Instapundit calls for muder of Iranian scientists

Instapundit is calling for the extrajudicial murder of Iranian scientists and clerics:

This has been obvious for a long time anyway, and I don't understand why the Bush Administration has been so slow to respond. Nor do I think that high-profile diplomacy is an appropriate response. We should be responding quietly, killing radical mullahs and iranian atomic scientists, supporting the simmering insurgencies within Iran, putting the mullahs' expat business interests out of business, etc.Basically, stepping on the Iranians' toes hard enough to make them reconsider their not-so-covert war against us in Iraq. And we should have been doing this since the summer 2003. But as far as I can tell, we've done nothing along these lines. [Emphasis added.]

That's right, an American law professor is saying that the United States should have started an extra-judicial assassination campaign in Iran three years ago. Hugh Hewitt thinks it's a swell idea to "punish" Iranians-at-large for IEDs in Iraq by knocking off some clerics and atomic physicists who have nothing to do with munitions.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. If you accept that United States may kidnap anyone, anywhere in the world and have them tortured in the name of counter-terrorism, it's not such a stretch to suppose that U.S. is also entitled to murder civilians to put pressure on unfriendly governments. Unfortunately, that practice is better known as "terrorism."

For more on the Instapundit's death squad rant, see Glenn Greenwald's. I despair for our society when it's necessary to supply a rigorous analytical exposition of why our government shouldn't have scientists and religious leaders whacked to get leverage over their government--but Glenn's provided a much-needed service.

I should add that somehow Instapundit can call for the murder of Islamic clerics without damaging his credentials as a "reasonable" guy. Whereas, God help you if you suggest a 2000-year-old story about a putative virgin birth probably didn't achieve worldwide currency because of its plausibility or explanatory power...

Comments

[norbizness]

I predict that the update/follow-up post will contain the line "As usual, my most vocal and unhinged critics miss the point entirely..." before linking to someone who probably called for nuking Mecca at one point. Oh wait, THAT was an allegory too. Goddamn these po-mo motherfuckers!

[norbizness]

I predict that the update/follow-up post will contain the line "As usual, my most vocal and unhinged critics miss the point entirely..." before linking to someone who probably called for nuking Mecca at one point. Oh wait, THAT was an allegory too. Goddamn these po-mo motherfuckers!

[SamChevre]

Random quibble:

In the context of Iran, it is hardly fair to call the mullahs "religious leaders"; they are both religious leaders, and have constitutional political power over the elected government. It seems to me that the standards for "what kinds of actions towoards the mullahs are appropriate" are thus those actions appropriate to political, not religious, leaders. (Their role is closer to that of Ashcroft/Gonzales than to that of Fallwell).

[Scott Lemieux]

Yes, but you're forgetting that it will be very quiet! Iran will never wonder why its religious leaders and scientists keep getting killed!

[togolosh]

If the US was to attack Iran, killing as many nuclear scientists and engineers as possible ought to be part of the plan. I strongly oppose attacking Iran, but still, the most effective use of force would be killing the people who know how to design, build, and repair the critical infrastructure for the Iranian nuclear program.

Instapundit is nuts to suggest assassination to put pressure on Iran, since that makes about zero sense in terms of getting results. Assassination to remove critical personnel might work, but you have to get the important ones all at once, since after word gets out they'll be impossible to reach without major use of force.

Suffice to say that there are good reasons assassination is not a routine part of statecraft, and they aren't based solely ethical on considerations.

[Bruce/Crablaw]

So well said.

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

Instapundit wasn't specific about which mullahs he thinks we should be killing in Iran.

The mullahs who serve on the Council of Guardians or the Assembly of Experts of the Islamic Republic of Iran are analogous to the pope as the ruler of Vatican City--religious leaders who hold positions of political power in theocratic states.

Not all the radical mullahs in Iran are in the government, though.

[Paul Hooson]

I don't like the current Iranian government very much either. But for some right wing website like INSTAPUNDIT to call for any action or violence against anyone in Iran is simply irresponsible, and borders on outright provocation, and is as bad as some of the mentally ill extremist statements from the Iranian government who deny the Holocaust, support the destruction of Israel or endorse terrorism against American civilians.

Even HUMAN EVENTS cheapens itself by hosting writer Ann Coulter when she seems to endorse the death of some American government officials or judges that she personally disagrees with. One of her writings wished Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens a fatal heart attack. Another recent Coulter feature in HUMAN EVENTS was entitled, "They Shot The Wrong Lincoln", referring to Senator Lincoln Chaffee. This trash journalism is just plain wrong. Any of this encouraging of politically moltivated violence is completely irresponsible if not borderline crimnal in my view. Coulter should have been immediately fired from HUMAN EVENTS the first time she endorsed violence against any public figure in her writings.

[greensmile]

If you need some country to fight, you have a much easier time of it if its a country with no liberals and silenced intellectuals. You were wondering if scientists tend to be liberals? Ask me! Based on this call for bloodshed, I would assume Instapundit was a sockpuppet for the American Entreprise Institute. But of course he's not. I think this just fits the pattern of self fullfilling prophecies of war that are so characteristic of the Bush people of America. If they want to change Iran's direction with a few bullets [boy do these guys love war on cheap!] why isn't Instapundit suggesting early retiremnt for the Mullahs? Oh, right, forgot my own rule: if you want to set up a strawman enemy state, promote the demagogues and dump the democrats.

[greensmile]

or was that "instapuppet was a sockpundit"?

[Dude Yamaha]

Why limit the Perfessor's fantasy scientist assasination program to Iran? I can see all sorts of side benefits (from his perspective) relating to global warming, evolution, the tobacco industry... it would be just so convenient for his ideology if a large fraction of the world's scientists were to just quietly die off from a series of unrelated accidents.

[cfrost]

If you can read Instapundit you've got a stronger stomach than I do.

I assume Mr. Instapundit has a plan to keep Iran or Iran's friends from carrying out retaliatory assassinations here. Doubtless a plan as brilliant as the one that brought freedom and democracy to Iraq.

[pod]

How do these people have/hold jobs? He is influencing our youth? I hope students take the right lessons from his classes. Even a pyschopath can go far in the US. He should be in an asylum.

[suzib]

This link goes to a nearly blank page on Instapundit. Am I missing something? or, did the pull the plug on this?

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

Looks like Insty's post went off the front page. A lot of other bloggers are linking to the same post, so it wasn't just a typo. I don't think he deleted it because it's still available.

Here's the post about killing scientists.

[ass]

Ya because of course the big bang really achieved currency because of its incredible explanatory power. An explanatory power which you are probably not even aware of and yet still believe. You believe in the big bang for the same reason other people believe in Christ. It is a part of your culture. Same with your other religious beliefs like for instance Ice Ages etc. You aren't really that different than a religious person.