Saturday, March 25, 2006
Can't Believe Halutz Made Both Statements in the Same Breath
Haaretz carries a pair of Twilight Zone quotes from IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz:
If you really, really liked this -- or even really, really hated it -- there's lots more:
Well said. Couldn't agree more. So what's this next paragraph about then?
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz warned the international community Friday against complacency towards Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statements delegitimizing Israel.
A nuclear-armed Iran would pose an existential threat to the Jewish state, thus heeding the president's statements is all the more imperative, Halutz told a conference at Bar-Ilan University.
'That mistake [of failure to take action] was made by others in Germany in the 1930s,' the chief of staff said.
Does this mean that Hamas has been making statements none of the rest of us know about? That Halutz is taking seriously some obscure Hamas memo that lives only in his desk drawer? Because I thought the rest of us were busy taking Hamas at their word:
The IDF chief also said that the establishment of a Hamas government in the Palestinian Authority won't necessarily lead to a rise in terror attacks.
'Hamas will want to prove that their image is unjustified, and will restrain itself,' Halutz said. He advised waiting and seeing how the Hamas government will act.
And, in the same article:
"The day will never come when any Palestinian would be arrested because of his political affiliation or because of resisting the occupation," Seyam told Reuters in an interview.
Does anyone other than General Halutz doubt he means it?
"Talks with the factions in the future will focus on the mechanisms, the shape and the timing (of any attacks)," he said. "But the right to defend our people and to confront the aggression is granted and is legitimate."
