Can Kamala Harris win?

Mrs Doubtfyre said:
performing an extrajudicial assassination in a foreign country, which is against international law,
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Bit of a grey area there. Some consider targeted killings of individuals associated with terror groups a legitimate act of self defense. At a push, Israel may have breached human rights law, but even that's a stretch given Haniyeh's track record.
 
fillyboy said:
Bit of a grey area there. Some consider targeted killings of individuals associated with terror groups a legitimate act of self defense. At a push, Israel may have breached human rights law, but even that's a stretch given Haniyeh's track record.
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As impressive as it was in a technical sense, do you wonder why they chose to do it now? Are they trying to boost Trump's chances?
 
JonathanM said:
As impressive as it was in a technical sense, do you wonder why they chose to do it now? Are they trying to boost Trump's chances?
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If some reports are true that a bomb was planted a few months back, I think the reason it happened 'now' was simply because the opportunity arose. Yehwar Sinwar is now the number 1 target and he's proving elusive, I'm not convinced he's down in the tunnels.

I doubt Israel trusts any potential US leader, Harris or Trump. Biden has showed some support but it was Biden who lifted the sanctions against Iran in the first place giving them the funds to finance attacks on Israel from 3 fronts.

Israel has the ability, with or without the US to strike Iran, burn their oilfields, destroy the nuclear facilities and sink their fleet, the only thing stopping them is the US.
Iran have publicly vowed to destroy Israel and the US and have already stated this week they intend to strike Israel to avenge Hanniyeh, but they know with 12 US warships sitting nearby, they need to be measured. Biden will no doubt be talking to Iran to agree the extent of their retaliation, and so it will go on, and on.
Breaking Iran increasingly seems the most logical solution, Russia and China won't be happy, Turkey might have to get off the fence, the alternative is to carry on allowing Iran to wage war from multiple fronts via their proxies until Israel falls and the Middle East is controlled by Russia, China and Iran, that's not good for the US and the West.

A Trump victory probably would be better for Israel, but 'killing an Arab' isn't going to sway the US elections one way or the other.
 
fillyboy said:
Bit of a grey area there. Some consider targeted killings of individuals associated with terror groups a legitimate act of self defense.
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Who are these people that consider extrajudicial killing in a foreign country as self defence?
It would appear you'd be comfortable with Israel (or Russia) carrying out extrajudicial killing in UK.
It would be considered as self-defence?
fillyboy said:
At a push, Israel may have breached human rights law, but even that's a stretch given Haniyeh's track record.
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At a push, Israel is a rogue state that persistently violates international law and UN resolutions.
 
fillyboy said:
Israel has the ability, with or without the US to strike Iran, burn their oilfields, destroy the nuclear facilities and sink their fleet, the only thing stopping them is the US.
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The only thing stopping Israel from an all out attack as you describe is that Israel would be seen as the aggressor.
So they continue to provoke Iran and Lebanon into the first strike.
Then they can claim their actions are defensive.
Just like October 7th.
 
Mrs Doubtfyre said:
Who are these people that consider extrajudicial killing in a foreign country as self defence?
It would appear you'd be comfortable with Israel (or Russia) carrying out extrajudicial killing in UK.
It would be considered as self-defence?

At a push, Israel is a rogue state that persistently violates international law and UN resolutions.
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What are your thoughts on the killing of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan by US forces?, by your definition that would have against 'international law', didn't hear many people shouting that at the time, more like dancing in the streets.
 
Mrs Doubtfyre said:
The only thing stopping Israel from an all out attack as you describe is that Israel would be seen as the aggressor.
So they continue to provoke Iran and Lebanon into the first strike.
Then they can claim their actions are defensive.
Just like October 7th.
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The only thing stopping Israel from an all out attack is the US, and yes, they have an existential struggle to defend their homeland from outside aggressors.
 
fillyboy said:
What are your thoughts on the killing of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan by US forces?, by your definition that would have against 'international law', didn't hear many people shouting that at the time, more like dancing in the streets.
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"Killing a captive who poses no immediate threat is a crime under military law as well as all other law," he told the BBC World Service.
"As a matter of international law, one country is not free to enter another country apparently without the authorisation of that country, and intervene, whether to kidnap or kill a national of a third state," Mr Sands said.
The UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, and the special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Martin Scheinin, have raised a similar concern.
"However, the norm should be that terrorists be dealt with as criminals, through legal processes of arrest, trial and judicially decided punishment," they added.
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www.bbc.co.uk

Osama Bin Laden: Legality of killing questioned

The death of Osama Bin Laden has been followed by a growing debate over the legality of his killing, the BBC's Aidan Lewis reports.
www.bbc.co.uk
 
fillyboy said:
The only thing stopping Israel from an all out attack is the US, and yes, they have an existential struggle to defend their homeland from outside aggressors.
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You think that it is only US who is putting pressure on the likely actors in the Middle east to avoid an all-out conflict? :rolleyes:
 
fillyboy said:
A Trump victory probably would be better for Israel, but 'killing an Arab' isn't going to sway the US elections one way or the other.
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But they have blown up Biden's peace plan, which would have been a big boost for his side in the run up to the election.
 
Mrs Doubtfyre said:
You think that it is only US who is putting pressure on the likely actors in the Middle east to avoid an all-out conflict? :rolleyes:
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US pressure is the only one that matters, or are you stupid enough to think that Gary Lineker or David Lammy are likely to be a major influence on Middle East geopolitics.
 
fillyboy said:
'Questioned', 'debated'. They can debate it for years, nobody will be charged because it what 'we' all wanted, by we I mean those of us who do not support terrorism.
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It doesn't matter whether it was popular or not, it was against international law.
It's the law that is the standard, not the popularity of the crime.
 
fillyboy said:
US pressure is the only one that matters, or are you stupid enough to think that Gary Lineker or David Lammy are likely to be a major influence on Middle East geopolitics.
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You're ignoring the pressure on the Palestinians, Lebanon, Iran, Qatar, and the other Middle East actors.
That is why the actions of Israel on extrajudicial assassination is so dangerous, it nullifies the pressure on Iran, Lebanon, Qatar, etc.
Some sort of reprisal is inevitable, but it has to be so measured as to not provoke all-out war.
Any incremental escalation will inevitably lead to all-out war.
 
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