Soccer Dad

2 on Hamas; 1 on terror at NRO

There's so much garbage about Israel and Hamas lately it was great to see two articles at NRO that put Hamas in it's proper perspective.
Matthew Levitt is an expert in terror groups. He gives a sense of the structure of Hamas.

Hamas's "internal" leadership led mainly by Yassin and Abdel Aziz al Rantisi in Gaza appears relatively moderate only when compared to the "external" leadership based primarily in Damascus, including Khalid Mishal, Mousa Abu Marzook, Imad al-Alami, and others. The external leadership has the luxury of sponsoring radical actions from the comfort of their Syrian safe haven without consequence. The internal leadership, however, must consider the crackdowns Israel (and, periodically, the Palestinian Authority) imposes in the wake of terrorist attacks. The internal leadership is also sensitive to the impact of the group's attacks on grassroots support for Hamas among average Palestinians. This relative moderation, however, should not be mistaken for nonviolence. Yassin and the Hamas internal leadership remain committed to the group's terrorist agenda as articulated in the Hamas charter, which declares, "There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad."

This article is taken from a book that was written before Israel dispatched Yassin, but it seems to be as good an overview as anything available. Levitt says that we won't know if the killing of Yassin will be good or bad for Israel in the long term. Levitt seems optimistic though.
Aaron Mannes debunks some myths (or bad word usage) about Hamas:

The first is the reference to Yassin as the spiritual leader of Hamas. Yassin was really the CEO of a terrorism conglomerate. Hamas has weapons-research programs, international propaganda wings, legal and illegal moneymaking ventures, and a social-welfare network — in addition of course to their core competency, mass murder. Yassin was intimately involved in building Hamas. In 1989 Israel tried and imprisoned Yassin. The trial revealed his intimate involvement in planning operations, and during his imprisonment Hamas began to fall apart. Hamas's number two at the time, Mousa Abu Marzuq, took over — he was based in the United States then — and reorganized Hamas so that future attacks on its leadership would not be as debilitating. Yassin was also a fundraiser extraordinaire. On his release from prison in 1997 he traveled to Iran and the Gulf where he raised tens of millions.

(This article was taken from Mannes' Terror Blog that seems to be a good resource.)
Finally, Jonah Goldberg comments on how peer pressure was used to get Hussam Abdu to suit up with dynamite.

Like most boys, but especially miserable ones, Hussam had daydreams of being a hero. He wanted to meet girls. He wanted to prove the bullies were wrong about him. So, when the offer came to strap 18 pounds of explosives to his body to blow up some Israeli soldiers, Hussam leapt at it.

There have been a number of articles in the past that involve interviews with prospective martyrs. One theme that emerges is that they talk about how they were manipulated. This is, of course, evil. Taking advantage of someone with a limited mental capacity compounds the felony.
Crossposted on Israpundit and Soccer Dad.

Posted by SoccerDad at March 26, 2004 12:58 PM | TrackBack