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Israel-Palestine
Killings May Make Hamas More Formidable
2004-04-26
Sure, wiping out the top leaders always makes an organization better. EFL.
GAZA CITY -- In the wake of Israeli airstrikes that have decapitated the leadership of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian militant group may become even more fragmented and radicalized than before, leading to new dangers for Israel, according to Palestinian political leaders and analysts familiar with the internal operations of the organization. "The worst thing is a headless Hamas," said Eyad Sarraj, a prominent Palestinian apologistpsychiatrist and human rights advocate who has closely monitored the role of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. "A headless Hamas means too many heads, too many agendas. Then you can't control exactly what happens."
"So stop killing our leaders. Please."
With the assassination of the most influential leaders of Hamas, and raids that have killed or captured nearly the entire West Bank military command structure, the military wing in the Gaza Strip has become the most dominant faction of the organization, according to Israeli military officials and Palestinian officials.

Mohammed Deif and Adnan Ghoul, the leaders of the military wing -- known as the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades -- remain in command, and the ranks of disciplined and well-armed fighters are largely intact, Palestinian and Israeli officials said. "The new generation of leaders thinks in only one way -- the military wings," said Imad Falouji, a Palestinian legislator and former Hamas member who has authored a book about the organization. "The new policy is more dangerous for Israel than ever before. Now there is only a military policy; there is nothing political now."

In recent weeks, Hamas has engaged in intense discussion with other Palestinian factions over control of the Gaza Strip in the event that Israel pulls out. Though the committee has existed since 1996, members said it has been most active since the start of the uprising against Israel. The group has attempted to impose some order on the often conflicting Palestinian factions. The committee's weekly meetings had increased to two and three times a week but stopped with the assassination April 17 of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi, members said.
"Um, next week we're meeting at ... Mahmoud's house!"
While many members of the panel hold permanent seats, Hamas has rotated its participants, giving other members a glimpse into the personalities and structure of the secretive group. The senior leadership also shared the seat with the next tier of Hamas political officials, who are now the highest-ranking members of the Hamas political hierarchy in Gaza. "No one person monopolized the decisions of Hamas," said Ziad Abu Amr, an independent Palestinian legislator who sits on the committee.

In the absence of Yassin and Rantisi, it is unclear how power will be wielded inside Hamas, but the key players are certain to include the leaders of the Gaza military wing as well as whoever assumes control of the political faction.
Brilliant, Holmes!
Israeli officials said that despite the damage to the Hamas infrastructure, the organization has not lost its capacity to launch serious attacks against Israelis. "On the operational level, we managed to put a lot of constraints on them," said a senior Israeli intelligence official who spoke on the condition that he not be identified by name. "We've been successful, relatively speaking. But it's not the end. It's a wide and deep organization."
Posted by:Steve White

#16  ..."We've been successful, relatively speaking. But it's not the end. It's a wide and deep organization."...

Hmmm... wide and deep. Kind of like the caves in Tora Bora. In that case, I'm thinking that the IDF will have to break out the Bunker Busters for the next smackdown.
Posted by: Dripping Sarcasm   2004-04-26 10:28:15 PM  

#15  ahh..but the biggest question of the week: is HE dead yet???

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/korea/story/leader/kim.jong.il/

Nothing but silence.........
Posted by: B   2004-04-26 4:18:03 PM  

#14  Is he dead yet?
Posted by: mojo   2004-04-26 1:11:04 PM  

#13  General Ghoul - Can we use the paint scrapers to clean you up off the street after the Israelis hit you with that missile?

After all we will be in as fragmented a condition as you, although only figuratively, so that we won't know what to do. We will be lost without your benevolent leadership and guidance.
Posted by: Anonymous4052   2004-04-26 1:06:43 PM  

#12  "Ghoul"now isn't that about the most appropriate never you've ever heard.
Posted by: raptor   2004-04-26 11:40:07 AM  

#11  The decapitations make a Palestinian civil war more likely. This is a good thing as far as Israel is concerned.
Posted by: ruprecht   2004-04-26 11:10:14 AM  

#10  Adnan Ghoul? How appropriate
Posted by: Frank G   2004-04-26 10:59:08 AM  

#9  "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine."

- Mahmoud bin-Kenobi
Posted by: Cthulhu Akbar   2004-04-26 10:44:57 AM  

#8  For some reason our friends in the Middle East think this argument (don't kill the bad guys, it'll only make them worse) only works one way. I remember Hosni Mubarak, the world's wealthiest welfare recipient, saying last year that attacking Iraq would create 100 or 1000 Osama's. But I've never seen a statement from the ME like "The jihadis burned the bodies of four Americans! Now they've gone and done it. The Marines are going to kick their asses up and down the stairs."
Posted by: Matt   2004-04-26 10:21:38 AM  

#7  the headline righter seems to have confused "makes Hamas more dangerous" (arguable) and "makes Hamas more formidable" (absurd).

What the article says in summary - 1. Hamas will now be fragmented, and less controllable by anyone. 2. Military leaders who just want to blow things up will be running things, instead of "politicals" who want to blow things up, but will temporarily stop blowing things up in cooperation with the PA, and may work with the PA on running Gaza.

Now its clear that losing Rantissi and his ability to control the Hamas loonies makes said loonies, and Gaza in general, more dangerous for at least those elements in the PA that wanted to work with Hamas. It almost certainly DOES NOT make Hamas more dangerous to Israel, since the hudnas didnt protect Israeli security. And it ABSOLUTELY does not make Hamas more "formidable" since unguided military action is unlikely to lead to political gains in the long run.

This isnt WaPo shilling for the other side - its a WaPo reporter substituting interviews with locals for ANALYSIS on a strategic subject where ANALYSIS is whats called for. And then the headline writer flubbing it.

The WaPo is still on the right side. But they often are not as analytic as the NYT. One would like a paper with the outlook of the WaPo, and the journalistic depth of the Times - but there is none. The WSJ is good if rather far to the right for my tastes, but WSJ doesnt cover non-business international affairs in enough depth.
Posted by: Liberalhawk   2004-04-26 10:16:07 AM  

#6  This was "above the fold" on the WAPO yesterday. Joining it was a picture of a crying child who had been badly injured and her distraught mother, clad in Muslim-modesty-attire.

Like I said, they've moved beyond pretending and started shilling.
Posted by: B   2004-04-26 9:53:53 AM  

#5  Hmph... 'Killings May Make Hamas More Formidable,' and for that matter 'Absence Of Killings May Make Hamas More Formidable.'

Me, I'd go with the 'Killings' option. Save for the few moments of writhing just after decapitation, a headless snake is much easier to catch than one with its eyeballs still attached...
Posted by: Mark O   2004-04-26 9:47:53 AM  

#4  Fred's newest GoogleAd: "Hello, my name is Mahmoud. You can find me and my Palis at www.meetup.hamas.com. The password is Arafish."
Posted by: Seafarious   2004-04-26 8:51:19 AM  

#3  You realize that the rationale behind the main point of this 'article' is the statement of Palestinian Political Officials?! How fucking ridiculous. In other news, 'The West Is Immoral and Evil'...according to Osama 'bin splattered on a cave wall' Ladden. Nope, no media bias.
Posted by: AllahHateMe   2004-04-26 8:51:04 AM  

#2  Because the decapitation strikes scrambling the leadership it gives the Israeli informants in Hamas a chance for better positioning.

The most important thing however is that it hurts Hamas prestige. The big buck saudi sheiks who have provided lots of $ in the past don't want to give money to a losing operation.
Posted by: mhw   2004-04-26 8:34:12 AM  

#1  This is the kind of thinking that's kept the Palestinian issue festering for almost six decades. Israelis are great at tactics, but can't seem to get their strategy down. Decapitation is a strategy that has worked since the beginning of time, but the Israelis just can't bring themselves to do it, making one excuse after another about how it doesn't work. Right - this must be why Israel's enemies are so opposed to these strikes.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2004-04-26 1:54:51 AM  

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