Wish List

Of course it's assassination. We blew up the building because he was in it. Perhaps a political science definition is more delicate - say, the target must be a non-criminal, or the head of some legitimate movement, or somesuch. To me, any targeted death, for non-personal, political reasons, from a source other than a court, is assassination. Not random death, like terrorism. Not targeted but anonymous combatants, like war. Not executions, like death row. Not emotional or for profit, like murder. Zarqawi was the leader of a sort of movement, and many lesser enemies were allowed their lives and freedom that we might be lead to him, to kill him.

Even those who have pudding at their core will mouth the words that it's a good thing he's dead. They go on to attack the war and Bush and Republicans and God - it's their programming - but they do tap out the sad little steps of their morality dance at least this much. Yes, it's good that the Wicked Witch is dead, but building codes were violated, and FAA regulations are not strict enough. Houses falling from the sky, indeed. Just goes to prove the fact of Global Warming. We need a special prosecutor to investigate. And what are the root causes for the so-called "wickedness" of witches? And if we didn't demand so much magic, there wouldn't be witches in the first place. We're the real witches. And what's wrong with being a witch? Morality is such a complex thing. And that's Bush's fault - the Flying Monkey. Tee hee.

We can't actually admit in public that it's assassination - bad PR, and our enemies domestic and abroad would make hay with it. But let's get together in private and agree about the matter. And let's broaden the scope just a bit, and understand that it isn't only renegades who should be targeted, but all blood enemies. Kim Jung-Il. Castro. Chavez. Ahmadinejad. Assad. The difference between one sort of terrorist and these others is that the first hide in farmhouses, tents and caves, and the latter live in palaces. That seems in insufficient distinction to protect them. That the first have fanatics and terrorists as their tools, and the latter have states and armies, is a more weighty affair, but that is why assassination is a secret thing, a plot, and perhaps not even seen to be what it is.

The world is not a Hollywood thriller, with complicated schemes carried out with split-second timing. Many such plans are unworkable, and many such agents are fools. But we've had many decades of utter incompetence, following a Pollyanna set of rules. It's hard to see how things could get much worse if we threw out the present rule book and picked up an older one.

Blood enemies need to be seen for what they are, and dealt with accordingly. So I see it. I could be wrong. But every sane person agrees that Zarqawi has met a just end. Does the list contain only one name?



J