Wednesday, November 5, 2008

In Syria, a dangerous new escalation of the war on terror

Fred Kaplan, in Slate, here
"...But that temptation at least should be weighed. On the one hand, what is the tactical benefit of killing him and maybe taking out this particular safe house—to what extent will the act shock or foil the enemy, or cut down the flow of foreign fighters and arms? On the other hand, what is the strategic cost of violating international law, alienating the regional powers, and impeding a political settlement of the war in Iraq?
The intelligence isn't in yet, but early indications are that the first answer is "Not much" and the second is "Quite a lot."

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