Death on the beach
All military forces make mistakes, especially in the course of a war. Case in point, the British police and secret services have egg on their faces after they released two brothers of Muslim Pakistani origin, without charges, after a highly publicized arrest in the East End of London, during which one of the men was shot in the shoulder. Over 200 policemen, some in special anti-chemical gear, were photogrpahed during the two day event last week, but it all turned out to be a mistake. Contrary to the reports, no chemicals were found, no bombs and no incriminating evidence.
Muslim associations in the UK are using this as an example of how the police over-react and harm innocent Muslims without any real evidence. Coming after the shooting of the Brazilian immigrant in the London subway last year, when he was mistakenly identified as a wanted Muslim killer, and after the police clearly lied about every aspect of the situation (he was not observed leaving his apartment as they stated, he was not stopped at any point along the way, getting on a bus or entering the subway, even though he was supposedly suspected of wearing a bomb-belt and even though he had no over-coat on as they claimed and even though he did not run down the stairs into the station as they said, and did not act suspiciously) it is about time to accept that the British police are incompetent. But, does that mean that their terms of engagement in the war on terrorism are unjustified, such as the shoot to kill order? That is difficult to say.
Or take the situation in the US. Once upon a time the US Government gave extraorinary powers to special anti-drug police forces to enter any premises unannounced to try to stem the tide of drugs in the US. But, in one case when a task force crashed into a house in St. Louis and saw a man enter the corridor ahead of them carrying a gun, they of course shot him down. But, it turned out that he was holding a hair dryer and had just left the bathroom to see what had happened in his home. It turned out that the house was not the right one, the number had been mistakenly mixed up, by the police themselves. As a result of this murder the terms of the drug force's freedom of action were severely curtailed.
In Israel, rockets have been raining down on Southern Israel, from Ashkelon on the coast to Sderot in the Negev, for months. About 10 a day are fired from various points in northern Gaza. Last week one fell near the home of the Defense Minister Amir Peretz, head of the Labor party, who lives in Sderot. Also, a shell penetrated a classroom in a school in Sderot, but fortunately it was empty at the time. Should Israel wait until dozens of children are killed?
Going on the offensive, the IDF has sent patrols into Gaza to head off the teams of launchers, they have carried out targeted killings of known leaders of the launching teams, and they have bombarded parts of Gaza from where rockets are fired using artillery, air planes and boats. Yesterday the beach area in Gaza was bombarded and unfortunately a family picnic was hit, that resulted in the death of 7 members of one family, as well as many injuries. Shades of US attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan, but then again they did get Zarqawi!
The Israeli Government has officially apologized to the PA for this incident, and has offered to pay for or give medical treatment in Israel to the injured. One child has been transferred to Soroka Hospital in Beersheva.
As a result of this incident, no doubt publicized around the Arab world, the PA declared a three day mourning period and Hamas stated that they would no longer abide by their ceasefire. Although few in Israel considered that there was any evidence of a ceasefire given the level of rocket attacks. Today there was also an increase in the number of firings of rockets, even though most of them fell in Gaza territory killing one person, and only a few hit Israeli territory.
So what are the British police, the American anti-drug agencies and the IDF to do in the face of the constant and unprecendented level of attacks upon their societies by terrorists, drug runners and rocket launchers. Certainly they can't just sit there and take it, a strong response is required and in that situation innocent people will be victims. Let the instigators of these attacks stop their actions and then noone need get killed!
Muslim associations in the UK are using this as an example of how the police over-react and harm innocent Muslims without any real evidence. Coming after the shooting of the Brazilian immigrant in the London subway last year, when he was mistakenly identified as a wanted Muslim killer, and after the police clearly lied about every aspect of the situation (he was not observed leaving his apartment as they stated, he was not stopped at any point along the way, getting on a bus or entering the subway, even though he was supposedly suspected of wearing a bomb-belt and even though he had no over-coat on as they claimed and even though he did not run down the stairs into the station as they said, and did not act suspiciously) it is about time to accept that the British police are incompetent. But, does that mean that their terms of engagement in the war on terrorism are unjustified, such as the shoot to kill order? That is difficult to say.
Or take the situation in the US. Once upon a time the US Government gave extraorinary powers to special anti-drug police forces to enter any premises unannounced to try to stem the tide of drugs in the US. But, in one case when a task force crashed into a house in St. Louis and saw a man enter the corridor ahead of them carrying a gun, they of course shot him down. But, it turned out that he was holding a hair dryer and had just left the bathroom to see what had happened in his home. It turned out that the house was not the right one, the number had been mistakenly mixed up, by the police themselves. As a result of this murder the terms of the drug force's freedom of action were severely curtailed.
In Israel, rockets have been raining down on Southern Israel, from Ashkelon on the coast to Sderot in the Negev, for months. About 10 a day are fired from various points in northern Gaza. Last week one fell near the home of the Defense Minister Amir Peretz, head of the Labor party, who lives in Sderot. Also, a shell penetrated a classroom in a school in Sderot, but fortunately it was empty at the time. Should Israel wait until dozens of children are killed?
Going on the offensive, the IDF has sent patrols into Gaza to head off the teams of launchers, they have carried out targeted killings of known leaders of the launching teams, and they have bombarded parts of Gaza from where rockets are fired using artillery, air planes and boats. Yesterday the beach area in Gaza was bombarded and unfortunately a family picnic was hit, that resulted in the death of 7 members of one family, as well as many injuries. Shades of US attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan, but then again they did get Zarqawi!
The Israeli Government has officially apologized to the PA for this incident, and has offered to pay for or give medical treatment in Israel to the injured. One child has been transferred to Soroka Hospital in Beersheva.
As a result of this incident, no doubt publicized around the Arab world, the PA declared a three day mourning period and Hamas stated that they would no longer abide by their ceasefire. Although few in Israel considered that there was any evidence of a ceasefire given the level of rocket attacks. Today there was also an increase in the number of firings of rockets, even though most of them fell in Gaza territory killing one person, and only a few hit Israeli territory.
So what are the British police, the American anti-drug agencies and the IDF to do in the face of the constant and unprecendented level of attacks upon their societies by terrorists, drug runners and rocket launchers. Certainly they can't just sit there and take it, a strong response is required and in that situation innocent people will be victims. Let the instigators of these attacks stop their actions and then noone need get killed!
posted by Jack Cohen at 10:20 AM
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