Here is an op-ed by the National Post's Lorne Gunter:
It is possible for intelligent people to disagree over the way Israel stopped the flotilla that set out for Gaza from Turkey last month. Even after what we have learned about the "humanitarians" on board in the past two weeks — that many were in reality thugs lying in wait to ambush Israeli commandos — it is still possible to contend that Israeli military planners and commanders were unprepared for what their troops found when they tried to board the Turkish ships. Their unpreparedness, in turn, led to an overreaction by the commandos who, caught off guard, ended up killing nine thugs.
I, personally, don't dispute the Israelis' tactics, I'm merely saying that among smart people it's possible to disagree over whether Israel used just enough force, or too much.
But what can no longer be disputed is the character of those onboard the flotilla.
Sure, there were many useful idiots on the decks — pro-Palestinian activists from Western nations who had been included merely because they made good PR decoys. And, yes, most of them probably swallowed whole the bumph flotilla organizers were selling–that the exercise was merely an attempt to run Israel's blockade of Gaza ports and bring food, medicine, clothing, toys, etc. to the poor, starving residents.
But the real passengers were 40 operatives from the Turkish Islamist organization, the IHH, which has close ties to the ruling AKP party and directly to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, according to the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. It has also been reported that the ship on which the deadly commando raid took place, the Mavi Maramara, was purchased by the IHH from a company owned by the AKP with money furnished by the Turkish government.
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