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Last update - 05:27 15/02/2008
The list of martyrs gets longer
By Haaretz Editorial
Tags: Imad Mughniyah

In December 2006, the Supreme Court authorized the defense establishment to carry out targeted killings as an unavoidable part of the war against terror. This license to kill was restricted through a number of stringent conditions. According to the Supreme Court ruling, assassination cannot come in revenge, or as punishment for a past terrorist act, but to prevent future terrorism. The threat posed by that person must be "strong and convincing" and the person must be party to "continuous activity," as opposed to sporadic or one-time involvement in terrorism. The Supreme Court forbids the use of assassination when the person can be arrested without posing a threat to the lives of soldiers, and when the action itself may cause disproportionate harm to innocents.

It seems that according to the rules set by the Supreme Court, Imad Mughniyah justly deserved his assassination.

When there is no choice, when terrorism directed against Western, Israeli and Jewish targets is evil and senseless, and cannot be contained through diplomatic means, no method has been invented that is more reasonable than the assassination of those who have made terrorism their life's work.
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The argument that the price of Mughniyah's assassination may be high and cost human lives is not applicable in this case, when no one can assess what the cost would be if Mughniyah was allowed to live. There can be no doubt about the future plans of the person who was considered Hezbollah's chief strategist and head of its operations.

A statement issued by Hezbollah on its Al-Manar radio affiliate, said that Mughniyah died "after a life full of jihad ... as a shaheed [martyr] at the hands of the Zionists." In many ways, the path he had chosen symbolizes the direction of the conflict in the Middle East, as the number of those believing in the likelihood of settling it peacefully diminishes.

The longer the list of martyrs, the more it becomes multinational and not restricted by borders, the more it strikes at targets unrelated to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - even though the conflict is mentioned in nearly every terrorist attack from Pakistan to Baghdad and the Gaza Strip - it seems there is no way out.

Hezbollah has no real conflict with Israel and the struggle against the Zionists only serves to bolster its political power in Lebanon. Iran too, which supports Hezbollah, also has no cause for war against Israel, except for the unifying element of hatred against all that is Zionist or linked to America. Were Hassan Nasrallah asked to explain the struggle against Israel in a rational way, it is doubtful he would succeed. In a war where there is no possibility of compromise that can end it, the sole option possible is the use of force.

Mughniyah's assassination in the center of Damascus shows how removed Syria is from any dialogue on peace with Israel, and how Bashar Assad cannot be trusted. He has apparently decided that the Iran-North Korea-Syria axis and support for terrorism in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, by offering its leaders cover, are at the top of his list of priorities.

From this point of view, Mughniyah's death does not contribute much to ending the cycle of violence in the region, but it does offer a sobering and sad realization about how the cycle is expected to unfold. In the foreseeable future, it seems, all that Israel can do is deter and foil terrorism, in parallel with peace talks with those who have been weaned from terrorism.
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  1.   he was responsible for the death of hundreds of jews 08:38  |  aharon davidi 15/02/08
  2.   muganiyah was also responsible for killing al least 08:40  |  aharon davidi 15/02/08
  3.   "hizballah has no real conflict with israel" 08:43  |  aharon davidi 15/02/08
  4.   in this case reactive military response is useless 08:48  |  aharon davidi 15/02/08
  5.   how to build the idf in the face of such threats 09:00  |  assaf simhoni 15/02/08
  6.   Thanks a lot to the idiots, who have killed Mughniyah. 09:04  |  Loriot 15/02/08
  7.   Now sit back and wait for your punishment 09:35  |  Clickfool 15/02/08
  8.   Justice.. such a slippery subject 09:40  |  Natallie Durson 15/02/08
  9.   clickfool israel is now 60 years old 09:47  |  brighton rock 15/02/08
  10.   clickfool "hizballah is as a big threat as ever" 09:54  |  brighton rock 15/02/08
  11.   Don`t stop now! 09:59  |  Moshe 15/02/08
  12.   let us dwell on this "supreme court statement" 10:23  |  eric 15/02/08
  13.   Haaretz: In your logic of prevention... 10:25  |  Dutch Dirk 15/02/08
  14.   MUGHNIYAH HAS BEEN REPLACED 10:30  |  Rashad 15/02/08
  15.   moshe is right now is the time to hit them 10:31  |  clausewitz 15/02/08
  16.   #7, "wait for your punishment" 10:40  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 15/02/08
  17.   arabs only respect power -this show of force is the only way 10:43  |  don 15/02/08
  18.   For Brighton Rock # 9 11:04  |  Clickfool 15/02/08
  19.   For Don # 17 11:09  |  Clickfool 15/02/08
  20.   "Wait for your punishment" 11:10  |  Sam 15/02/08
  21.   rashad "fasten your seat belts" 11:18  |  yarashid 15/02/08
  22.   we fought saddam hussein only to have hussein obama become 11:21  |  yankee 15/02/08
  23.   Targeted killings are a crime against humanity 11:22  |  Nick Ferriman 15/02/08
  24.   hussein obama promises hope and change 11:24  |  yankee 15/02/08
  25.   #6, Mughniyah 11:25  |  HM 15/02/08
  26.   hussein obama will be loved by nasrallah 11:28  |  yahussein 15/02/08
  27.   would israel be happy with hussein in the white house 11:32  |  nudorothy 15/02/08
  28.   senseless resistance 11:43  |  jj burke 15/02/08
  29.   What are you advocating, Moshe? 11:47  |  Murray 15/02/08
  30.   #7 Clickfool, I`d like to know 12:19  |  Yonatan 15/02/08
  31.   #8 Natalie Durson - another PPR? 12:20  |  Yonatan 15/02/08
  32.   eric when you have nothing to say, say nothing 12:20  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 15/02/08
  33.   Like the Nazis has been destroyed, same for Islamofascism 12:28  |  maurice 15/02/08
  34.   bad luck, Clickfool and some others...were not in the same car 12:30  |  maurice 15/02/08
  35.   clickfool since you call the jewish people rotten 12:34  |  brighton rock 15/02/08
  36.   Nudorothy and racism 12:39  |  Truth 15/02/08
  37.   clickfool "the death of the jewish state"(G-D forbid) 12:39  |  brighton rock 15/02/08
  38.   Clickfool Afraid 12:43  |  Yosemite 15/02/08
  39.   For Yonatan # 30 13:16  |  Clickfool 15/02/08
  40.   Pure hypocracy 13:20  |  K 15/02/08
  41.   we have no history of jew hatred in the uk. 13:20  |  upthespurs 15/02/08
  42.   Poor ole Brighton Rock, who can`t read # 35 13:20  |  Clickfool 15/02/08
  43.   A refuge for Brighton Rock and others 13:24  |  Clickfool 15/02/08
  44.   Is this how you see me, Yosemite? 13:26  |  Clickfool 15/02/08
  45.   clickfool the royal united services institute 13:31  |  upthespurs 15/02/08
  46.   loriot ( jewish joke) 13:37  |  danny 15/02/08
  47.   Maybe Clickfool is crazy after all 13:55  |  Yonatan 15/02/08
  48.   Cycles 13:55  |  sh 15/02/08
  49.   Do we really need another cycle of violence? 15:02  |  Lobo08 15/02/08
  50.   #13. Dutch Dirk - flawed logic 15:02  |  Joe shmo 15/02/08
  51.   CLICKFOOL 15:08  |  gaoni 15/02/08
  52.   #13 dutch jirk does not believe the police should arrest any 15:09  |  v hardman 15/02/08
  53.   to no. 8 15:15  |  M&M1 15/02/08
  54.   syria did it 15:19  |  T. Butler 15/02/08
  55.   #8 Natalie Durson and "the bill" 15:29  |  Ian Robertson 15/02/08
  56.   The Two Respective Boogey Men 15:33  |  Buzaglow 15/02/08
  57.   can any iranian out there tell me why not speak with israel? 15:34  |  no shiite 15/02/08
  58.   To clickfool and friends 15:35  |  Dave 15/02/08
  59.   Clickfool worried about `the` DIASPORA JEWS 15:49  |  KJJ 15/02/08
  60.   the laboratory that is kenya 16:33  |  amir yoffe 15/02/08
  61.   ron ben yishai today writes that when we fight gaza 16:34  |  amir yoffe 15/02/08
  62.   see how the african refugees vote 16:40  |  amnon reshef 15/02/08
  63.   KJJ: calm down! 16:44  |  The Judge 15/02/08
  64.   # 6 LORIOT( old jewish joke) 16:47  |  DANNY 15/02/08
  65.   # 6 Loriot...how absurd 16:54  |  Lynn 15/02/08
  66.   KJJ of Toronto...I agree with that analysis 16:57  |  Lynn 15/02/08
  67.   To 7, 23. Clickfool &Nick Ferriman. Crimes !!! 17:07  |  Altalena 15/02/08
  68.   Iran`s ruling elites view the Arabs as disposable cannon fodder. 17:36  |  avigdor 15/02/08
  69.   Editor: The Murrnie Article Is an Intellectual Sin 17:39  |  S. Bole 15/02/08
  70.   Clickfool, Purim is soon upon us..Read the end in Book of Esther 17:49  |  avigdor 15/02/08
  71.   Haaretz... Read my lips Is the JIHAD STUPID 17:55  |  Abu Sharmuta 15/02/08
  72.   Congratulations from Texas !