What is the moral course

Marco Anglesio mpa at the-wire.com
Fri Sep 14 11:07:57 PDT 2001


On Thu, 13 Sep 2001, Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
> assasination of terrorist leaders, strategists, and major supporters, such
> as it is done by the Israelis, will reduce the supply of skilled terrorists
> and keep the rest of them constantly on the run instead of planning and

I can't help but think that this would merely exert an evolutionary process on terrorists, making them work in smaller cells, making them much more desperate and more given to suicide (rather than "mere" hostage-taking) actions.

That isn't to say that you're not right, Wojtek. I think that the Israeli policy of assasinating leaders, strategists, and major supporters can certainly decrease the capacity of terrorists to operate. But it is a companion to the diplomatic effort, the iron fist in the velvet glove; a policy of killing alone will not bear fruit in the long term, no matter how good it seems in the short term.

In the long term, all it does is exert an evolutionary pressure on terrorists, so you'll have fewer but more able and better prepared ones. Not exactly the preferred option.

Marco

,--------------------------------------------------------------------------.
> Marco Anglesio | Quidquid latine dictum sit, <
> mpa at the-wire.com | altum viditur. <
> http://www.the-wire.com/~mpa | (Whatever is said in Latin <
> | sounds profound.) <
`--------------------------------------------------------------------------'



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list