Maggie's Farm

"U.S. urged Israel to use caution and restraint with aid boats heading to Gaza" reports the Washington Post's Scott Wilson and Glenn Kessler: 

"We communicated with Israel through multiple channels many times regarding the flotilla," P.J. Crowley, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement issued in response to a question from The Washington Post. "We emphasized caution and restraint given the anticipated presence of civilians, including American citizens."

One wonders whether the Washington Post reporters followed up for details or, if not, why not.  This may be an explosive key to why the snafu at sea.

Israeli investigations of itself are notable for their comprehensiveness, self-criticism, and transparency.  What exactly did the Obama administration say to Israel, and what exactly did Israel do in response?

Israelis and analysts friendly toward Israel are aghast and confounded the Israeli commandos were lowered one at a time into an armed, violent gang, on board to physically attack Israelis, and the commandos were instructed to use paintball guns to disperse attackers.

The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, traveling in Israel, had this encounter:

I just met with the son of a friend who serves in an elite Israeli army unit, one very much similiar to Flotilla 13, the Naval commando unit deployed so disastrously against the anti-Israel flotilla, and he explained the shame this way: "These soldiers are the best we have. We are Israel's deterrent. People in the Middle East need to think we are the best, and we are the best, except that when we're sent into situations without any intelligence, without any direction, with paintball guns instead of sufficient weapons, with no understanding of who we're fighting.

Israelis, Americans, the world deserves an answer to whether and, if so, to what extent Obama administration admonitions created the conditions that allowed thugs afloat to damage Israel and encourage Hamas’ ruthless terror of Gazans and of Israelis.

As Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said on Wednesday, "This was not a 'Love Boat', it was a hate boat." Another question to be answered: Was he influenced by the Obama administration admonitions and, if so, specifically how?

P.S.: Paul Mirengoff at PowerLine notices this in "More bad advice from the U.S. to Israel." Still waiting for politicians, major media, and blogs to ask the big questions.

P.P.S.: I emailed the Washington Post reporters Scott Wilson and Glenn Kesler, via the Washington Post email link to them (click on each's name), to ask, simply, whether they or the Washington Post were following up to find out the details.  As yet, no reply. Hopefully that's because they are hot on the trail, as should all real journalists.

Welcome PowerLine readers. See "That's the thanks Israel gets for acceding to Washington" for another instance of US pressure on Israel, to please unpleasable, hostile Turkey.

Mercenaries Identified: June 4, why not before?

The IDF identified a group of about 50 men – of the 700 on board – who were well-trained and were stationed throughout the ship, mostly on the upper deck, where they laid an ambush for the IDF soldiers who rappelled onto the deck from helicopters.

The members of this violent group were not carrying identity cards or passports. Instead, each of them had an envelope in his pocket with about $10,000 in cash. The defense establishment suspects the funding for the mercenaries may have come from elements within the Turkish government.

According to sources within the defense establishment, one member of the group, who appears to have been the ringleader, traveled to the city of Bursa in northwest Turkey and allegedly recruited mercenaries for the flotilla there.

In videos from the Marmara released this week by the IDF, this group of men can be seen preparing to confront IDF commandos. The videos, taken by the ship’s security cameras, show the group of activists brandishing metal bars, slingshots, and other assorted weaponry.

The group was split up into smaller squads that were distributed throughout the deck and communicated with one another with handheld communication devices. The men wore bulletproof vests and gas masks.

One video clearly shows a member of the group throwing a stun grenade onto the IDF commando vessel that pulled up alongside the Marmara. Another video shows how groups of at least four or five men swarmed each commando that landed on the top deck, beating them with metal bars, and in one case throwing a soldier off the third deck.

Soldiers testified that in at least two instances their sidearms were taken from them, as were their helmets and vests. Two soldiers jumped off the ship into the water to save themselves from being lynched.

On Wednesday, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna’i told a Knesset hearing that all nine men killed on the Marmara were “involved in the fighting.”

“There were no innocents among the dead,” Vilna’i said.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Media Watch reported Thursday that three of the four Turks killed on ship sought a martyr’s death.