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Terror as Statecraft

[Chicago Tribune] Editorial - Israel withdrew from Gaza a year ago; the soldiers who were killed and the one kidnapped were on Israeli soil. Similarly, Hizballah guerrillas crossed the border to capture two more soldiers. The coordination of these attacks isn't an accident. Hizballah, in thrall to Iran, has reportedly helped finance and train Hamas terrorists. It's likely that exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Damascus is the mastermind behind these coordinated attacks. Just after the first attack, one of his top aides said: "I believe the resistance [fighters] should not be content with taking one Israeli soldier as prisoner....They should develop this kind of operation and seek to capture more soldiers." All those who hoped that Hamas or Hizballah would abandon terror when they gained political power must confront the fact that power has only emboldened their impulse to terrorism. This is terror as statecraft, terror by a ruling political party in one instance, and by a leading political party in the other. Hamas had a chance to govern peacefully. It had a chance to build a state in Gaza, to stop terrorists from lobbing shells into Israel. It chose to cheer a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv and help kidnap a soldier for ransom. For Hamas and Hizballah, the masquerade is over.
2006-07-14 01:00:00
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