Did the Israelis bag Yassin to bump Clarke from the top news spot?

[rockymountaindem]

I'm happy as a clam that that terrorist bastard has finally been laid low by the very people he hoped to defeat. Good riddance to Yassin.

However, perhaps the Israelis did it today because Bush* needed some kind of victory against terrorism to move Clarke off the top spot. Right now the Yassin story leads on all the websites. The CBS news site doesn't even have the Clarke story on there at all. Yassin is #1 and Andy Rooney is #2. Israel could have had Yassin any number of times over the years. Does this seem wierd to you?

[Paragon]

1. *sigh*

No.

[aquart]

2. Unbelievable.

Just....never mind. I'd get banned.

[still_one]

3. I hope not

[baby_bear]

4. I'm not happy about any assassination, but the timing is...convenient?

Convenient for Bush, I should say.

http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp?type=worldNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=4616555

Israel Radio said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the strike on Yassin personally from his ranch in the Negev Desert.

Both sides have been trying to bloody the other as much as possible ahead of a possible pullout of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip proposed by Sharon. Israel stepped up strikes after a suicide bombing at a strategic port last week.

Hardline Israeli cabinet minister Uzi Landau compared Yassin to bin Laden and said "there is no doubt that the goal is to create quiet and there is no other way to bring about calm other than to fight terror."

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie called the killing a "crazy and very dangerous act. It opens the door wide to chaos."

more....

I think there is more than meets the eye here. And maybe intentionally so.

s_m

on edit:
This other bit from the article mades me think that Israel could have taken out this vulnerable guy any time they wanted to, so why right now, if not at the Bush administration's request?
<snip>
Yassin has been confined to a wheelchair since a childhood accident that paralysed him. He is also partially blind.

Yassin was sentenced by Israel in 1989 to a life term for founding Hamas and inciting Palestinians to attack Israelis. But Israel released him in 1997 as a goodwill gesture to Jordan's King Hussein after a failed Israeli attempt to assassinate Hamas leader Khaled Mashal in Jordan.
</snip>

[leftistagitator]

5. It is wierd

From what I've heard, this guy wasn't exactly in hiding, the IDF just wasn't trying to kill him until now. I don't know why it happened today, maybe there was some new information that I'm not privy to that prompted it. It is unfortunate timing for America, as this will help cover for * for a few days. The Lukid Party is basically as corrupt as the republican party, but without some evidence I'd have to say it's just a coincidence.

[question everything]

6. Don't worry, it will come back

The White House, the WSJ, Fox/O'Reilley - all will have their reactions to Clarke and it will be back on top of the news.

[LoZoccolo]

10. I agree.

The Clarke story is actually a couple of years old really, so if it's coming up now, it'll be able to come up a week from now or whenever.

[rockymountaindem]

7. Seriously folks.

Check all the online news sites. You won't find the Clarke story anywhere near the top if at all.

On edit: My hope is that on the nightly news tomorrow Clarke will be the top story and Yassin second. Both are important, but only one impacts the US directly. However, seeing as how the media is always covering for Bush*, it most certainly will bury this story.

[Dookus]

8. sorry

but that's the dumbest idea I've seen here in a long time.

[LibertyorDeath]

9. No they " baged Yassin" in a pathetic attempt to stay secure

The state of Israel was created in 1948 in a part of the world that hates their fucking guts and all the assasinations and military hardware in the world will not change the fact that their neighbours would like nothing more than to see them wiped of the face of the planet.

Good choice of locations don't you think.

Hey here's a good idea let's build a wall and wall ourselves in that should do the trick. Problem solved.

[tobius]

11. yeah, that is the pattern- negative story about the administration,

gotta find someone to murder.

oops, almost forgot-</sarcasm>

[DeepModem Mom]

12. I'm ashamed of myself, but is a bit of neocon collusion...

an impossibility? The story did knock the Clarke story off the top here in the UK -- and a Sky tv anchor just asked her reporter, Why now, when they could have gotten Yassin at any time? Don't think the story is seen as a "Bush victory," however -- just a very big story.