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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Shin Bet chief sez Israel may come to regret Saddam's overthrow
2006-02-11
The head of Israel's domestic security agency, Shin Bet, has said his country may come to regret the overthrow of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Yuval Diskin said a strong dictatorship would be preferable to the present "chaos" in Iraq, in a speech to teenage Jewish settlers in the West Bank. He also said the Israeli security services and judiciary treated Arabs and Jewish suspects differently.

A Shin Bet veteran, Mr Diskin took over as Shin Bet's chief in May. His speech to the students at the Eli settlement as they prepared for military service was secretly recorded and broadcast on Israeli TV.

When asked about the growing destabilisation of Iraq, Mr Diskin said Israel might come to rue its decision to support the US-led invasion in 2003. "When you dismantle a system in which there is a despot who controls his people by force, you have chaos," he said. "I'm not sure we won't miss Saddam."

The security chief was also asked to compare the treatment of Jews and non-Jews by Israel's security and judicial establishments. "I do not see equality in the way the system handles them when they are guilty of the same type of offence," he said. "If I had arrested a terrorist from Nablus and Eden Nathan Zaada [an Israeli army deserter who shot dead four Israeli Arabs on a bus in August], they wouldn't have received similar treatment in interrogation or court."

Mr Diskin also said he thought Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had made a mistake when he withdrew the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip last year without ensuring the Palestinian Authority could fill the security vacuum. "From a security perspective, I am opposed to handling over territories to the Palestinians unless we know there are officials there who will take control and commit themselves to upholding the law," he said. "If there are no such officials, then I am against handing over territories to Palestinian control."

But Mr Diskin criticised militant Israelis who have used violence to oppose further withdrawals from the West Bank.
Posted by:Dan Darling

#7  Avner Scowcraft - sometimes ya gotta look past realpolitik
Posted by: Frank G   2006-02-11 17:34  

#6  Considering that Shin Bet is domestic security, lighten up guys. What Pappy said, if it's found in much of law enforcement, that "dhimmicrat" would apply to much of US police, I think.
Posted by: Edward Yee   2006-02-11 16:52  

#5  When asked about the growing destabilisation of Iraq,..

Huh? What "growing destabilization"?
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2006-02-11 16:32  

#4  Yep, and your informants info goes straight to hell.
Posted by: 6   2006-02-11 13:19  

#3  It's the 'stable neighborhood' mentality found in a lot of law enforcement. You know the old guy running the shoe repair place has been a bookie for forty years, the waitress at the coffee shop deals weed n' speed on the side, and Abdul's convenience store has been know to slip a few cases of cigarettes to his cousin up north.

Long as they mind their business, ordinary citizens aren't affected and the kids are safe, you leave them alone. Because if you bust them, then another group shows up - one you don't know, and one that may not be so small-time. And your job just got interesting.
Posted by: Pappy   2006-02-11 12:13  

#2  This guy sounds as smart as a dhimmicrat. And I suspect the source is the same; he is a left winger who still can't reconcile himself to Sharon's success. How about it LH?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-02-11 11:26  

#1  sheese. Is it any wonder that the Islamic movement was able to build for over a decade without any meaningful interference? Are the heads of all security services this obtuse? This thinking implies that if Saddam was still in power today, that the world would be unchanged from as it was when we invaded. It allows for no thought as to what the world might be like if Saddam was left to shelter and fund terrorists. The good ol' days when everyone could fly kites and go to the rape rooms and shredders without problem.

The insubordination of security services reached almost mutinous proportions. We need to remind them of their place in the world.
Posted by: 2b   2006-02-11 11:02  

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