THE SCENE (a.k.a. vpostrel.com)
Comments on current ideas and events

Week of August 20, 2001
[Note: Some now-dead links have been removed from archived items.]

TERRORIST HUNT: USA Today's Jack Kelley files another amazing report from Israel, and this time he doesn't have to nearly get blown up. It's a remarkable look at how Israeli intelligence operates to identify and kill Palestinians suspected of terrorism. What I like about Kelley's reports is their gritty detail. A sample:

If a targeted killing is approved, security officials often turn to agents of Israel's elite Duvdevan, or cherry unit. The name refers to the cherry placed on top of an ice cream sundae -- the coup de grâce. These undercover units are among those that carry out the killings. The agents, called ''undercover assassins,'' dress as Arab men and women, speak in local West Bank dialects and have a working knowledge of the Koran, the Muslim holy book. As part of their training, they also are taught how to apply makeup, wear wigs and walk in a feminine manner.

''There is no substitute for a unit like Duvdevan in fighting terrorism,'' Israeli Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz says. Security officials say the undercover agents have been known to infiltrate:

* Markets in Ramallah, posing as deaf-mute female Arab beggars.

* Mosques in Nablus, pretending to be Sudanese Muslims in traditional African gowns.

* Street clashes in Bethlehem, dressed as Palestinian teenagers in Timberland T-shirts and Levi jeans who throw rocks at Israeli soldiers.

Their disguises allow them to get within yards of their targets without raising suspicion. That's why many of the assassinations have been carried out execution-style.

Sharon told Israeli reporters Sunday that the undercover operations will continue. ''We are undertaking many special activities, commando operations against terror,'' he said. ''Many of them are not known, but there have been many successful operations.''

The piece is from yesterday's paper (I was preoccupied with the bioethics commission posting last night), so be sure to read it today; it may disappear tomorrow. An interview with Kelley, from Sunday's Reliable Sources, is transcribed here. [Posted 8/22.]

READERS' CHOICES: Thanks to the many readers who sent in ideas for additions to the president's bioethics council. You had a lot of interesting ideas. Among your suggestions were plenty of people who are even more different from Leon Kass than the people on my own list—more evidence that America is a seriously diverse place, and that on issues of such import and division it's hard to imagine anything approaching a consensus. Here are a few of your ideas, with more to come in the future. If the list sparks you to come up with more nominees, send me an email. And please include URLs of background on your nominees.

One clarification in response to some of the mail I've gotten about my list: This is not intended to be the full council. Such a commission would need to be balanced in all sorts of ways I haven't attempted. My list is meant to supplement the sorts of picks likely from Leon Kass and to point up some of the kinds of thinkers a good commission—if such a thing is possible—would include. [Posted 8/22.]

BIOETHICS NOMINEES: Leon Kass has repeatedly promised not to stack the new bioethics council with people who agree with him. But what does that mean? Skeptics (that would be me) suspect he'll "balance" the council the way he followed the president's request that he bring along someone who disagreed with him—by enlisting Democrats like Daniel Callahan and Greens like Wesley Smith, who share his skepticism of Enlightenment individualism, of the technological pursuit of health and happiness, and of open-ended progress.

But I could be wrong, and I hope I am. So, in response to Hugh Hewitt's challenge to offer nominations of my own, I've come up with some suggestions. I have limited myself to people who are learned in general and eminent in their fields, so that they cannot be intimidated by the erudition of the commission's chairman. This is not a comprehensive list, nor is it the list I would submit if the administration gave me power to appoint the entire commission. It is insufficiently researched and lacks relevant biological diversity. But the public and the president would be well served by the additions of any and all of these individuals to the council. The list is here. Putting it together has taken longer than I expected, so I'll post readers' suggestions Tuesday night. It's not too late to send in your ideas. [Posted 8/21.]

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