Israeli attack on terrorist camp justified

Syria got off way too easily.

Not only was the strike on the Ain Saheb camp, which is
approximately 10 miles from Damascus, totally justified, but
Israel’s restraint borders on the absurd. Carl von Clausewitz
once said, “War is such a dangerous business that the
mistakes which come from kindness are the very worst.” Hear,
hear.

These are the facts: According to Haaretz, Ain Saheb was the
location of a terrorist camp belonging to Ahmed Jibril’s
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ““ a group
responsible for scores of Israeli civilian deaths. Senior Islamic
Jihad members have been spotted at the camp, and Jihad recruits
often train there, Haaretz reported. According to the National
Review, one report from 1997 described the camp as “the most
important base of (the PFLP) and ranks as one of the preeminent
training camps where it houses extreme fundamentalists from Egypt,
Jordan, Lebanon and Algeria. The training is run by officers from
the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. They are instructed in street
fighting, plane hijacking, hostage taking, and blowing up specific
targets ““ Israeli, American, European and other targets in
certain Arab countries.” American officials recently
suggested that the new construction at Ain Saheb was being prepared
for Islamic Jihad. Just several months ago, a tour was given of the
camp on Iranian TV, which showed underground tunnels and extensive
stockpiles of weapons.

Syrian authorities refused to allow reporters into the area. No
need to worry, though, I’m sure their media coverage is
unbiased and objective.

And if my grandma had wheels, she’d be a bus.

Finally, after an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber blew herself up
at a restaurant in Haifa, killing 19 other people and wounding
scores more, Israel did what any respectable country would do
““ it decided to act. Despite repeated warnings to crack down
on terror, Syria apparently still hasn’t gotten the message.
Rather, they continue to be a main financier and facilitator of
terrorist groups including Hezbollah, which prior to Sept. 11, 2001
had killed more Americans than any other terrorist organization. A
senior Israeli security official stated that Islamic Jihad leaders
in Syria played a vital role in orchestrating this latest suicide
bombing in Haifa.

Syria permits the transfer of Iranian military equipment
(including Katyusha rockets) to Hezbollah via the Damascus airport.
They also reportedly provide the terrorist group with 240 mm
rockets and other heavy artillery directly from their own arsenal.
Not long ago, a 15-year-old Israeli youth was killed by Hezbollah
anti-aircraft shrapnel.

Syria itself currently has 100 long-range ballistic nerve-gas
missiles equipped with VX and other nerve gas agents aimed at
central Israel.

Additionally, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine continue to operate from offices based in
Syria, according to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell ““
despite Syria’s pledge to close all terror offices. And
according to a BBC report, President Bashar Assad flatly stated in
an interview with the Al-Liwaa newspaper, “Syria supports the
Lebanese national resistance, including Hezbollah.” According
to U.S. sources, $3 billion of Saddam Hussein’s vast fortune
has recently been discovered in Syrian government-controlled
banks.

Personally, I’m shocked. I can’t believe that Assad
would have lied to us about his promise to crack down on
terrorism.

That’s the last time I trust a brutal military
dictator.

Meanwhile, Syria has the audacity to criticize Israel in the
United Nations for its defensive strike on their terror camp. This
is the same Syria, incidentally, which is currently occupying
southern Lebanon and violating chapter VII resolution 1373 by
harboring known international terrorists groups.

Surely Syria must be joking.

When the United States is hit with terrorism, we have the
self-evident and unreserved right to target those who struck us.
When Israel is subject to the same brutal forces of terror, the
world condemns the country for going after the killers and those
who fund and harbor them.

I’m at a loss for words. Israeli foreign minister Silvan
Shalom isn’t. “Has the world turned on its head?”
he asked incredulously.

Yes, it has, Shalom; yes, it has.

Keyes is a second-year undeclared student. This summer he
assisted former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Dore
Gold. His cartoon “Imagine That “¦ “ was published
in the Daily Bruin.