Military Solution to Terrorism

Arieh O'Sullivan writes about another indicator that the Intifada is over.

It was a telling sign when senior commanders in the Central Command recently started counting the number of Palestinian stone-throwing incidents in the West Bank. For the past four years of the latest conflict, called by the Palestinians the "Aksa Intifada," the army counted mainly suicide bombings, shootings and petrol bomb attacks. Stonings weren't even mentioned.

This victory was not achieved by negotiations, as was made out, by the left, to be the only way to end terrorism. In fact,

the relative calm Israel is experiencing now is not connected to the death of Yasser Arafat or other changes in the Palestinian nation, but is rather the direct result of the aggressive action against terrorists by the IDF, aided by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and Border Police. The army said it has arrested six suicide bombers since Arafat died a month ago. This shows the motivation is still there, but the capabilities are steadily deteriorating.

With the assassination and arrest of the top leaders, the next in line just don't have the experience and are being captured before they can do anything. So much for the myth that killing terrorists will only create more. It turns out that there is a military solution to terrorism.