The New Republic

Yeah, I'll bet that made you wet, all right... Particularly clever was the use of the passports of (what? now 15? 20? 25?) entirely innocent individuals, mostly of dual Israeli and European citizenship, who will now have to contend with border controls, no-fly lists and the threat of revenge attacks for the foreseeable future. Smooth, that. Too bad they hadn't used yours: since 'Martin Peretz' is evidently a magical entrance to all kinds of privileged venues, it might've come in handy.

- SMacEachern2

February 24, 2010 at 2:26pm

smac, if they are loyal Israeli citizens then I am sure they are quite willing to put up with whatever hardships that might happen with the death of that Hamas animal. In fact, I will go on record and give permission to the Mossad myself, you want to inconvenience me in necessary pursuit of stopping monsters who kill innocent women and children, I got no problem with it. There now, Smac, does that help you?

- blackton

February 24, 2010 at 2:47pm

Well, yeah, duh. But the publicity surrounding the operation give me more questions than confidence. 1. That seemed to require a lot of people. The Mossad is awesome and all, but it's not Wal-Mart. If killing one relatively vulnerable enemy really takes this many visible field agents, and who knows how many more people in support roles who can't be photographed by some hotel's rent-a-cop security, then it would seem that assassination is not a sustainable policy that any state can pursue to victory over its foes. 2. I'm willing to consider the possibility that the highly public nature of the operation was intended as a message, sort of a force-multiplier, and maybe the brazen nature of it is actually a strategic purpose of the operation above and beyond killing the one guy. But even so, letting this many operatives be seen and exposed would seem to be highly disadvantageous. 3. Will any of the Mossad operatives identified be able to travel safely in any Muslim, European, or Latin American nation ever again? That's a lot of apparently effective covert operatives who can no longer operate covertly. It's almost a definitional issue: If the public becomes aware of a covert agency's successful operation, then by definition that operation was not a success. I say "almost" because I can imagine at least three scenarios in which the public "outing" of the Mossad serves a strategic purpose. But such publicity even if deliberate would still be troubling. I can't help but fear that the operation reveals an erosion of the covert side of Israel's deterrence. Let's hope not, since the Mossad, despite the episodes of bumbling and malfeasance inherent in the covert business, plays an important and largely unacknowledged role in defending the West.

- rhubarbs

February 24, 2010 at 2:59pm

What blackton said!

- jdyer

February 24, 2010 at 4:23pm

I hate ot say it, but barbs has a small point. I am glad the hit was a success, but the best intelligent op is the one that doesn't make the front pages.

- jdyer

February 24, 2010 at 4:25pm

jackson, my point is anything but small. Er, wait, you're not talking about ... oh. Never mind then. I'm with Blackton: If the Mossad or MI-whatever or the CIA needs to fake the passport of a gentile American who may technically also be eligible for an Irish passport, I volunteer mine. And while Dershowitz is right about the legality of the operation, I think the apparent difficulty of it shows that this is yet another area where Goldstone is wrong. (Memo to Goldstone: The Bourne Supremacy is not a documentary.) No law may require the impossible, nor even the extraordinarily difficult. What the public has seen of this operation suggests that it is not reasonable to expect any state to use this kind of operation as a primary tool in defending itself. Even if we accept Goldstone's ludicrous claim that air raids are a "disproportional" response to missile attacks, this kind of covert assassination cannot be held up as an example of a "proportional" response to be preferred. Frankly, planting a very large bomb under the guy's bed or his car would have been closer to "proportionality" vis-a-vis Hamas rockets. Devoting the manpower and care necessary to kill him individually in a hotel room, with no risk of innocent casualties, is not "proportional." It is more like "saintly," if such a thing can be said of any killing.

- rhubarbs

February 24, 2010 at 4:51pm

I thought Carly Simon was singing about Warren Beatty (oh sure, they SAY it was "Your So Vain"...). True story: once at the post office I heard a woman singing this, except she changed the lyrics to make it about herself. "I wasn't looking/but somehow I found me..."

- Lymon1

February 24, 2010 at 4:58pm

Good for Israel and Mossad with killing this b--tard. But isn't the main problem with the hit, at least from an Israeli perspective, the fact that Mossad apparently used the identities of unsuspecting Israeli citizens to do the hit? If any of those people or their families are now targeted for revenge killings in Israel or their other countries of citizenship (or anywhere in-between), won't that be a bit of a problem? It seems that Mossad probably could have done better. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1152156.html

- wildboy

February 24, 2010 at 5:21pm

Marty, why no comment on the fact that the son of the founder of Hamas was a spy: The newspaper said it confirmed Mosab Yousef's account with Shin Bet agents, including his handler. The report said Mosab, who converted to Christianity, despised Hamas and acted out of ideological conviction. Wonderful news, and an object lesson on not to visit the sins of the father onto the character of the son. He reportedly saved many lives providing information. while I agree that maybe they were sloppy, they also might be what rhubarbs was saying, we can get you anywhere and at anytime and we will be brazen about it, which ain't a bad message to send. wildboy, the used the names of other people, but who is to say there are not dozens of people with the same name? Even if my full name were used, there are dozens (if not more) people with the same name as me (and my name isn't common) even if they got all of it, the likelihood of Hamas engaging in a revenge killing by tracking me down to my remote part of Mexico just because someone engaged in identity theft is a bit hard to believe. And the notion that this would act as a deterrent to Mossad..well, they would probably feel bad as individuals, but it shouldn't stop them. It would have been Hamas that killed me, not them. And I have little doubt that Hamas would be happier killing Jews in Israel than killing me. And I am sure the Israelis whose names were used know this. That Hamas would seek to kill them for no reason at all. I will only grant one thing, I don't know why they just didn't create fictitious identities, a plethora of Joseph Taylors, Sean O'Reillys, or Hans Schmidts.

- blackton

February 24, 2010 at 6:31pm

Blackie, I suppose that everyone in the world runs the risk that some secret service somewhere has stolen their identity and is using it for who-knows-what dark dealings, and that they may be subject to revenge killings by the bad guys -- just like anyone who boards an airplane runs the risk that it will crash. But we don't generally think that those kinds of risks are to be expected, and can be more than a little upset when they materialize. Maybe Israelis would have willingly put up with this kind of thing back in the early days of the state, when everyone had an expectation that they were pioneers and willing to die for their country, but most Israelis not on active military service now have an expectation of a normal, Western lifestyle and being able to freely travel to Europe, Canada or South Africa without fearing for their lives. I have no idea why they didn't just use made-up ID's, especially as a secret service as good as Mossad should have no trouble creating a fake ID that is good enough to fool Emirati customs agents and Dubai hotel desk clerks. Frankly, if the hit squad carried fake ID's in the names of the various hosts of Fox News opinion programs I would be the first to praise their creativity!

- wildboy

February 24, 2010 at 7:09pm

wildboy, you mean Glenn Beck is not on the no fly list already? Shocking! Marty you have made one big mistake, don't blame Mossad, blame Canada. That should be the default mode for everything. I gotta be honest though, I wish I could "blame" the CIA for this. Pity we didn't, but I oh so wish we had.

- blackton

February 24, 2010 at 7:46pm

I'm sorry, Blackie, but if Mossad used my name as a cover for one of their agents who got caught, I'd sue. This is going to mean a lifetime of major hassles at airports--not making flights, being kept in some interrogation room for hours, you name it. And no, I wouldn't feel proud of my country. I'm glad the cockroach is dead, but I'm not so convinced Israel wanted their identities known. That just seems like a cover story for stupidity. It's sort of the tale you tell when you've really fucked up.

- MOLLYSIMON

February 24, 2010 at 7:46pm

Yes the Mosad did it, and it was well executed. But I have a few doubts. My first doubt is how Dubai can track down the 12 different persons coordinating this one attack, but they can't do anything about Hamas operating openly in their country? They only track Israelis and Europeans? But my larger doubt is about spying in general. Yes we love our spries, especially when they win like this. But really spies are actually liars. It was always more of a Russian Game. Maskirovka. Americans were lousy spies. Too self-centered and comfortable. And really I don't know if we have that killer instinct. I think Israeli is well served by the Mosad and the deterrance outwieghs the publicity. But the world holds Israel to a higher standard and I don't know if the spying helps this.

- CRS9TNR

February 24, 2010 at 8:23pm

Maybe there's a book in the offing: Mossad: The Little Agency That Could. Nevertheless, I agree with a couple of people here -- doubts about operations that make the front pages in all sorts of awkward ways.

- ironyroad

February 24, 2010 at 10:01pm

blackton: "...if they are loyal Israeli citizens then I am sure they are quite willing to put up with whatever hardships that might happen..." Well, given the reaction of a bunch of these folks when they found out that their identities had been appropriated in that way, I guess they fail your loyalty test. They're probably not as tough and macho as you and Peretz - or it may simply be that they are actually dealing with all of the ramifications of having this happen to them, rather than just blowing hot air.

- SMacEachern2

February 24, 2010 at 10:26pm

And, yet, there is enough weirdness here to make the story so unclear that we might be commenting on something partly fictitious here. As the Israeli author Hoffman wrote, approximately, "Any resemblance between the characters and any persons living or dead is sometimes absolutely coincidental".

- yerubal

February 24, 2010 at 10:56pm

Just a guess, but it may well be that in the era of electronic databases, an invented passport would or could be spotted. What do you think they are doing when they swipe your passport through a reader attached to a computer? If that is correct, then they had to be expert fakes of real, outstanding passports. To minimize friction with the issuing countries, they use passports of resident Israelis. Not ideal, but maybe the best that could be done under the circumstances. It does not appear from the news accounts that the actual identity of any agent is known nor likely to be. The got in, they got out, unlike the botch job in Jordan. I agree with rhubarbs, as usual. This kind of targeted killing is a saintly response to the crimes committed, and when the individual is beyond the reach of Israeli law enforcement, I got no problem with this. You don't want to be the target of assassination? Don't kidnap and murder people, don't wage war against civilians, don't wage war at all when no one is pursuing you and you have available political avenues to pursue your political goals. Not just good riddance, excellent riddance. I hope MacEachern is writhing in anger that the Jews will defend themselves whether he likes or not. Sort of a bonus to be frustrating one such as he who always wants more bloodshed in the Middle East, as long as the blood being shed is Jewish blood.

- roidubouloi

February 24, 2010 at 11:00pm

It's not often that I agree with wholeheartedly with roid, but I'm 100%+ with him on this post. A few comments & additions. a) The self righteous sanctimony of MacEachern is laughable. I have news for you. All countries with intelligence agencies use false or doctored passports for their undercover agents going in to hostile territory for an operation. Including France, England, Australia, etc. & all the other countries who are protesting the use of their passports by whomever offed the Hamas dude. Methinks the EUniks doth protest too much. b) Some intelligence experts & ex-Mossadniks interviewed in the media here all said that for a variety of reasons, doctored passports of real people are greatly preferred to passports of invented individuals. The reason given above by Roid is probably a major factor, although I got the impression that the preference for real peoples' passports preceded the advent of massively interconnected database systems & bar code swiping. c) As an Israeli who also carries a USA passport, I would not be thrilled but would accept the Mossad purloining my passport identity. We ask our kids to risk their lives to defend us in this nasty part of the world and so putting up with the inconveniences and travel problems that the use of my passport identity could cause is minor in comparison. d) It seems that the Dubai police may know less than they are letting on. See the Yossi Melman article in Ha'aretz (here). Melman is one Israel's senior journalists on intelligence, espionage, and secret ops affairs. It's hard to believe that the Mossad would send 25-30 agents to an Arab country for a single rub-out. e) Given the known ubiquity of security cameras in Dubai, it seems likely that the faces of the agents were cosmetically altered (including latex false faces which an ex-CIA guy recently said are real). Tracing these putative agents will be difficult to impossible. f) Note the stony silence of Egypt. Note the stony silence of Saudi Arabia. Note the stony silence of most of the Arab world. Much like the stony silence after Israeli jets took out the Syrian nuclear facility. It would not surprise me if the Saudis and / or the Egyptians told the Dubaians to reign it in a bit and / or spread disinformation as Melman suspects may be going on. Hershel Ginsburg Jerusalem / Efrata

- ginzy

February 25, 2010 at 3:23am

Here are links to two articles worth reading on the Dubai assassination, from rather more realistic perspectives: a) Yossi Melman (the same YM as noted above) and Dan Raviv (CBS News) have a brief piece in The Atlantic on the hows & whys & ifs of the alleged Mossad assination (here). Article has some good links to other sources. b) Judith Miller, ex-NY Times reporter has a more detailed piece on Tablet which includes some interesting background to other mysterious Mideast assassinations and disappearances, as well as more background info on Israel's alleged targeting of al-Mabhouh (here). hg

- ginzy

February 25, 2010 at 5:31am

roidubouloi: "...as long as the blood being shed is Jewish blood...." Nah, I don't want Jewish blood shed in the Middle East at all. I'm just not as joyful as you and the rest of Peretz's acolytes when the blood being shed is that of Arabs. That makes me an anti-semite, apparently. But be happy: I'm sure that an assassination like this gives you the chance to feel tough, vicariously.

- SMacEachern2

February 25, 2010 at 10:17am

ginzy: If you can give me examples of England, Australia and the other countries whose passports were used in this operation assassinating people with quite the frequency that Mossad does, I would be grateful. You do, however, get points for admitting that you would not be thrilled if your own identity was used in this way....

- SMacEachern2

February 25, 2010 at 10:22am

smac, if I were the victim of such identity theft, of course I would publicly protest about how I am inconvenienced, privately (yeah, OK I might have some apprehension, but more for my kids than myself) I am prepared to accept it and support it as necessary. You are being naive if you think these Israelis don't feel the same way (as Ginzy above pointed out). The whole point of deniability is to deny. These people are victims of identity theft, everyone knows they are victims of identity theft, it makes no sense to target victims of identity theft. And I am not blowing hot air. One, the real danger that is experienced is the one by the agents, not me, the virtual impossibility of Hamas tracking me down to where I live is utterly laughable, and I live and travel extensively throughout Mexico, the drug murder capital of the world, if I were so worried for my safety I would move to Canada.

- blackton

February 25, 2010 at 10:40am

snark won't get you off the hook, maceachern, as you are an open advocate of political violence and never miss an opportunity to de-legitimize any defense against that violence. The vicarious thrills are all yours, pal. You cannott escape that rap either merely by imputing your personal pathology to others. You are probably an anti-Semite, but what is perhaps worse is that you are an armchair terrorist (or perhaps even a financial supporter). Hamas, Hezbollah, the IRA no doubt.

- roidubouloi

February 25, 2010 at 10:56am

For those (primarily) Europeans who decry "extrajudicial killings," please ask this question: Would Dubai have surrendered Mahmoud al-Mabhouh for prosecution in Israel? The term extrajudicial implies a possible recourse to judicial process.

- scottbirnba

February 25, 2010 at 11:43am

...Nah, I don't want Jewish blood shed in the Middle East at all. I'm just not as joyful as you and the rest of Peretz's acolytes when the blood being shed is that of Arabs.. But this isn't about being joyful at the shedding of Arab blood and it's discreditable of you to call people here who are taking you on Peretz acolytes and to accuse them of similarly being joyful at the shedding of Arab blood and feeling vicariously tough. Measuring what you are saying against the guy who was murdered, the discreditability is, at a minimum, resounding.

- basman

February 25, 2010 at 12:15pm

By the way, no one here is Marty Peretz's acolyte. That is just childish name calling. No one here agrees with everything Marty says, but is it really so surprising that people who pay a subscription to a magazine will agree with the philosophy behind the magazine? Just because I agree with what Cohn writes on his health care blog doesn't make me a mindless follower, I pay because more often than not, I think I can learn from him and then make my own decisions. And do you even know what acolyte means? Being an attendant in a church (like an altar boy) doesn't mean one surrenders your free will, it is an act of affirmation, service to the lord is not slavery. So I despise your use of the term on two grounds, it is meant to be a cheap insult directed at me as being mindless, and two, it is also an insult to genuine acolytes, whose spirit of devotion greatly exceeds my own, so kitfo.

- blackton

February 25, 2010 at 12:43pm

I hardly agree with anything Peretz says. If I do, it is seemingly an accident. But, I suck it up and subscribe anyway. He sucks it up and takes my money anyway.

- roidubouloi

February 25, 2010 at 1:34pm

roid, I seriously hope you don't buy TNR just to read Marty. And did you notice I mentioned Cohn instead of Marty, because he is the writer most subscribers are likely to agree with.

- blackton

February 25, 2010 at 2:30pm

blackton, I originally received a subscription as a gift and decided I liked it. I read it despite Peretz, not because of him. Now that you mention it, I do pretty much agree with Cohn more than with any other writer here. Although I agree with almost all of them more than half the time. The only two who grate on me are Peretz and Wieseltier. The self-righteousness gets to me, as if it were a substitute for sound ideas.

- roidubouloi

February 25, 2010 at 2:46pm

I disagree with Marty even when he says something I also believe. I agree with Wieseltier even when hs says something I don't believe. It's an achievement.

- ironyroad

February 26, 2010 at 6:30pm

...It's an achievement... Whose?

- basman

February 26, 2010 at 6:55pm

Ah.

- ironyroad

February 26, 2010 at 7:13pm

A clever aphorism, but does it have any meaning? To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, if it is perfectly phrased, then it has as much meaning as any observation in civilized life should have.

- noga1

February 26, 2010 at 10:05pm

Perfect clarity would profit the intellect but damage the will.

- basman

February 27, 2010 at 1:15am

Not mine.

- basman

February 27, 2010 at 1:16am

Thus Will seasons Intellect... Another paraphrase.

- noga1

February 27, 2010 at 8:40am

Irony: if you are here: a different thing: I am/was no big liker of Joan Baez, but the youtube track of her you dug up doing D & R is beautiful and enough to make an old man think twice.

- basman

February 27, 2010 at 5:38pm

basman -- no greater accolade! And if you can, take a listen to her cover version of Greg Brown's song "Rexroth's Daughter" on the 2003 album Dark Chords on a Big Guitar. Shivers down the ol' spine, sir.

- ironyroad

March 1, 2010 at 5:45pm