The Roman Emperor Augustus joked that it’s better to be Herod’s pig than his son. Herod did not eat pigs, and they were safe, but he murdered his sons. A judge who cleared the Kurdish PKK off Bush’s terrorist groups list seems to forget the aphorism.
The PKK is credibly implicated in terrorism, weapons and drug trade, and other high crimes. Virtually every civilized country recognizes the PKK as criminal, terrorist group. That doesn’t imply the PKK is evil; perhaps its ends justify the means.
Police detain people who are not yet sentenced by a court and might prove innocent. The judicial system has long shifted the burden of proof in wrongful arrest cases onto plaintiffs who must show the police’s bad intent. It is thus established that law enforcement agencies can act on suspicion to prevent clear and present danger. They are professionals, and their unbiased judgment about clear and present is presumed sound.
The perceived danger is a function of the crime’s severity. Murderers may be arrested on the less suspicion than horse race cheats. Suspected terrorists may be arrested on the slightest evidence. Freezing an organization’s assets is akin to arresting it, a preventive measure. Suspected terrorist activity justifies freezing assets.
Foreign terrorist activity can rarely be proven in civil courts. The difference between war and peacetime, battlefield and domestic justice, has long been recognized; thus military tribunals operate differently from civil courts. The US once abandoned extraditing Bin Laden because no firm evidence existed to convict him. How could anyone prove, according to the high standards of US due process, that the PKK is involved in terrorism? The key people are abroad; the witnesses are dead or bound by the fear of reprisal; written evidence does not exist, and legal wiretaps abroad are impossible; the terrorist organization may not even violate US security. It takes the FBI years to bring US gangs to trial. The gangsters are the US citizens, live and move in America, are open to surveillance and wiretaps. They commit crimes on American soil, not in remote corners of the world. They are driven by greed, not ideology; criminals, not soldiers. Convicting a terrorist organization is qualitatively more difficult than convincing a gang, and there are thousands of terrorist organizations. Prosecuting them in civil courts is not an option; leaving them free to act is no option, either.
Wartime societies face similar questions about enemy military personnel and civilians. Many in the military do not bear weapons, but differentiating them from active shooters is impractical. Killing enemies is therefore accepted as right unless proven clearly wrongful. Affiliation with hostile groups reverses the standard of justice to “guilty until proven innocent.” It is up to the PKK to prove its non-involvement in terrorism.
The current approach of presuming terrorist suspects innocent condemns the American people and American interests worldwide. Terrorists will act against the US and its allies with impunity. The judicial system finds the suffering of innocent but inconspicuous people more acceptable than freezing the assets of terrorist suspects who enjoy publicity.
There is a war going on, and collateral damage is inevitable. Organizations wrongly suspected of terrorism suffer less than other collateral victims, such as dead Iraqi civilians. The US government had no malicious intent toward the Kurds when it listed the PKK among terrorist organizations.
In legalistic states, courts continuously expand their authority. The PKK decision is a worrying example of the US courts asserting their authority over the prosecution of war. Theoretically, courts can even stop military campaigns, especially since the Iraqi war was based on the doctored evidence. The US courts have already asserted their jurisdiction over foreign matters, such as in the case of the Panamian ruler Noriega. Sitting in his peaceful Los Angeles office, one judge decides on military matters and in effect manages the war.
The PKK judgment opens the way for Hamas and PIJ claims.
If you wanna make a real change, I think at some point you will have to come out of the closet despite the danger of being Kahanized. Otherwise, you will remain an Internet curiosity. Think about it. And who gives a fuck whether your views offend your friends when we're talking about the fate of a nation. Our nation.
What Obadiah says (and does) is a crime of racism and incitement in Israel. Obadiah does a lot of work in real life, and his identity is no secret to many people now. But we're trying to stave of the confrontation with Shin-Bet so that Obadiah could address more people. But I hope to meet you personally during the demolitions in Samaria.
OK, I understand that. That's a legitimate point. I've been planning to protest the outpost demolitions since around March last year. By the way, not only outposts in Samaria are on the cutting block: Maon Farm, Maale Rehavam, etc. are in Judea. They keep postponing them. Of course, I hope they never come. But if they will, I will be there. You want my number?
Sure, drop me a note to danny [] samsonblinded.org. See you there.
I have fought in 3 American wars (or conflicts) and survived with my sense of politics, geography, and legalism. I have also evaluated fighting forces and future engagements and decided we (Americans) are doing it wrong! It is NOT our allegiance to the Christian-Judean religiosity because we have messed that up assuming intelligence will someday prevail - just before the return of Christ. It is our (American) stupidity to not recognize the course of the eternal battle of the sons of Abraham who went in diverse directions. Maybe it is my sense of the truth in the Jewish version that Ishmael was a bastard out of Hagar and the rest of the tribe has followed.I respect the racism of Obadiah Shoher and am glad that from the luxury of our comfy armchairs experience of history allows us to reflect what the Middle East knows in their hearts and kibbutz.England ruled the world from a tiny island. Now we neglect the impact that has been issued from that shard of a land called Israel.Let me find my sniper scope and kit bag and I'm ready to go with them!Wake up World! Smell the almond-flavored cyanide, before it is too late. Just another spicy fragrance from camel-crap burning fires in the desert tents.