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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Washington losing confidence in Israel as inexperienced leadership paralyzed by crisis |
| 2006-07-08 |
| From Geostrategy Direct, subscription. Israel's new defense minister, Amir Peretz, has no experience in either the military or in government. But he has been thrown into a crisis that could lead to war in the Middle East. Peretz, a longtime peace activist, has been struggling to contain a growing Palestinian threat that includes daily missile salvos against the Jewish state from the Gaza Strip and the abduction of Israeli civilians and soldiers. A career union activist, Peretz is caught in a vise of military commanders, warning that the nation's deterrence is being eroded, and the United States and the international community, seeking Israeli restraint. "We have no intention to recapture the Gaza Strip or control the Palestinian population," Peretz said. "We do not want our soldiers running through the alleys of refugee camps between Gaza City and Rafah." They should not have to. Target the bad guyz and safehouses and take them out by air power. A key question is whether Peretz will agree to a massive ground assault on the Gaza Strip to destroy missile production facilities, insurgency strongholds and the Hamas government. Or, will the military wait for international efforts to free an Israeli soldier abducted by Hamas. Based upon news reports, it appears to me that the Israeli operation has stalled, run out of gas. They needed to hit hard and fast. International efforts to free the IDF soldier plays right into the hands of Hamas and gives them legitimacy. |
| Posted by:Alaska Paul |
| #16 Condi is inexperienced as SoS as well. It amazing me that with a country that unilaterally gives up land to an enemy who wants to drive it into the sea, how anyone can accuse it of occupation. Occupation is a loaded term initially pounced on by Arafat and use and reused to arouse the technocrats in the UN and EU. Condi and the entire Bush Administration place their bets on an untenable plan, the Road Map. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-07-08 20:55 |
| #15 I usually stay away from the Israeli/Paleo conflict threads because it seems like the same shit over and over. In this case I tell ya what though, if this poor kidnapped soldier Shallit (sp?) was mine and the terrorists tried pulling this shit w/us I'd take the gloves all the way off. Media black out the place, tell all third parties to f*ck off and go genghis khan on the paleos. Make the fairest boundaries you can and then build a big ass fence. The arabs will do nothing except pay lip service and the whine/seethe thing ad nauseam as we all well know. Minus their extremists they have no real stomach for the hard fight. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2006-07-08 15:43 |
| #14 Damn right Miz Rice. Peretz and Olmert are unexperienced and unbalanced, handle them with kid gloves---otherwise there is no telling what the consequences could be. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-07-08 15:30 |
| #13 Steve---You hit the main point that bothered me about the whole Gaza IDF operation: What are they trying to accomplish, what are their goals? The IDF units on the ground are not bogged down. They are waiting around for the leadership at the top to make a decision. Israel needed to target the leadership of HAMAS AND the PA and start taking the bad guys out, wherever they may be. They need to let the Paleos know that they will systematically take their little sh*thole apart with armor and air power unless their kidnapped soldier is returned unharmed. The Israelis need to go systematically nuts, so to speak. You shut off comm to Gaza. You shut off electricity. Leave the water on for now. You come down like a hammer. You DO NOT carry out piecemeal extended ops. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2006-07-08 13:18 |
| #12 What a load of idiotic non sense drivel. If there is anything to say is that Peretz is the ideal for Condi. Condi doesnt want action and Peretz is unable to act |
| Posted by: Clerert Uneamp2772 2006-07-08 12:22 |
| #11 I have to agree that the last thing the Israelis should want to do in this operation is re-occupation. That means move quickly. What's the point of the operation? Is it to get the soldier back? Is it to teach Hamas a lesson? Is it to grind down the Paleo rocket-launching infrastructure? I can't tell what the goal is here, and I think that's the heart of the problem. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2006-07-08 11:35 |
| #10 OK, fixed the name bit. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-07-08 09:47 |
| #9 UU4476, if you have a point to make then make it. This is not the Daily Kos where accusation by innuedo reigns supreme. We deal in facts and rational argument. regards |
| Posted by: Haliburton Election Management Division 2006-07-08 09:45 |
| #8 Washington losing confidence in Israel as inexperienced leadership paralyzed by crisis Couldn't the same be said about Washington and its handling of Pakland? Americans losing confidence in Washington as inexperienced leadership paralyzed by crisis. Did Georgie Boy say 'not only terrorists, but nations who harbor those terrorists'? |
| Posted by: Ulurong Thrinemble4476 2006-07-08 09:07 |
| #7 The problem is it starts to smell like occupation. They should go in, kick ass, get out. The intelligence work should be done before hand. If this means they go in once a month, fine. But don't stay. Gaza must be seen to be the responsibility of the PA, not the IDF. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-07-08 07:40 |
| #6 The IDF is not bogged down. They established a strategic front, and air units are ensuring that the terrorists cannot re-group. The best play is to carry out small scale encirclement operations, while being prepared to destroy any offensive groupings. Remind me never to Subscribe to Geostrategy Direct until they have writers who know the purpose of blitz operations. In this type of operation, the IDF uses massive short term investigative detainment. If they pick up a hundred Paleos, at least one will talk, and it would be almost impossible for Hamas to discover the informant. |
| Posted by: Anginens Threreng8133 2006-07-08 07:14 |
| #5 PBMcL - my thoughts exactly. Meanwhile, the Hamsters whine because they know the Euros and UN will fall in line |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-07-08 03:56 |
| #4 It seems clear to me that Israel has a sort of collective 'battered wife syndrome'. They keep trying to please the Europeans who hate them almost as much as the Paleos. Meanwhile, as mentioned above, we've had successive administrations who 'urge restraint' at provocations we ourselves would never stand for. The shades of Golda Meir and Moshe Dayan must be weeping. Golda would have told Condi to get bent while she depopulated Gaza. |
| Posted by: PBMcL 2006-07-08 01:58 |
| #3 I don't know that Israel has the "resources" to handle these guys with kid gloves like the US wants. |
| Posted by: grb 2006-07-08 00:57 |
| #2 Actually, Condi has not been a realist regarding Israel since becoming SoS. Consistent with longstanding US policy, it's give away territory or Israel won't be cooperative. Condi pushed the opening of the Rafah (sp) crossing that ended up killing more Israelis shortly thereafter. The entire Bush Administration, like the Clintonoids, have been wrong on Israel. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-07-08 00:40 |
| #1 "What's wrong with Peretz and Olmert", hell...WTF is wrong with Condi Rice? If this is any indication, she's been fully co-opted by Foggy Bottom's Arabist/accommodationist slime mold. I wish GWB would have grown a pair after getting reelected and put Bolton in as SecState, with a mandate to clean house. |
| Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) 2006-07-08 00:21 |