An Assassination?

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian, the Times of Israel’s military correspondent, seems to have an interesting approach to the English language:

After assassination of terror group’s north Gaza commander, IDF kills southern counterpart Khaled Mansour (Times of Israel Aug 7)

Sadly, we are at war with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group, whose sworn aim is the destruction of the State of Israel. There is no problem with the “kill” of Mansour, but why is the legitimate killing of the head of a terrorist group branded as an assassination?

Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Martin Luther King was assassinated, but Khaled Mansour was legally executed.
We have enough unjustified criticism of Israel in many Western countries, we don’t need any in our own.

In the meantime, we watch with horror as our “government” considers how to reach a cease fire with Palestinian terrorists. The government is supposed to protect its citizens, not negotiate with terrorists. A better approach would be for Israel to fire, and them to cease to be.

At present, our only response seems to be the Kipat Barzel, Iron Dome. This hi-tech marvel is a good way to bankrupt the country. The terrorists are firing a piece of rusty drainpipe, packed with gunpowder, worth perhaps a couple of dollars. Israel is replying with a $150,000 missile. And, just to make sure, two missiles are usually fired for each interception.

From its introduction in 2011, the “Iron Dome” is believed to have successfully destroyed some 1,500 rockets. A quick calculation shows the cost as $450,000,000. However, we do not know how many expensive misses there were. Good business for its designers and manufacturers, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, not so good for the economy.

Israel has a world class air force, no shortage of long-range artillery. Time to use them to defend us against murderous terrorists.