WhatsappTerrorists who decide to wreak havoc on their enemies are a difficult foe to combat. Not only do they not care about other people’s lives, they don’t regard their own lives with much value either. But that doesn’t mean that their are no ways to combat a suicide bomber or a terrorist who expects to be caught after committing his act.
The most effective measure is to use the people that are closest to a terrorist in order to combat the terrorist. These people are generally speaking the terrorist’s family or cohorts. When the parents of a terrorist know that their son is getting close to bad elements and may become a terrorist, the parents need to know that if their son destroys a home, there home will be destroyed too. The logic is sound, and this has proven effective time and again.
The suggestion that this is inhumane is inhumane. The lives of the family that have been destroyed by a terrorist are infinitely more valuable than the life of the terrorist. Once a person makes the fateful decision to commit an attack, there needs to be one goal and one goal only – to stop the terrorist with whatever means is necessary in order to keep the cancer from spreading.
Israel’s Shin Bet, like the CIA or FBI in the USA, has ample experience in this field. The conclusion is correct that when a family knows their house is on the verge of destruction if their son goes out to attack, then they will call Israel’s secret service in order to avert the attack. That is what real law enforcement is about. It is not about racial justice and feelings of criminals – but about saving lives of innocents – at all costs.
