I'm delighted to report that terrorists in Chile and Gaza seem to be having a tough time lately. First, from Chile comes the news of an anarchist terrorist who tried to blow up a bank, but instead blew off his hands.
A wanna-be terrorist from Chile was left horribly disfigured after a half-baked bomb plot literally blew up in his face.
Luciano Pitronello Schuffeneger, 22, suffered third-degree burns throughout his body, lost his eyesight and had to have both hands amputated when an explosive he intended to detonate in a local bank unexpectedly went off, El Mercurio newspaper reported.
Security cameras showed the second-rate saboteur sneaking into the bank early Wednesday morning, only to have the bomb blow up prematurely. After the massive explosion, a disoriented Pitronello staggered onto the street, where he was consumed by flames before eventually collapsing.
Early reports indicate that Pitronello, who's in a medically-induced coma at a Santiago hospital, mistakenly activated the timer when he was trying to enter the building.
There's more at the link. Here's a video clip of his self-immolation from a nearby security camera. (WARNING: Not safe for work, or for children.)
On the other side of the world, it looks like Israel is losing patience at the snail-like pace of negotiations to free Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped in 2006. The Jerusalem Post reports:
Terrorists in Gaza who had links to the 2006 abduction of IDF soldier Gilad Schalit are "dying in unfortunate accidents," Homeland Security Minister Matan Vilnai said in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
The comments appear to be the first major hint by a public official that Israel is systematically targeting Schalit's abductors.
Speaking at a high school in the capital in honor of Jerusalem Day, Vilnai added that few Hamas members are aware of Schalit's location.
"Hamas knows that Israel will do everything to release Gilad Schalit. [Hamas Prime Minister Ismail] Haniyeh and the Hamas chief of staff don't know where Gilad is being held. A group is holding him, and it knows," he said.
"Many of them are no longer with us. [They are] unfortunate ones, all sorts of accidents [are befalling them]," Vilnai added.
"Everyone who was involved in the kidnapping won't need to worry about an old age home. They won't get there."
Again, more at the link. My congratulations to the Israeli forces and agency(ies) responsible. There's no more suitable fate for terrorists.
I've seen terrorism at first hand, far too often and for far too long. I have nothing but contempt for those who turn to it. In most cases they don't attack armed forces or those who can fight back; they target unarmed, unprepared civilians, seeking to scare them (and through them, their government) into doing what they want. (The train bombings in Spain in 2004, which directly and immediately influenced that country's elections, are a classic example). This, of course, means that most terrorists are cowards. They attack only those who have no idea that they're in danger, and (in most cases) are unable to defend themselves. Furthermore, they've shown through their actions that they place no value whatsoever on human life, and are therefore fundamentally unsuited to remain in civilized human society.
One of the more sickening political developments of the past sixty years or so has been the justification of this, or that, or the other terrorist action, or movement, or individual, on the grounds that he/she/they were 'provoked into action', or that their terrorism was in response to the 'institutionalized violence' of the 'system'. That's nonsense, of course. Two wrongs don't make a right. If their oppression, or the state under which they live, was wrong, that's one thing; but it can't justify their doing equally wrong things in response. Almost all nations (including the United States) have been guilty of supporting or excusing terrorism when it suited their national interests . . . and that's deeply shameful.
(It's also come back to haunt us, of course. Who do you think raised, armed, trained and paid for a great deal of the mujahedin terrorist resistance to the Russian occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980's? That's right - the USA. And where did the Taliban and Al Qaeda get their start? That's right - the Afghanistan mujahedin. Talk about being 'hoist with our own petard' . . . )
Terrorists cannot be supported, or tolerated. Jail them for life; or dispose of them; or let them dispose of themselves. It's the only answer to such vermin, irrespective of their motivation.
Peter
Sadly the IDF is the most well funded and politically backed terrorist group on the planet.
ReplyDeleteSadly, Mikael, you're correct, in that some elements in the IDF have indeed been guilty of terrorism. I don't believe it's an institutional policy, though, and Israel's courts have acted to correct abuses when they've been uncovered. That's what differentiates the IDF from Hamas and the Palestinian Authority: abuses are corrected, rather than ignored.
ReplyDeleteI'm also forced to admit that if I were in the IDF, watching my opponents bomb, blast and butcher my people every day - and knowing that the supposedly impartial United Nations turns a blind eye to them, while equating Zionism with racism and terrorism - I'd be hard pressed not to get some of my own back . . .
You might want to take a long, hard look at what precisely the US did with regards to Afghanistan. We trained and supplied a guerrilla army that was fighting the occupation of their own country. We did not train those guerrillas to conduct suicide bombings, or target civilians, as did the Soviet KGB and other leftist organizations throughout the Cold War. You're not going to find anywhere that the US taught those guerrilla Mujahedeen to target civilians or engage in terrorist tactics. We took pains to ensure that we taught them to avoid excessive civilian casualties, unlike the tutelage given the Viet Cong by their mentors. How do I know this? I've actually bothered to read the pertinent histories, and talked to some of the men who conducted that training and who were involved in the efforts surrounding it.
ReplyDeleteThe other calumny that you're alluding to, that we trained bin Laden is also demonstrably false. The Saudi government and Saudi citizens sponsored bin Laden, financed him, and did much to make him what he was long before his break with them when they chose to engage with the US in defending themselves from Saddam. The CIA had nothing to do with him, his organization, or his missions in Afghanistan--Which were mostly ineffectual. It's significant to note that one of the men who we did sponsor and assist, Ahmed shah Massoud, was targeted directly by al Qaeda in conjunction with 9/11. Care to explain how that squares with your assertions that the US sponsored terrorists?
There were more factions involved in training, equipping and supporting the Mujahedeen than just the US. Every government and most private charities in the Arab/Islamic world were involved, and much of that would have taken place absent any involvement by the US at all. Indeed, our abandonment of erstwhile allies like Massoud could be argued to be catalytic to the suborning of the post-war situation by the ISI-sponsored Taliban. al Qaeda made damn sure they eliminated him as part of the run-up to 9/11, partly to assure they would maintain their safe haven in Afghanistan, and to keep their Taliban landlords who were fighting the Northern Alliance happy. Massoud's death was supposed to presage the final elimination of that pocket of resistance, as well as help guarantee the "base" al Qaeda had established in Afghanistan.
Putting the support of a resistance movement into the same category as training, supporting, and sponsoring terrorists is sophistry of the basest sort. Were the OSS and SOE members who trained, equipped and led the Free French and other resistance movements also terrorists like the PLO, Germany's Red Army Faction, Italy's Red Brigades, and the IRA? Your logic would make them so...
I submit that either you're unaware of these historical details, or that you've just accepted the talking points of some left-wing commentators without doing the critical thinking necessary to recognize that they're false. Either way, you do yourself a disservice, and perpetuate an ongoing fraud. You're better than this.
Anonymous, I'm afraid we've been reading different sources. Mine include memoirs from some of those involved (on the US side), which differ from your perspective. I daresay we both have some degree of right, and some degree of wrong, on our side . . .
ReplyDeleteHowever, don't limit this to Afghanistan. Look at Cuba, Guatemala, Chile, Angola, Laos, and a bunch of other nations. The pattern remains clear. I'm not seeking to condemn the USA while excusing the USSR and other countries which did the same (or worse): just pointing out that we bear some of the same guilt that they do. That's a matter of historical fact.
Re the video clip: did anyone notice that no cars stopped until way at the end? Aren't there any lookie-loos down there? A unique outlook on human life and compassion.
ReplyDeleteApparently, "Stop, Drop, and Roll" never made it to Chile.
ReplyDeleteAntibubba
Mikael - sadly the IDF isn't so well funded! As for it being a terrorist group - well, one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist.
ReplyDeleteJust a shame that Gilad Shalit hasn't been freed yet. He is just going to be a bag of insane when he finally gets free.