Alan Dershowitz on Zarqawi
Alan Dershowitz on killing Zarqawi:
As the civilized world justly celebrates the long overdue killing of Abu M al-Zarqawi, it must recall that his death was brought about by what has come to be known as “targeted assassination” or “targeted killings.” This is the same technique that has been repeatedly condemned by the international community when Israel has employed it against terrorists who have murdered innocent Jews.
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I applaud the targeted killing of Al Zarqawi. His death will save many innocent lives. But I also applaud the targeted killings of anti-Israel terrorists whose deaths save numerous lives. All decent people must insist on a single standard of judging tactics such as targeted killing. It is nothing short of bigotry to approve this tactic when used by the United States and Great Britain but to condemn it when it is used by Israel.
Amen.
One of the determinative moments in the formation of my opinion vis-a-vis fighting terrorism was a Nightline interview in August 2001 with an Israeli official defending targeted killings. It made perfect sense to me at the time. Then September 11 happened.
3 Responses to “Alan Dershowitz on Zarqawi”
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Can’t agree with you on this one Doug. It’s bad policy indeed to kill first and ask questions later. Too much “collateral damage” as we like to call it.
The question here is targeted killing. The argument against targeted killing is weak in that it either:
1) claims to KNOW that forgiving and forgetting murderous terrorists will result in peace
2) or that it is willing to literally risk additional (meaning: in addition to those already lost) lives to see if the murderous terrorists will strike again, a kind of “2nd chance theory”
There is a difference between what some people mock as “Old Testament style” revenge and self-defense. Those that argue against targeted killing seem to believe that we are already in Utopia and there is no evil left in the hearts of men. Reality and common sense demand we recognize the evil there is and confront it.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
[...] –Curtis, June 2006 [link] I think you have been too biased by what you hear….Don’t just follow what others want you to think. [...]