Inside the mind of a serial killer - the Israeli kind

No matter how Israelis try to justify it, at bottom, their targeted killings amount to nothing more than state-sponsored murder.

Almost every day, Yaalon had to decide who would live or die. "Who is a 'ticking bomb' ? Can we arrest him? Who is a priority -- this guy first, or this guy first?" Yaalon recalled. Once a week, military intelligence and Shin Bet proposed new names. At first, the list was limited to bombers themselves, but several years later it expanded to those who manufacture bombs and those who plan attacks.

Soon, it included their neighbors, their neighbors' kids, the neighborhood dogs, and anything else that lived and breathed and happened to come in contact with the target, for however brief a time, or for whatever reason.

"I called it 'cutting weeds.' I knew their names by heart," Yaalon said. How many did he kill? "Oh, hundreds, hundreds. I knew them. I had all the details with their pictures, maps, intelligence, on the table. Where does he live? What is his routine? Is he married? How many children did he have? If he had lots ofkids, it crossed my mind." It was hard to fathom, Yaalon said: "It became a routine to look into their eyes in the photo. In certain cases it's unbelievable -- he looks so naive, a young guy looks nice, a baby face, especially a 16-year-old suicide bomber. It's beyond imagination."

The man is f*cking serial killer. A sociopath. And this WaPo journalist writes about his murders like the man is MacGyver. How utterly sick and twisted.

Reisner, the legal expert, was often consulted at the meetings, which he described as "very, very trying. Especially when I said it's okay. I'd go back to my office and ask my deputy, 'Do you agree?' It's a frightening process to be involved in, sitting in a room and talking about killing someone. It's enough to make your skin crawl."

He's so unsure about the 'hit' that he looks to his deputy for affirmation??? And what impartial body reviews this process? Or is it just one long extra-judicial process, utterly devoid of review?

When the prime minister approves a target -- a requirement that can take months -- the name is transferred from the Notebook to a shortlist typed on a laminated card. Commanders carry the card in their pockets, along with bus passes and keys. Each target is assigned a file, with instructions on when and where he can be killed. Specialists mark up maps -- green lines for open roads where killings minimize civilian risk, red lines for congested areas to be avoided, Yaalon said. An operation can take 200 people, thousands of man hours, and cost $1 million, Halutz said.

How ridiculous - the practice is frought with possibilities for mistake and abuse - not to mention the obvious fact that such a kangaroo operation simply cannot yield "legitimate" targets. What if there's a typo? Or if someone tacks another's name on the list that shouldn't be there? Who will know the difference? The target will.

When a target is hit, Reisner said, the feeling is "complicated."

Not for Avi Dichter. "After each success, the only thought is, 'Okay, who's next?' We really have a bottleneck," the former Shin Bet chief said. One time they completed a killing at 5:30 a.m. "I said, 'What are we going to do for the rest of the day?' Nothing limits Hamas attacks, except terrorists still prefer their heads attached to their shoulders. If the M-16 delivers the message, the F-16 delivers it better."

How efficient and hard working Israelis are - they have too much time on their hands so they look for more Palestinians to kill. And the more devastating their strike, the more effective they believe their message is.

Pure unmitigated terror - part and parcel of the racist and apartheid state of Israel. It's only a matter of time before Americans make their 'hit list' - in record numbers.