Submitted by Seth Ginsburg (United States), Jul 24, 2002 at 12:54
I am writing to thank Mr. Pipes for this column. He makes two points that should be pondered by those who insist on condemning the decision to destroy this terrorist leader.
First, the hand wringing about how this is going to bring more violence is absurd. There has been no end to Hamas' attempts to kill as many Jews as possible. What seems like a lull in the violence is really the result of poor reporting in the American media (no attack against Israelis makes it into the news unless at least 4 Jews are killed) and successful work on the part of the IDF to stop attacks before they came to fruition. The fact that attacks will continue is not contingent on this act by Israel.
Second, Mr. Pipes seems to be the only one who has asked why this man was surrounded by children. What was he, a kindergarten teacher? No. He surrounded himself with children and civillians so that he could hide behind them and so, if he was killed, it would make for "good" propaganda.
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