THE ECONOMIST: THE Jerusalem Post reports:
[Israel's] Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman MK Shaul Mofaz (Kadima) on Tuesday said that the killing of Osama bin Laden bears witness to the fact that the US has adopted the Israeli strategy of targeting terrorist leaders. In an interview with Israel Radio, Mofaz said that the strategy was originally employed by Israel following the murder of nine Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Mofaz called on the government to increase targeted killings of Palestinian terrorist leaders. The former defense minister said that targeted killings have been successful in curtailing terrorist activities.Evidently the killing—some would say assassination or "targeted killing"—of Osama bin Laden is seen as legitimatising other countries' pro-assassination policies.
Moreover, celebrity legal eagle Alan Dershowitz argues that the non-response to Mr bin Laden's assassination from governments with a record of condemning the practice reveals the shady substance of these objections. Noting that "a US national security official has confirmed to Reuters that 'this was a kill operation' and there was no desire to capture Bin Laden alive", Mr Dershowitz correctly infers that "those who have opposed the very concept of targeted killings should be railing against the killing of Osama Bin Laden". But they aren't. » | IOWA CITY | Wednesday, May 04, 2011
