Israel Kills Terrorists, the World Goes Off Half-Cocked
When I saw these headlines this morning, I knew something was amiss:
At Least 10 Are Killed as Israel Halts Flotilla With Gaza Aid
Israeli soldiers kill at least 10 protesters on boat carrying supplies to Gaza
Israel Attacks Palestinian Aid Flotilla
Deaths as Israeli forces storm Gaza aid ship
Israel has one of the best-trained, most disciplined special forces groups in the world. How could they have opened fire on a “flotilla” of completely innocent peace activists, considering that they’ve dealt with these people before and knew they were coming?
As so often happens, I was right. There was something amiss — the whole story. We are now learning, thanks to more circumspect news outlets like YNet News, that the Israeli boarding team was attacked the very second it reached the deck of the ship.
A few minutes before the takeover attempt aboard the Marmara got underway, the operation commander was told that 20 people were waiting on the deck where a helicopter was to deploy the first team of the elite Flotilla 13 unit. The original plan was to disembark on the top deck, and from there rush to the vessel’s bridge and order the Marmara’s captain to stop.
Officials estimated that passengers will show slight resistance, and possibly minor violence; for that reason, the operation’s commander decided to bring the helicopter directly above the top deck. The first rope that soldiers used in order to descend down to the ship was wrested away by activists, most of them Turks, and tied to an antenna with the hopes of bringing the chopper down. However, Flotilla 13 fighters decided to carry on.
Navy commandoes slid down to the vessel one by one, yet then the unexpected occurred: The passengers that awaited them on the deck pulled out bats, clubs, and slingshots with glass marbles, assaulting each soldier as he disembarked. The fighters were nabbed one by one and were beaten up badly, yet they attempted to fight back.
According to the report, the soldiers fired back only after the “peace activists” attacked them, took at least one weapon from the team, and threw a soldier 30 feet from the upper deck of the ship. This video bears out the Israeli report.
This video gives a better look at what happened to the first Israeli down the rope.
See those guns the soldiers are pointing at the guys who just beat the heck out of their compatriots? Those are paintball guns. The real guns hadn’t even come out yet. Well, not out of Israeli holsters, at least.
Remember that all the Israelis asked of the flotilla was that it either subject itself to a cargo inspection where it was or off-load the materials legally and in accordance to established law at the port of Ashdod. That wasn’t good enough. Indeed, from what I’ve seen, the ship was full of terrorists intent on making Israel look like the bad guy in the eyes of the international community and the Al-Jazeera accounts of this story prove that without question.
World leaders have taken the Islamist’s bait and are condemning Israel in their usual knee-jerk fashion, without a moment’s though to whether “>the whole thing was a set-up. The Muslim world has, on cue, taken to the streets for their usual rioting and mayhem. Prime Minister Netanyahu has cancelled a White House visit (that would have accomplished nothing given that President Obama refuses to treat him as a friend or ally) and the blogosphere has divided itself along the usual Israel/Islamist lines.
What does it all mean? Really, I don’t know that it means anything. This is the same old story that plays out on a very regular basis. Hamas or Hezbollah or some other Islamist hate group goads Israel into defending itself. Israel does so, usually but not always with heroic restraint, and gets a face full of the world’s vitriol. It used to be that our only steadfast ally in the Middle East could rely on us to back them up but these days they can’t even rely on that.
I know two things for sure. First, Gaza is not the House of Woe that the Islamists say it is. No area that boasts its own Olympic-sized swimming pool (in the middle of a desert, yet) and a top-flight restaurant that does booming business is on the edge of ruin. Second, there is no doubt in my mind that Hamas, Hezbollah, et. al. could stop the killing right now by laying down their arms. Israel could do the same, but the killing would take a little time to stop. After all, slaughtering every Jew in the region isn’t the work of one day.
Now why hasn’t that happened? Why hasn’t Hamas simply stopped lobbing rockets at kids and gotten down to the serious and worthwhile business of governing Gaza competently, for the benefit of those who live there? Why does Hezbollah, flush with Iranian cash and acting on the orders of Mad Mahmoud and the Mullahs sue for peace immediately, knowing the weight of the world would guarantee it?
Why didn’t they dock the flotilla at Ashdod?
Other Posts of Interest:
- Hamas’ Choice: Quit or Die
- What Has Israel Done to Earn Such Hate from the West?
- Israeli Navy 1; Moron Expeditionary Force 0
Category: Alliances and Allies, Anti-Americanism, Fighting the Islamists
Anyone who takes a side in the Middle East is an idiot.
It's not TV or movie, there are no "good guys" and "bad guys" and such to say one side is all to blame is plain retarded.
In this case you had ships in international waters boarded by a lethal military force, to suggest that anyone in the IDF was in danger is ludicrous. If the IDF thought them truly a threat they could have sunk every boat from miles away.
And yes, because Gaza has a nice restaurant and a pool there cannot be poverty and suffering from the blockade. Hey did you know there are poor people in L.A.? It's weird, why don't they open up their own movie studios and make millions? Lazy I guess.
It's neat that you don't let your ignorance get in the way of talking about a place, people and situation you clearly don't understand.
salvage, again you miss the point. Do you buy your strawmen in bulk or something?
If the IDF thought them truly a threat they could have sunk every boat from miles away
My gosh … you mean a boat full of "peace activists" was armed for fighting? And was a threat to an orderly inspection and the people sent over to inspect it? And that the people sent over to take command and inspect it had an ROE which specified non-lethal methods? And yet the "peace activists" attempted to use lethal force on these soldiers?
And you defend this? I won't question whether or not you have shame, or morality. I know the answer to this.
From the strawmen you so eagerly setup and tear down, yeah, I'd say you have an agenda. So sad that an educational system failed so very badly in your case.
In the worlds view, Israel is guilty when she defends herself against terror, and terror supporters. She is guilty when she doesn't defend herself. What type of moral inversion has occurred whereby terrorists and their supporters are victims, and the victims of the terrorists and their supporters are guilty?
So incredibly sad.
Wow.
You don't even know what "strawmen" mean.
It means you're arguing a point I didn't make. It's not the first time you've done it here. It's like you're practicing for the Strawman Olympics or something.
It just sounds like Salvage hates Jews.
What's so hard to understand?
I was amused to hear salvage say "anyone who takes a side in the Middle East is an idiot," and then take a side.
One point I'll make–the title of this post may not be accurate; only under the loosest definition could the activists be called terrorists. (Because they didn't target civilians, you see…) Terrorist sympathizers? Likely. Criminals? Almost certainly. Violent? Obviously. But not terrorists. (Not based on these actions alone, anyway.)
The distinction is an important one–if you start calling all violence 'terrorism,' you lose your justification for saying that all terrorism is unjust, because the term then applies to violent rebellion against an oppressive regime. In geeky terms–You'd have to say Princess Leia and the Rebel Alliance were likewise terrorists.
EricH, the reason I called them terrorists is not because of the attack itself but the reason they set sail in the first place. they intended, from the beginning, to run the blockade and establish an unmonitored route from the outside world into Gaza. The IHH (the group inside Turkey who was instrumental in putting the trip together) is very closely tied to Hamas.
Bascially, breaking the blockade would open up an easy resupply route for Hamas in Gaza. More rockets and other weapons. That's why I called them terrorists. They're not attacking civilians, but they're trying to pave the ground for attacks to happen.
Hmmm, the blockquote tag messed up my post, could you please delete the above? Thx
>It means you’re arguing a point I didn’t make.
Uh huh, here's what you said:
I know two things for sure. First, Gaza is not the House of Woe that the Islamists say it is. No area that boasts its own Olympic-sized swimming pool (in the middle of a desert, yet) and a top-flight restaurant that does booming business is on the edge of ruin.
And then I said with deep sarcasm:
And yes, because Gaza has a nice restaurant and a pool there cannot be poverty and suffering from the blockade.
So how did I misrepresent your argument again?
Like I said, you don't even know what "strwamen" is. What I was doing was being sarcastic… you do know what sarcasm is right?
Here's another example:
Yes! I hate the Jews! Oohhh those Jews, hate 'em all the time!
Which is odd, considering half my family is Jewish and I was bar mitzvahed and all and spent a whole summer working in Israel where I learned just how full of nonsense the whole place is. Bunch of morons fighting over a dying strip of desert.
Of course the bigger idiots are the ones who think they know what's what from the other side of the planet.
I thought another invasion of Lebanon would be just about the stupidest thing the Israelis could do but this certainly tops it and here's one reaction:
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/seven-i…
Yeah, but Yossi Sarid probably hate Jews too and heck, he just lives there, you clearly know more than he does!
Oh and your "terrorists"? They came "armed" with tools, kitchen knives and sticks, oh yes, the IDF with their state of the art weapons equipment and training were in such danger! I flash back to Jimbo of South Park screaming "He's coming right at me!" as he blows the head off of bunny rabbit.
And there's the little matter of the flotilla being in international waters giving the IDF no legal reason to board them. But hey, they're Israel, they'll do what they want, they want to use forged and stolen passports to murder people, they'll do what they want!
Then again, you're Americans, you'll cheerfully invade an whole country for fake WMD so I suppose this is small potatoes.
Here is your strawman. I say this, then I"m done with you.
I leave it as an exercise to you to discover why it is a strawman.
Ah well that'd be a pointless exercise because it's not a "strawmen" argument.
You also clearly don't know what "terrorist" means either.