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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Abbas: Killing Hamas leaders will further complicate situation
2008-02-13
Yet another reiteration of the "if you kill them that'll just make things worse" fallacy.
"Killing Hamas senior leaders will further complicate the situation," Palestinian Authority President Mahoud Abbas said Tuesday. "We are opposed to targeted killings. Hamas are our brothers and part of the Palestinian people," Abbas said in a interview on Bahraini TV.

Abbas went on to say that Israel would likely announce a suspension of peace negotiations if the situation continues to escalate, but he stressed that the Palestinian leadership would not take such measures. In addition, the PA president claimed that negotiations on Jerusalem had already begun.
Posted by:Fred

#16  by the way, logically, I'd have to agree with their argument: if there are less Hamas terrorists due to killing their leaders, then negotiating with their replacements will undoubtedly be more difficult. They have to be briefed, assume new "safe" houses, find Mahmoud, it's all a tumble, isn't it?

Nevertheless, I'd say "smoke em if you got 'em" and I ain't talking cigs, Avner
Posted by: Frank G   2008-02-13 21:12  

#15  it's Whacking Day!
Posted by: Frank G   2008-02-13 20:57  

#14  Hmmm. In most games, removing players from the board simplifies rather than complicates the situation. Especially if more of the removees come from your opponent's side than yours.

Whack on, Israeli dudes!
Posted by: SteveS   2008-02-13 20:37  

#13  Anything beyond red/green (or was that green/red?) is 'complicating' to Paleo's...
Posted by: Omung Squank9908   2008-02-13 17:40  

#12  We are opposed to targeted killings.

We are losing too many top leaders.

Untargeted killings however, are fine with us, we're speaking about Rocketing Israel for example, that's just dandy.
(Sarc, as if you couldn't tell)
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2008-02-13 16:27  

#11  That's ok, we don't mind. Just keep killing them until there are no more.
Posted by: mojo   2008-02-13 13:22  

#10  Abbas went on to say that Israel would likely announce a suspension of peace negotiations if the situation continues to escalate, but he stressed that the Palestinian leadership would not take such measures.

Meaning the 'further complicate the situation' statement is for public consumption.
Posted by: Pappy   2008-02-13 11:31  

#9  "Killing Hamas senior leaders will further complicate the situation,"

Well dear, life is complex....
for example.. I've heard that there is an entire division in the R&D center of the IDF dedicated to complex number theory (and thankfully- practice) :)
Posted by: chefra the II   2008-02-13 11:31  

#8  Feature, not bug.
Posted by: Deadeye Cromong4699   2008-02-13 10:06  

#7  Killing Hamas senior leaders will further complicate the situation," Palestinian Authority President Mahoud Abbas said Tuesday. "We are opposed to targeted killings. Hamas are our brothers and part of the Palestinian people," Abbas said in a interview on Bahraini TV.

Abbas went on to say that Israel would likely announce a suspension of peace negotiations if the situation continues to escalate, but he stressed that the Palestinian leadership would not take such measures. In addition, the PA president claimed that negotiations on Jerusalem had already begun


Ok, what hes saying is, even if the Israelis kill Hamas leaders, the PA will NOT break off relations with Israel. Killing Hamas leaders would be a complication, of which the PA could never approve, it wouldnt bother them so much as to distract them from the more urgent task of determining exactly which chunks of land in and around Jerusalem would pass under their control. I mean they look up from their maps long enough for a moment of silence, but thats about it.

This is as close to a green light as Abbas can possibly give in public, I think.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2008-02-13 09:44  

#6  Typical. You don't see this a-hole addressing any real problem, but he's first out of the box telling Israel what NOT to do.

Don't target leaders. Don't build a wall. Don't go after "militants." Don't build settlements. Don't search for tunnels. Don't close crossings.

How helpful he is.

So tell me, Abbie, baby, how do you propose stopping the rockets? Or did it not even occur to you that stopping them would be a thing worth doing (after all, they're only targeting Israeli women and children)?

Partner in Peace. sheesh.
Posted by: PlanetDan   2008-02-13 08:29  

#5  Yeah, well, we could learn to live with it.
Collective punishment™, targeted killings. About the only thing that wouldn't further complicate the situation in their eyes is if the Joooos rolled over and died...
Posted by: tu3031   2008-02-13 08:23  

#4  "Hey! How can I play the good cop if the bad cop gets fired (upon)?"
Posted by: Ptah   2008-02-13 05:49  

#3  Killing Hamas senior leaders will further complicate the situation

Rrrright Mahmud - if we kill'em all who is going to be left to send rockets on Israely southern towns. you would be handicapped because you will no longer be able to speak with the famous and oh, so useful "two voices" : Mahmud the peace negotiator + Hamas his brothers the Terrorists and naysayers. Ya can't properly negotiate without your murdering brothers Huh...?
Posted by: Elder of Zion   2008-02-13 05:30  

#2  God knows it complicates the situation for me. I never know from week to week who is in the Hamas hierarchy. Not that I'm complaining...
Posted by: Vanc   2008-02-13 03:57  

#1  Abbas continued: "As I were saying, we are opposed to targeted killings by Israel. It's haram. Only we have the right kill our Hamas brothers."
Posted by: twobyfour   2008-02-13 00:09  

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