Posted by Dan Ewert : 7/24/2002 01:41:00 AM (Archive Link)
Those of you who may be familiar with this site know that I'm a rather ardent supporter of Israel. However, I can't very well condone the method in which they eliminated a prominent Hamas leader, Salah Shehade. Using an F-16 to fire a missile into a residential area was ill-advised at best and it resulted in killing 14 others besides Shehade, including several children. One Israeli pointed to a massive intelligence failure, but I don't buy it. If their intelligence was so good that they knew where Shehade was, then they must have known about the nature of the people around him. Their damage-control/spin is pretty woeful too, with Ariel Sharon declaring the mission a success in the face of international criticism. I'm afraid that Israel's zeal to remove a potent enemy outweighed its better judgment and blinded them to the consequences, the unnecessary collateral damage, and the resulting rhetorical losing battle. They need to use more prudence in the future but that will be a given as this incident will certainly make them overly cautious.