspects raise questions about the diversity of the team Mossad (or whomever) assembled. It includes only one woman (an attractive blond,naturally) and looks to be short on people of color.

There is also no indication that the team advised Mabhouh of his rights or offered him a chance to exculpate himself before he was killed. Indeed, from all that appears, no lawyer was present.

Finally, what about the carbon footprint of the operation? Did the team travel to Dubai in an energy efficient way? And how much electricity did they use once they arrived? Some reports say they used electricity to stun Mabhouh before killing him. Couldn't he have been executed in a more energy efficient way?

A certain amount of nastiness is inevitable in today's world. But this doesn't mean that protocol, equal opportunity, and principles of good environmental stewardship should fall by the wayside.

Heh.

By the way, for what it's worth, Palestine Today has concluded that the United States was involved in Mabhouh's liquidation. Yes, of course, if Little Satan did it, how could Big Satan not have been involved?

On a more serious note, JPost concludes:

PERHAPS the shrill reaction in some (though certainly not all) British quarters is not rooted purely in anti-Israelism. Chances are that at least parts of the British intelligentsia and media would have reacted similarly if the man in that hotel room had been Osama bin Laden... or Adolf Eichmann. And this pigheaded refusal to acknowledge that sometimes the ends do justify the means reflects a moral impoverishment that’s not limited to Britain.

Some pundits here have also gone wobbly, asking whether the Mabhouh hit was worth the trouble; others are rashly calling for the resignation of Mossad chief Meir Dagan.

In fact, removing a Mabhouh or a Mughniyeh – agents of evil engaged in sensitive compartmentalized work – significantly disrupts Hamas and Hizbullah. It sows distrust within enemy ranks. And it forces whoever replaces them to dissipate their energies just trying to stay alive.

Read it all.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:44 AM