Anyone who thinks we'll be conducting ourselves gently is wrong
Israeli forces are ready to embark on a ground assault in Gaza, a senior military officer told Ynet Wednesday, adding that "anyone who thinks we'll be conducting ourselves gently is wrong."
"Hamas has indeed prepared for this, but so did we," the IDF official said.
IDF officers say they are closely familiar with Hamas' military buildup but add that troops are prepared for the mission ahead. Ever since the Second Lebanon War, the IDF has been engaged in intensive training sessions and preparations ahead of a possible clash in the Strip. A ground assault on Gaza will be a challenge, yet military officials are saying loud and clear: "We're ready." Just a suggestion: One way to avoid dangerous urban warfare is to reduce the urban area to rubble, then bounce it.
In recent years, Hamas has been engaged in a military buildup ahead of a possible IDF incursion. IDF officials familiar with the group's efforts say the organization comprises more than 15,000 troops, including Special Forces members and intelligence personnel.
Hamas' army has been built in a hierarchical manner, and includes divisions, regiments, and platoons. The group's forces underwent an orderly training program, with some Hamas members sent for training in Syria and Iran. Moreover, Gaza Strip tunnels, some of which were destroyed in IDF bombings in recent days, have been used for smuggling in large quantities of explosives, the IDF says. The weapons that poured into Gaza include anti-tank rockets.
Army officials say IDF troops should be expecting "nature reserves," similarly to what soldiers encountered in Lebanon while fighting Hizbullah. Hamas is believed to have prepared numerous underground sites containing various weapons.
Military officials estimate that similarly to Hizbullah, which had some "surprises" for the IDF during the Second Lebanon War, Hamas may also be in possession of arms that Israel has no knowledge of.
"During the confrontation, Hamas will attempt to operate in an orderly manner and utilize many types of arms, such as explosive devices, snipers, and cells that will attempt to hit our forces," an IDF officer said. "We prepared in terms of protective equipment and also engaged in training exercises in order to address these threats.
The IDF's first challenge in case of a ground assault will likely be in the form of roadside bombs aimed at targeting tanks and armored vehicles. Hamas is believed to have dug pits in many Gaza roads and placed powerful explosive devices underground before covering them with cement. However, the Air Force's massive assault in the early days of Operation Cast Lead damaged dozens of Hamas facilities and may undermine the group's efforts.
#6
All the people of Gaza need to be evacuated to the west bank voluntarily right now. Then Gaza can be scrubbed of weapons and stragglers by the IDF to make it nice and tidy; so, the volunteers can return to their homes.
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister on Wednesday blamed Palestinian divisions for Israel's onslaught on Gaza, a reflection of U.S.-allied Arab governments' anger at the Hamas militant group.
Saud al-Faisal made the comments at an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers in the Egyptian capital, convened to try to put together a joint response by the deeply divided Arab nations to the Israeli offensive, which has killed more than 370 Palestinians and sparked outrage across the Middle East.
Pro-U.S. Arab countries - Egypt, in particular - have come under heavy criticism in widespread street protests, as well as from Iran, Hamas, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, for allegedly not doing enough to stop Israel or help Gazans. Officials and pro-government media in Egypt and Saudi Arabia have responded by blaming Hamas for provoking Israel and accusing the militant group of being a proxy promoting the power of regional rival Iran.
Saud's comments criticizing the Palestinians were notable because in past Israeli offensives against Arabs, Arab leaders would rarely voice anything but heavy condemnations against Israel. Saud stopped short of directly criticizing Hamas - but it was clear from his talk of "Palestinian divisions" that his words were directed at the militant group, which took over the Gaza Strip in 2007 in a battle against loyalists of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"This terrible massacre would not have happened if the Palestinian people were united behind one leadership speaking in one voice," Saud said at the league meeting's opening.
"We are telling our Palestinian brothers that your Arab nation cannot extend a real helping hand if you don't extend your own hands to each other with love," he said.
At the end of the meeting, the ministers called on Palestinians factions to put aside their differences and urged the U.N. Security Council to issue a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, according to a final statement.
The Mideast has largely been divided in two camps - pro-U.S. states like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan on one side, and Syria, Iran and their allied militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah on the other.
The U.S. allied camp has been concerned over growing Iranian influence - and worry that the Persian state will gain a foothold in Gaza through Hamas, which gets financial backing from Tehran. Israel says its offensive aims to halt Hamas rocket fire into its territory.
But the popular anger over the Israeli bombardment has put the heat on Egypt and its allies. Egypt this week turned to Turkey - a regional rival of Iran with close ties to Israel - to put together an initiative to end the Gaza fighting.
The Arab foreign ministers reviewed the plan Wednesday. It calls for an immediate, unconditional halt to the Israeli assault, followed by a long-term truce between Hamas and Israel, and international monitors to guarantee the truce and the opening of border crossings into Gaza, which Israel has kept largely sealed since
#1
"The Arab foreign ministers reviewed the plan Wednesday. It calls for an immediate, unconditional halt to the Israeli assault, followed by a long-term truce between Hamas and Israel, and international monitors to guarantee the truce and the opening of border crossings into Gaza, which Israel has kept largely sealed since..."
In other words Israel should stop bombing Gaza and Hamas should do what?
#2
"This terrible massacre would not have happened if the Palestinian people were united behind one leadership speaking in one voice," Saud said at the league meeting's opening.
Translation: "The Joos! You're supposed to be killing the Joos!"
Hamas expressed its great disappointment with the Arab League Wednesday, after its emergency session on the Israeli offensive in Gaza resulted only in a call on the UN Security Council to urge a ceasefire in the Strip.
The decision, said Hamas, indicated that Arab nations have forsaken their responsibility for the situation in Gaza.
O Arabs, it is your reponsibility to pay for our Iranian-backed provocations!! Rise up, Arabs! Bail our asses out!
"The statements made in the conference were even more ludicrous and feeble than those made by the European Union. Passing the matter over to the Security Council means Arab nations have left Gaza be butchered by Israel," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri was quoted as saying.
Butchered, I tell you! And they're not even halal!!!
Earlier Wednesday, the al-Jazeera television station reported that the Arab League intended to urge the UN Security Council to demand Israel declare a ceasefire in Gaza.
Earlier still, Hamas said it would be willing to consider a ceasefire with Israel, "as long as the offer stipulates that Israel will hold all fire
No matter what provocations we throw at them ... rockets, suiciders in their streets, stabbings by Israeli Arabs ... nope, those don't count.
and lift the siege imposed on Gaza," Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha said.
#6
"The decision, said Hamas, indicated that Arab nations have forsaken their responsibility for the situation in Gaza."
Dear Hamas,
The Arab League is made up of 22 Muslim nations. The Arab League is headquartered in Egypt. The Secretary-general of the Arab League is Amr Moussa, who is an Egyptian. Secretary Moussa is a Sunni Muslim. The vast majority of the nations in the Arab League are: Sunni's. You, the Hamas terrorists are: Shiites.
Egypt has condemned your actions. So what makes you think that the head of the Arab League, who is a Sunni Egyptian, is going to support you? Try this one on for size, even Osama bin Laden hates the Shiites. I am afraid you will have to get used to being isolated from your fellow brethren.
When I make statements about Hamas, I am referring to the Hamas leadership. The Hamas leadership that are exiled is Shia and so are the leadership of Hezbollah. My statements are based on the history of the rift between Sunni and Shia.
But you are correct in that Hamas members in Gaza are a majority of Sunni due to the fact the Palestine territories are 98% Sunni. In the Gaza strip, Hamas leadership is able to recruit plenty of Sunni's because the Hamas leadership provides jobs, food, clothing, and medical help as long as the Sunni recruits are willing to Jihad against the so-called Zionists. If you Jihad against Israel, your family will be well rewarded.
The history of hatred will always be there, between the two groups. This just happens to be a marriage of necessity.
#11
PR, you are incorrect on a few points:
1) Hamas leadership IS Sunni, not Shia,
2) Hamas wants to overcome the shame of losing to Joos,
3) Hamas sees Shia Hezbollah fight and chase out the IDF,
4) Hezbollah and Hamas start to work together to kill more Joos,
5) Iran offers Hamas EVERYTHING (remember the Karine A?) they need as long as they kill Joos.
6) Hamas accepts Shia help because they think it will help them kill more Joos.
The 'joining' factor here is kiling Joos, beloved by both Shia and Sunni.
Jordan's chief intelligence official was replaced on Monday after he asked King Abdullah II for a resignation, Jordanian news reports said on Tuesday, citing a royal decree. Maj.-Gen. Muhammad Dahabi, who served as head of Jordan's General Intelligence Directorate since the end of 2005, held clandestine talks with Damascus-based Hamas politburo member Muhammad Nazzal in Amman, according to a report by the French news agency, AFP.
Dahabi's meeting in August with Nazzal was the first high-level meeting since Jordan expelled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and three other members in a 1999 crackdown on the Islamist group.
It was unclear why Dahabi resigned on Monday and whether it had anything to do with these talks, which were likely conducted with King Abdullah II's consent. In a letter to his staff, Abdullah offered his best wishes to Dahabi and said that he had "worked very hard, with honesty and sincerity." He said Dahabi was among "the loyal soldiers of the homeland" and "devoted to stability and security of the homeland," according to the official Petra news service.
"Thanks for your honorable service, now out you go!"
Dahabi was replaced on Monday by Maj.-Gen. Muhammad Ratha'n Raqqad, who previously served as director of intelligence for the governates and as an assistant to the director of intelligence for Irbid, the second-largest city in the kingdom, according to the London-based A-Sharq Alawsat. Raqqad played a primary role in arresting members of terrorist cells in the kingdom, including helping arrest three operatives who had plans to blow up a building belonging to the security services and the American embassy in Amman, the newspaper said.
Dahabi's team took office in November 2005, days after al-Qaida carried out its deadly blasts in three Amman hotels. His two predecessors hadn't lasted more than a year in the same post, which is considered one of the most important in the country.
#1
Looks like Mo wanted to "spend more time with the family" or "pursue other interests". We wish him luck in the future. Which hopefully won't include a prison cell...
The IAF continued its assault on Gaza terrorist targets on Wednesday afternoon, bombing a Gaza City weapons depot mosque and destroying a large number of rockets hidden inside. Channel 10 reported that the IAF had received high-level orders to hit the weapons depot mosque after Hamas terror operatives had run there with several rockets and Grad-type missiles.
On Wednesday morning, the IAF struck targets in the northern Gaza Strip. Most of the attacks were reportedly directed against rocket launchers that were being used in the intense bombardment of southern Israel during the day, while one strike was said to target a senior member of the Islamic Jihad. The Islamic Jihad commander was reportedly killed in the airstrike, in the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis.
Excellent!
Gaza officials put the death toll at more than 390 dead and 1,600 wounded since Operation Cast Lead began on Saturday. Hamas said some 200 uniformed members of Hamas security forces had been killed, and the UN reported that at least 60 Palestinian civilians had died.
Meanwhile, Israel said it would allow 2,000 tons of food and medical supplies to enter Gaza on Wednesday, in addition to 4,000 tons the military says have been allowed in since the offensive began. Several dozen chronically ill and wounded Gazans were also authorized to enter Israel for treatment Wednesday, the military said.
No, no, no. Don't send mixed messages. The message has to be this: since Hamas doesn't care about its people and uses them only as hostages and shields, Israel also will refuse to care about them. That is cruel but it's the only message that the Paleos will understand.
Also Wednesday, the air force attacked Hamas installations and government buildings in the Gaza Strip, including the office of the organization's prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh.
Anybody seen Ismail lately?
It was the second time that Haniyeh's office had been targeted and the army said that the building was being used "as a center for the planning, support and financing of terrorist activities against Israel." The office of the Hamas Interior Ministry, located in the same area of Gaza City, was also attacked.
The army said that the IAF had attacked 35 additional targets overnight, including tunnels in the Rafah border area, weapons storage facilities, Hamas outposts and an armed rocket launcher. Navy forces also attacked a number of targets in the Gaza Strip, including Hamas outposts, training camps, guarding vessels used by Hamas naval forces and launching posts used to fire rockets at Israel.
"The IDF will continue its mission, attack the infrastructure and buildings that Hamas is using," the army said "and will operate against terrorist organizations and anyone who provides support to terrorism."
Earlier Tuesday night, the air force bombed the launcher of the Grad-model rockets that were fired at Beersheba, as well as the cell responsible for the attacks. The army said it successfully hit its target.
Palestinians said that a medic was killed and two others were wounded when a missile landed next to their weapons hauler ambulance during a clash east of Gaza City. The IDF said it was not aware of the incident.
Palestinian sources said that some 390 people had been killed since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead on Saturday.
#3
Several dozen chronically ill and wounded Gazans were also authorized to enter Israel for treatment Wednesday, the military said.
No, no, no. Don't send mixed messages.
But how else are the Israelis to rescue their informants, Dr. Steve? Not all the targetting coordinates could have come from the Gaza telephone book.
#4
Also, "medical treatment for critically ill patients" is a great cover for bringing in the Fatah officials that will need to be briefed about their role in the cleanup operations after this bombing campaign is done. More than one reliable source has pointed out that it is in Fatah's naked self-interest to aid the Israeli assault, and Fatah does have lots of eyeballs on the ground to locate high value hidden targets for the IAF.
December 29, 2008: Several hundred Egyptian border police sealed five breaches in the security wall between Gaza and Egypt. Hamas refused to allow Palestinian wounded to go to Egypt for medical care (which Egypt was ready to provide), while Egyptian border police fired on uninjured Palestinians trying to flee Gaza. Egypt, like most Arab nations, refused to absorb any Palestinian refugees from the 1948 Israeli war of Independence. Israel, however, absorbed the equal number of Jews driven out of Arab nations after 1948.
Israeli smart bombs and missiles continue to fall, and Palestinian casualties are over 1,100. About 10,000 Israeli ground troops, including nearly a thousand armored vehicles, are assembled near the Gaza security fence. Hamas admitted that the attacks had made a serious dent in their rocket supply. On the first day of the bombing. Hamas fired over 110 rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel, but that fell to twenty the next day. And today there is no increase in Hamas rocket attacks. So far, Israel has hit at least 300 targets in Gaza, usually with one smart bomb or missile. Hamas appears to be surprised at the detailed targeting data the Israelis had assembled. Meanwhile, Israeli UAVs constantly circle over Gaza, apparently collecting new targeting data for additional attacks. Hamas has brought more of its 122mm BM-21 rockets out and tried to fire them. These weigh 150 pounds and are nine feet long. These have 45 pound warheads, and have a maximum range of over 20 kilometers. Because they are unguided, they are only reliably effective if fired in salvos, or at large targets (like cities, or large military bases or industrial complexes.) Hamas has been getting these rockets from Iran, and they are smuggled in via the dozens of tunnels under the Gaza-Egyptian border.
A ground assault is more dangerous for Israel, exposing more Israelis to possible injury. But only by sending in the ground troops can Israel unearth all of the Hamas rocket arsenals, workshops and headquarters. While Hamas has long prepared to defend against an Israeli ground assault, the Israelis have also trained hard and long to carry these operations out effectively. Who is better prepared will soon be revealed.
Israel is apparently trying to cripple Hamas military capability, forcing the terrorist organization to devote resources to rebuilding, instead of attacking Israel. Israel also hopes that anti-Hamas Palestinians will rise up and give power to Fatah. This is a long shot. Meanwhile, a ground offensive would recover lots of valuable intelligence, as well as capturing some key Hamas operatives (who could be used to trade for an Israeli soldier kidnapped two years ago.) Israel has an opportunity here to demoralize Hamas, and their Shia ally Hezbollah in Lebanon (both are supported by Iran, who will also take a beating if Hamas does not win some kind of "victory.")
The response in the Arab world is not quite what Hamas expected. Because Hamas is seen as a puppet of Shia Iran, many mainstream Sunni Islamic radicals are not terribly upset that Hamas is getting hammered. In Iraq, a Sunni suicide bomber attacked a pro-Hamas demonstration (killing two and wounding 16). There are still over 20,000 Palestinians in Iraq, and they are generally hated because of Palestinian support for Saddam Hussein and his murderous Baath Party. Most Palestinians are also Sunni.
A surprising opinion piece out of the UK. Besides my opinion that Israel has the right to conduct operations (and follow through this time) unhindered by hypocritial international pressure, I have only two words to add to the epilogue:
Israel is entitled to defend its civilians against rocket attacks, but its military options are constrained and shrewd diplomacy would serve its interests.
Conor Cruise O'Brien, the Irish statesman and historian, once wrote: "The best way for a democracy to deal with what is called political violence is to set aside its supposedly political character and concentrate on its criminal aspect as an armed conspiracy." O'Brien, who died this month, had particular sympathies with the security dilemmas faced by Israel. And in Operation Cast Lead in Gaza this week, Israeli politicians are plainly adopting a similar diagnosis to his.
No democratic government should underestimate the provocations that Israel has endured from relentless shelling of its civilians. For the nearly 400 Palestinian deaths so far that have resulted from Israel's attacks this week, Hamas must accept a large share of responsibility. A comprehensive peace settlement is as far away as ever, and Israel is justified in seeking to constrain Hamas's capacity to inflict harm. But Israel's leaders would do well to consider how a political strategy might reinforce the prospects for an eventual negotiated settlement.
Israel's military campaign has so far met with some success. Khaled Mashal, Hamas's leader in exile, is reportedly willing to renew the ceasefire if Israel halts its bombardment. Israel will reasonably respond that this is scarcely a concession. The entire rationale of the Middle East peace process is to trade land for peace. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. It has secured not peace, however, but a renewed campaign against its civilians. International suggestions that Israel's campaign is driven by domestic imperatives are accurate, though that is hardly surprising. Hamas's activities have themselves affected Israeli politics, by seemingly substantiating the warnings issued by Binyamin Netanyahu, the hawkish leader of Likud. The Government of Ehud Olmert is responding to the demonstrable failure of disengagement to provide for Israel's security.
Hamas's conduct has made it more difficult for Israel to plan on an early withdrawal from the West Bank. The goal for Israel in targeting Hamas is to hamper the ability of terrorist groups to operate. By doing so, Israel will be pursuing more than a narrow security imperative. Preventing Hamas's attacks should hasten withdrawal from the West Bank and enhance the prospects for the eventual creation, as justice and equity demand, of a sovereign Palestinian state.
But as they consider a 48-hour humanitarian ceasefire to allow aid to enter Gaza, Israel's leaders will be reflecting on an unenviable range of choices. If Israel persists with an aerial campaign, then the very success of its actions so far will have diminished the number of military targets and increased the risk to civilians. Israel has a right to defend itself but criticism from some European governments that disproportionate force is being used might soon become more persuasive in these circumstances. The use of ground troops would be risky, owing to the inevitable casualties that Israel would suffer. But the third option, of withdrawing after initial successes, would recall the inconclusive and politically damaging Lebanon campaign of 2006.
There are two ways in which politics might be brought to bear on this conflict. Pressure by an intermediary - possibly Egypt, or Tony Blair in his capacity as Middle East envoy - on Hamas to announce a ceasefire, and Israel to respond, is necessary. But it will be a temporary palliative, even if successful, while Hamas's rejectionist aims are unchanged. An armed conspiracy must be confronted. But - as the remarkable turn in the fortunes of Iraq this year suggests - it can also be undermined by shrewd diplomacy. Israel should reiterate willingness to move speedily to a territorial accommodation, even with a Hamas-led government, conditional on a permanent abandonment of violence or else.
#1
" Israel should reiterate willingness to move speedily to a territorial accommodation, even with a Hamas-led government..."
This is just another asshole spewing. Israel already gave these turds all of Gaza what the hell other territory are they supposed to cede to Hamass????? Tel Aviv?????? Or should Israel re-conquer the West Bank and give that to Hamass?
More and more of the same mindless drivel that refuses to recognise the singular point that Hamas wants ALL of Israel and will stop for nothing less.
#2
But - as the remarkable turn in the fortunes of Iraq this year suggests - it can also be undermined by shrewd diplomacy. Israel should reiterate willingness to move speedily to a territorial accommodation, even with a Hamas-led government, conditional on a permanent abandonment of violence
Two key points the writer clearly missed:
1. Diplomacy in Iraq was based on the results of the Surge, ie an increase in military force, and
2. Israel, as the writer remarked above, made the territorial concession when it pulled out of the Gaza Strip in 2005, and reaped war. Thus, it now finds itself in the position were war must be fought, the alternative having been proven a failure.
Beyond that, it's a lovely piece wherein it is admitted that Israel had done all that could be done short of war before Operation Cast Lead began, and yet the writer insists Israel really mustn't wage war nonetheless. "Do be good sports and bare your necks for the knives," that sort of thing, dontchaknow. The rulers of Britain have never forgiven those uppity Jews for not being wiped out the moment British troops gave up the Mandate in May, 1948.
If only it were a parable, the endless confrontation between Israel and its enemies would be the case of the hedgehog and the fox. The fox, said the Greek poet Archilochus, knows many things, while the hedgehog knows one big thing.
Once upon a time -- say, from modern Israel's first stages in the early 20th century until the 1973 Yom Kippur War -- it was the Jews who played the role of the hedgehog. Zionism, for all of its factions and facets, revolved around the straightforward idea of getting and keeping a state. Doing so required land, people and arms, the more of each the better. Only secondarily was it about legitimacy, peace, economic growth, cost-benefit ratios or any other, more delicate, ingredients in the overall makeup of modern statecraft.
This was a heroic period in the movement's history, not because it was without folly, setback or tragedy, but because Zionism was able to achieve most of its historic objectives against large odds. It was helped along by enemies who, implacable though they were in their hatred of the "Zionist entity," were beset by their own internal power struggles. To describe the Arab states of this period as "foxes" is a stretch, since they tended to be incompetent. But it was a fox-like form of incompetence, in that the Arabs were trying their hand at many things.
Today, however, it is Israel that has assumed the role of the fox. It defeated the second intifada in 2005 and then promptly withdrew its settlements and soldiers from Gaza. It bombarded Lebanon for 34 days in 2006 not for the bald sake of victory (a word that appears to have been banished from the Western military lexicon), but for a much more ambiguous goal of "quiet." Israel pursues an identical aim in its current conflict against Hamas, where it previously attempted to walk the fine line between squeezing Gaza economically without quite prompting a humanitarian crisis.
All this fine-tuning of policy is in some ways natural to any state that has achieved basic national objectives and must balance competing domestic and international interests. But Israel's problem is that it hasn't yet fully achieved its national objectives. Its borders remain subject to revision. Its claim to statehood is denied by roughly a third of the world's governments. The United States continues to maintain its embassy in Tel Aviv, notwithstanding countless congressional resolutions.
By contrast, it is Israel's enemies who have become the hedgehog, none more so than Hamas. Since winning parliamentary elections in 2006, Hamas has delivered a diet of economic ruin to the Palestinian people. In the run-up to the current fighting, Hamas was roundly warned -- by Israel, by the Egyptians, even by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas -- not to renew its rocket barrages against southern Israel.
But Hamas knows one big thing, which it labels "resistance" or, for Western audiences, "ending the occupation." Just what that means was made clear by Palestinian cleric Muhsen Abu 'Ita in a televised interview. "The annihilation of the Jews here in Palestine," he said, "is one most splendid blessings for Palestine."
This kind of genocidal incitement is more than idle ranting: Gigantic ambitions sustain political movements through hard times. Hamas is also sustained by the insight that Israel's considerable military capabilities are unlikely to be matched by political will. It believes that whatever attacks come will be tempered by a host of humanitarian and diplomatic considerations. It believes that Israel wants to avoid a public relations debacle (so Hamas will do everything it can to engineer or fabricate one). It believes that the weight of international sympathy will be on its side. It believes, too, that the last thing Israel wants is to reoccupy Gaza, with all the costs and complications that entails.
Hamas believes, in short, that while Israel will do many things, and do them well, it will not do the main thing. And that, in turn, means that as Israel exhausts its target list, as eventually it will, the storm will pass. Then the green flag of the movement will fly defiantly over the tallest building left standing, its prestige hugely boosted -- and Israel's commensurately diminished -- throughout the Muslim world.
Does all this also mean that Israel's attacks amount to a fool's errand? Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert likes to point out that no Hezbollah rockets have fallen on Israeli soil since August 2006 -- never mind that Hezbollah is both politically and militarily more powerful today than it was before the war. A similar outcome in Gaza would be equally disastrous.
This is not a counsel of restraint, of which Israel has shown more than enough through years of provocation. It is merely to point out that no ingenious conceit can disguise the fact that war offers no outcome other than victory or defeat. This is one big thing that Hamas understands, and that Israel must as well. The fox cannot beat the hedgehog. But the bigger hedgehog can -- and in this case must -- defeat the smaller one.
IAF has revised its estimate of Hamas missile stocks destroyed down from 50% to 10-15%. This means that their remaining stock is more like 8,000 than 6,000, including at least 100 long-range extra-punch Grad rockets. They can therefore keep up a high level of firing for around 80 days.
An improved Grad rocket landed on open ground in the Yoav Council region, location of the towns of Beersheba, Kiryat Malachi, Ofakim and Netivot as well as Kiryat Gat, the only town not targeted by a Hamas rocket so far. But the Lachish region east of Kiryat Gat was.
Gedera, some 35 km from the Gaza Strip, reported a hit later. On Day 5 of the Gaza conflict, Wednesday, Dec. 31, Hamas loosed a massive hail of rockets and missiles every few minutes. They claimed 9 Grad rockets had been fired. DEBKAfile's military sources attributed the clear signs of Hamas recovery to three causes:
1. Heavy rain and mist over the region which limited visibility and inhibited Israeli air force action against missile sites in Gaza.
2. Hamas had restored its chain of command for organizing and directing missile squads and stepping the tempo of launches. Its leaders are still hiding underground.
3. By Tuesday, Hamas had managed to transport large quantities of missiles from underground caches to firing positions near the Israeli border.
Belatedly, by Tuesday night, the Israeli war command appreciated its error in omitting to launch the IDF ground operation Monday, Day 3 of the Gaza offensive. Instead of opening up then with a limited incursion that would evolve into a broad ground operation, Israeli leaders wasted precious time in futile discussions on international demands for a ceasefire, which had no chance of holding up.
I don't recall that at all. In fact, I recall news reports saying that the Israelis weren't interested in a ceasefire.
Defense minister Ehud Barak, instead of running the war, spent hours on the phone with French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, before he, prime minister Ehud Olmert and foreign minister Tzipi Livni, finally agreed that the French 48-hour truce proposal was unrealistic.
Now, Israeli tanks and armored forces will have to wait for the weather to clear while watching Hamas broaden its swathe of attacks.
Wednesday, Hamas fired 35 missiles and rockets in two and-a-half hours, striking targets in an area that stretched from relatively near locations like Sderot, Shear Hanegev and Ashkelon, to the farther 40 km-extremity of Beersheba, Ashdod, Yavne, up to the outer limits of the Yoav Council and finally Gedera.
DEBKAfile's military sources report that Hamas is suspected of having acquired rockets with a range of 50-55 km, bringing them ever closer to central Israel. They estimate that Hamas is holding this weapon in reserve for the potential Israeli ground incursion into the Gaza Strip. It is also disclosed that the Israeli air force mounted its second attack on the Philadelphi border zone's smuggling tunnels Tuesday, Dec. 30, after learning that Hamas had repaired some of the 40 tunnels first bombed Sunday.
The Air Force has revised its estimate of the quantity of Hamas missile stocks destroyed down from 50 percent to 10-15 percent. This means that their remaining stock is more like 8,000 than 6,000, including at least 100 long-range extra-punch Grad rockets. They can therefore keep up a high level of firing for around 80 days.
#1
The first half of the article makes sense, the conlusions and recommendations don't, particularly the nonsense about waiting for the "weather to clear".
Sounds like the IDF is waiting for Hamas to expose themselves further - the better to target them on the ground.
Also, the "recovery" of Hamas seems a bit premature. The IDF didn't get a one punch knockout, and I doubt they expected one - they did get in a heavy first strike, and if they've learned anything in the past few years, they probably have steps 2-3-4 gamed out.
Sounds like they're ready and able to carry on unless the missile attacks drop to zero, which seems unlikely.
#4
I believe the majority of "smart" ordnance is guided by GPS (all weather). Laser guided munitions however, require an individual i.e commando units to paint the target in real time.
"We are witnessing the expansion of the rocket fire emanating from Gaza to a radius of 30 - 40 kilometers (about 19 -- 25 miles)," the deputy commander of the IDF's Home Front Command said Wednesday.
Brigadier-General Avraham Ben-David told reporters that in light of the rocket attacks on Beersheba, all planned events with over 100 participants will be cancelled, including New Year's Eve parties. Referring to the rocket attack that severely damaged a Beersheba school earlier in the day, Ben-David said the IDF's decision to cancel classes in all of the Negev city's educational institutions "saved lives", adding that school will be out at least until the end of the week.
Ben Gurion University announced that it will also remain closed until the end of the week.
Addressing residents' claims that the city's bomb shelters are run down and uninhabitable, Ben-David said that on Monday the IDF instructed the local municipality to open all of the shelters and make certain that they are fit for use.
The army official said the rocket that struck the school in Beersheba was manufactured in China, is heavier than the Qassam and can "potentially cause much greater damage." He said the rocket contains metal pallets that can spread out across a radius of up to 100 meters (about 328 feet) from the point of impact.
#1
Yesterday I read where New Year's Eve fireworks (a popular New Orleans celebration method) sales are way down this year on account of the economy. And those things have got to be cheaper than 25-mile rockets. That must mean the Paleostinian economy is a lot better than New Orleans. And thus they clearly don't need international humanitarian aid any more.
I guess the truth is starting to come out. Looks like Greenpeace tactics don't work against the Israeli navy.
Former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, standing beside a damaged yacht, Tuesday accused the Israeli navy of ramming the vessel to halt the delivery of medical supplies to the embattled Gaza Strip. "Our mission was a peaceful mission," McKinney told CNN after she and 15 others aboard the boat made it safely to the harbor in the Lebanese seaport of Tyre.
McKinney, the recent Green Party candidate for U.S. president and frequent center of controversy, is the most prominent political figure to join the relief voyages sponsored by the Free Gaza Movement.
McKinney was slated to travel by car to Beirut where she was expected to conducted media interviews and meet with Lebanese government officials, said Paul Larudee, a co-founder of the California-based Free Gaza group.
Larudee said the organization was determined to continue the relief mission, the sixth such trip to Gaza and the first to be interrupted. "We're going to get it repaired," Larudee said of the "Dignity," the cabin cruiser which he said sustained damage to the hull, the bridge and the engine room. Yeah, why don't you have the Hamas Shipyards patch that up for you.
A U.S. State Department spokesman said Tuesday that U.S. diplomats had issued no protests to Israeli authorities. "When you enter a zone of conflict, then you have to realize that it's very, very dangerous," the spokesman told reporters.
Later, State Department spokesman Noel Clay said "there were no injuries, that we're aware of at the moment" and that "to my knowledge, consular officials have not been in contact with the American who was aboard the ship." Lucky for you it wasn't the Hamas Navy that rammed you or you wouldn't be here to talk about it.
McKinney was the sole American on board.
A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington described the incident as an accidental "collision" after the aid vessel drew near to an Israeli military craft and was warned away. "The boat came very close, we called the ship to basically to turn around, we informed the ship that they wouldn't be allowed to enter Gaza," said the embassy spokesman, Jonathan Peled. "The ship wasn't rammed, that definitely wasn't the idea." Maybe they didn't see you. Better have McKinney be the lookout next time.
The Israeli naval craft did, however, prevent the aid ship from landing in Gaza, he said in a telephone interview. "We see all these ships as pure propaganda, they have journalists on them and all kinds of other people who are coming basically to provoke." Nothing special about this boat, then.
He said the intention was not to deny humanitarian aid to Gaza. In fact, he said, aid arrived there on Tuesday from Turkey, Qatar and Jordan. "We receive all aid and let it enter Gaza properly so that we can make sure that it's only humanitarian aid and they're not smuggling people and weapons and explosives into Gaza," Peled said.
He said Israeli military craft offered assistance to the aid vessel before escorting it toward Lebanese waters. "They said that the didn't need any assistance," he said. "It passed peacefully, apparently no damage, no wounded, no nothing, but a slight collision." But, what about the cannon fire we heard so much about? There are going to be a lot of disappointed liberals out there. Well, there will be if any of them read past the first day's headlines, anyway.
In a news release, the Free Gaza group offered a conflicting version of the incident. The Israeli gunboats "gave us no warning" and "rammed us three times," said Caoimhe Butterly, who was aboard the aid ship. Three times? Uh huh. You probably pulled a bit too close and bobbed three times before the Israeli boat could pull back.
"We began taking on water and, for a few minutes, we all feared for our lives," she said of the early morning incident. Feared for your lives. Uh huh. With an IDF boat at hand? BTW: Where's the patch below your waterline? All I saw was a bit of damage centered around your deck. And don't forget to register a complaint.
Larudee said the Dignity's bilge pumps worked well enough for the boat to sail to a safe harbor in Lebanon. The boat had shipped out of Cyprus Monday en route to Gaza.
McKinney's father, former Georgia state Rep. Billy McKinney, said in a phone interview Tuesday that he had a brief conversation with his daughter as she was heading toward Beirut. "I'm really relieved, but I'm not totally relieved because she's still in the Middle East," he said, adding that he expected her to continue her journey. Don't worry, Billy. She's safe in the loving arms of Hamas and their ilk.
"She's a crazyfoolishclueless determined woman," he said. "This isn't the first civil right and human rights mission that she's been on."
McKinney said his daughter had traveled to Cuba a few weeks ago and was "very well received" by President Raul Castro and that she had recently tried to visit Syria but had been turned away when she attempted to board the flight. Being well-received by Raul isn't something I'd be bragging about, Billy.
#3
besoeker you live in the ATL right? I f so thats 2 Georgians here who don't want her back and at least one that wishes it would have sunk with her on it
THE Israeli military has launched its own channel on video-sharing website YouTube, posting footage of air strikes and other attacks on Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
A spokesman for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it created the channel - youtube.com/user/idfnadesk - this week to "help us bring our message to the world".
The channel currently has more than 2000 subscribers and hosts 10 videos, some of which have been viewed more than 20,000 times. The black-and-white videos include aerial footage of Israeli Air Force attacks on what are described as rocket launching sites, weapons storage facilities, a Hamas government complex and smuggling tunnels.
One video shows what is described as a Hamas patrol boat being destroyed by a rocket fired from an Israeli naval vessel.
The IDF said that some of the videos it had posted to the channel had been removed by YouTube. "We are saddened that YouTube has taken down some of our exclusive footage showing the IDF's operational success in operation Cast Lead against Hamas extremists in the Gaza Strip," it said. "As the state of Israel again faces those who would see it destroyed, it is imperative that we in the IDF show the world the inhumanity directed against us and our efforts to stop it," it said.
There was no immediate response from YouTube about whether videos had been removed and, if so, the explanation for the move.
#1
Glad to see Israel taking the lead on the propaganda front this time. It's been sorely lacking. I guess they decided that people can't be trusted to figure it out all by themselves even if it's obvious after seeing the Obama win the election.
IAF aircraft on Tuesday evening bombed the ground launcher that fired Grad rockets at Beersheba, as well as the terrorist cell responsible for the launch.
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah guerrilla movement _ widely seen as the Arab world's most effective force against Israel is a staunch Hamas supporter but has so far held its fire as its Palestinian ally faces down Israel's assault in Gaza.
Hezbollah possesses a formidable arsenal of rockets and missiles that bloodied Israel during a monthlong war between them in 2006, but is constrained by its own domestic political goals and fears of Israeli retaliation. Once considered as just a fighting force backed by Iran and Syria, Hezbollah has seen its political power in Lebanon grow since 2006. With Israel threatening massive retaliation if Hezbollah renews its rocket bombardments, that influence could come into doubt by Lebanese reluctant to be drawn into another war.
So Hezbollah is instead calling for protests in Lebanon and across the Middle East to pressure Arab governments to act against Israel. That call hasn't drawn any action for now. Egypt on Tuesday said it would not end its blockade of Gaza as long as Hamas remains in power there, and no Arab government has offered anything stronger than words and humanitarian assistance in response to Israel's assault.
Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah drew tens of thousands, waving Palestinian, Hezbollah and Lebanese flags, for a rally Monday in his south Beirut stronghold. He professed that Israel's Gaza offensive will ultimately fail. Nasrallah put his men on alert in southern Lebanon in case Israel attacks and claimed he was ready to fight back if provoked. He promised not to abandon Hamas. The Islamic Sunni group is also backed by Hezbollah allies Iran and Syria.
But he made no threat to open fire on northern Israel to relieve Gaza _ an act that would certainly provoke another war with Israel.
Hezbollah cannot afford to enter a full-scale war with Israel, which would be devastating for Lebanon," said Paul Salem, Beirut-based director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, an arm of the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"Hezbollah cannot afford to enter a full-scale war with Israel, which would be devastating for Lebanon," said Paul Salem, Beirut-based director of the Carnegie Middle East Center"
No, Sir, Hezbollah does not give a damn about Lebanon as such. They are afraid that they would be devastated the next time.
It is amazing the ignorance (or bias?) shown by these so called "think tanks". I wonder which Eastern elite school this yoyo went to? /s
#4
I think you're right. Typical, they put Paleos on the front line and say "Go get 'em, we've got your back... WAY back, at least 200 miles away (just to be safe)."
#6
Another product of Hahvahd, tip. Where else would he have gotten a BA, MA, & PhD, and still be essentially stupid.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/31/2008 9:23 Comments ||
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#7
Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah drew tens of thousands...
Nah. I'll bet the big screen with his picture on it drew tens of thousands. His poosy ass is probably so deep underground that he needs ultraviolet light to keep the mushrooms from growing on him.
#8
It's also possible that when Hezbollah and Israel had the hugely imbalanced (even by the standard of previous Arab-Israeli exchanges) prisoner exchange of many live terrorists for 2 dead bodies that there were secret terms, one of which might have been Hezbollah holding off rocket fire during a possible future Israel-Hamas conflict.
#9
yeah i'm sure hezbollah would live up too any secret terms. more like they see the ass whooping hamas is taking from a serious Israeli assault and don't want some of the same
#12
The Israelis should study Sherman's March for guidance on how to make sure your opponent NEVER tries again. Beat them until they KNOW and admit they have been beaten. See USA, Germany, Japan.
Ma'an -- Hamas' website, the Palestinian Information Center, posted an article accusing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of preparing to take control of the Gaza Strip after Israel topples Hamas.
The article was posted Tuesday morning and claims Hamas got hold of a "secret report" elaborating plans of Abbas to re-establish control in Gaza. The report says Abbas called Palestinian officials in Ramallah while he was in Egypt en route to Saudi Arabia. It said Abbas was in Cairo in order to coordinate a joint plan on facing the changes in the Gaza Strip.
Abbas reportedly asked his interior minister and security commanders to prepare an emergency unit prepared to take over after the Hamas regime collapses in Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Good luck with that "taking over Gaza" bit, Abu. Why anyone would want the place is beyond me.
IDF Operation Cast Lead will continue until all its goals are met, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday. Speaking to Army Radio, Barak said that the operation would intensify "as much as needed to meet the goals we set for ourselves, to bring quiet to the South." The operation also aims "to strike a severe blow to Hamas," he said, "in order to bring about an end to firing and other operations against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
If one of the goals is to get Arabs to swallow their pride then this is going to be a long one.
#2
Goal - a: to stop Qasams.
Goal - b: To show Iran that their calculations based on past Israeli reluctance to harm "innocent civilians" need to be redone.
Goal - c: To provide the incoming "Great White Father" with a touch of reality re Arab Israeli conflict.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry says China will offer $1 million in cash to the Palestinians for emergency humanitarian aid. Ministry spokesman Qin Gang says in a Tuesday statement that China urges all sides to "immediately halt armed conflict" and adopt measures to relieve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. No other details were given in the statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
WORLD MIL FORUM > REPORT: CHINA, RUSSIA TO CONSIDER GIVING MILITARY EQUIPMENT AID TO BESIEGED PALESTINIANS; + INDIANS EXPRESS ANGER THAT CHINA HAS RESUMED NUCLEAR COOPERATION WID PAKISTAN [new NucEnplants].
Egypt's president struck back against critics throughout the region and said he would not fully open the crossing into the Gaza Strip unless the Palestinian Authority was in control of the border to preserve Palestinian unity.
Egypt has come under heavy criticism in the Arab world over its refusal over the past year to open the Rafah crossing, which has helped complete an Israeli blockade of the territory. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni also visited Egypt just before the assault, leading many to accuse Egypt of giving a green light to the attack.
"We will not deepen the division and that breach [among the Palestinians] by opening Rafah border crossing in the absence of the Palestinian authority and the European union monitors," Mubarak said, referring to the 2005 agreement over the border.
Egypt resists dealing with Hamas because it opposes the group's 2007 takeover of the Gaza Strip and fears a spillover across the border of its terrorist influence.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2008 00:00 ||
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IAF aircraft on Tuesday evening were bombing smuggling tunnels along the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt. Earlier, Al Jazeera reported that Egypt had closed the border crossing at Rafah for fear of an impending Israeli air strike.
The army confirmed that it was striking tunnels along the border.
Channel 10 reported that "many" jets were participating in the second wave of attacks on tunnels along the Gaza Egypt border near Rafah since Operation Cast Lead began on Saturday. On Sunday some 40 smuggling tunnels were bombarded by the air force.
Earlier Monday, the IAF struck two targets in Gaza City and the city of Khan Yunis, located in the south of the Strip. Army Radio reported that a Hamas police station was one of the targets. The IDF warned Gazans to leave their homes prior to the attacks.
Overnight Monday, at least 10 people were killed and 40 others wounded when IAF planes bombed a series of targets in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said.
The IDF confirmed air strikes against dozens of targets in the central Gaza town of El-Bureij, near Khan Yunis, and in Gaza City. Hamas's Interior Ministry, Foreign Ministry and Treasury, and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's offices were amongst the targets, as well as police stations.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Good hunting IAF!
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
12/31/2008 2:55 Comments ||
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#2
I was wondering what magical technology the Israelis were going to employ to shut these things down. I guess it was a combination of "there is a tunnel every 10m" and "1000-lb JDAMS shut down everything within 50m" or something like that.
#3
I don't believe that tunneling ground is very stable without lots of shoring. And I bet the tunnelers use as little as they can get by with. Big trucks driving by would probably collapse them. A Vibroseis line would do great - I bet Halliburton could do it.
#5
How does that work, swksvolFF? I was thinking the 30 minute delay was to give anyone in any adjacent tunnels time to get out. It doesn't seem to me the delay would buy much effectiveness even if 10% of the blast energy escaped through the tunnel the bunker buster made. Am I thinking in the wrong direction?
Ma'an -- The armed wing of the Hamas movement threatened Israel on Monday over its alleged plans to launch a ground invasion on the Gaza Strip. The movement's Al-Qassam Brigades said it would "teach Israeli forces a hard lesson if they dare to invade the Gaza Strip" in a statement sent to Ma'an.
Al-Qassam addressed Israel's leadership in the message, saying, "If you decide to enter Gaza, it will change into a volcano," adding that fighters would fire missiles even further into Israel.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Al-Qassam Brigades said that If Israeli soldiers enter Gaza, "your children will collect your soldiers' corpses."
"Hamas and Al-Qassam are in every house. They will attack you from under the debris. If you believe shelling homes will make us retreat, you will learn that your plans are wrong, and we will surprise you," Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubayda said in a televised speech.
Ubayda also told Israeli leaders to begin preparations for a second Winograd Commission, referring to the Israeli fact-finding commission that was appointed to inquire into the army's failures during the 2006 war in Lebanon.
Abu Ubayda claimed that Al-Qassam has launched 150 Grad missiles at Israeli towns over the past three days, reaching up to 30 kilometers from the Gaza Strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"Hamas and Al-Qassam are in every house."
We know.
Now repeat this for the rest of the world to hear. Loud and often.
Now is not the time to back down or Hamas and the rest of the Arab world are going to believe this crap. And use it to Israel's detriment.
#2
Hamas is in every house? Fine, that makes them all targets, and eliminates "civilian casualties" from the equation. Begin napalming them until there's no oxygen left in even the deepest Hamass bunker.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/31/2008 9:27 Comments ||
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#3
Israel is no better than Hamas. Let them kill each other...
#4
It is time for Christians to fire back at Iran and their satanic leader.
I call for Christians all around the world to storm Iranian embassies and lob petrol bombs into their buildings while chanting, "Death to Iran... Death to Islam!"
Sound familiar?
Don't forget to order your Mohammed Bomb-Head T-Shirt soaked in pigs' blood.
#5
"Hamas and Al-Qassam are in every house. They will attack you from under the debris. If you believe shelling homes will make us retreat, you will learn that your plans are wrong, and we will surprise you," Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubayda said in a televised speech.
We'll now that they've established the ground rules, let's play...
#6
"Israel is no better than Hamas. Let them kill each other..."
At the risk of being obliterated from this website, I have to say that is one of the most outrageously STUPID and bigotted comments I have ever read on this website.
I think that this Pro-Islam anti Judeo-Christian crap that the left keeps spewing is symptomatic of some serious variation of Tourette's or other borderline psychotic condition.
Posted by: James Carville ||
12/31/2008 11:26 Comments ||
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#13
How does it go? Some people are born stupid, some become stupid by circumstance, and some choose stupidity over better alternatives, thus proving they actually belong in one of the first two categories despite outside appearances.
And of course: Jew hatred is the stupid one's version of philosophy. He clings to it fiercely as the only way to prove to himself that he is only morally rather than mentally retarded.
Despite that, Mr. bernstein is correct that we should not interfere while Israel wars against Hamas until the job is done.
Ma'an -- The Israeli army is prepared to launch a ground invasion that is expected to last several weeks, announced Deputy to the Israeli Defense Minister Matan Vilnai Tuesday.
The Israeli army has launched hundreds of airstrikes at the Gaza Strip damaging, according to one Hamas spokesperson, at least 95% of the government infrastructure, killing close to 400 and injuring some 2,000 individuals.
Vilani said to the media that the Israeli army is prepared to deliver a painful blow and will prevent Palestinian resistance fighters from launching a single additional projectile into Israeli towns. He did not rule out, however, that more projectiles would land before the strike is successful.
In preparation for the invasion Israel has declared all areas in a 30 kilometer radius around the strip a "special situation" area. This essentially allows the Israeli military to dictate the civil situation in the areas, including the opening of schools, government offices and services.
Three Israelis have died since the Saturday attacks began; one of the casualties was a soldier at the Nahal Oz military base near the Gaza border. The other two casualties were civilians. The number of injured Israelis is close to 90.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I'd rig up a few D9s for remote control and send them through and over any defences or boobytraps the Paleos have set.
#3
Gorb,
Not even a flail tank can stand a charge of 200 Kg TNT under its belly.
The Hamas learned that and probably prepared a lot of these massive booby traps for Israeli tanks.
I hope the IDF has learned the lessons well and has something up their sleeves to counter this.
When you are fighting animals you have to use cunning !
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
12/31/2008 5:34 Comments ||
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#4
Then maybe they should try one of these babies!
#5
It's not difficult to rig unmanned ground vehicles to sweep through a mine field. If the charges are set to go off only with heavy equipment, tho, that woud require UGVs that IDF probably doesn't have available.
#6
Gorb,
Since no hot linking is allowed, we cant use any :)
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
12/31/2008 8:53 Comments ||
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#7
How bout a fleet of light pickups with a cutout of a dozer blade on the front, bright lights, PA system playing dozer noises, rc drive them. Then for added effect, have some trucks behind them holding bigass movie screens like the drive-in type and backlight movie scenes onto them...I suggest original War of the Worlds craft and sound or a dude dressed as Elijah making boogity faces; AT-ATs might be fun too and some big time laser pointers would add to the effect with the smoke and all. Time the movie with artillery and bombs to make it look like the movie is making the explosions. Parachute some Ruperts with wireless PA capability to make background screaming noises and false conversation and have them walk around like humpbot.
#8
Will this op be still under way when adult supervision in DC ends Jan. 20? Will this be the young guy's first test? Won't his near-certain inability to change a thing about it or influence events in any way be hilarious - well, at least to observant freaks on the margins, as the "press" will surely not allow such obvious facts and unhappy/unhelpful thoughts to creep into the teeny-bopper fantasy story that they're desperate to prolong?
Palestinian terrorists on Tuesday night fired at least two rockets at Beersheba, adding some 250,000 residents of the largest city in the Negev into the ever-widening range of the rockets attacks. There were no reports of casualties in the attack but one of the rockets landed in a kindergarten, causing damage. Rescue forces were searching for the impact site of another rocket.
Meanwhile, one person was lightly wounded by shrapnel when two Grad rockets impacted in the center of Ashkelon. The rocket caused extensive damage was caused to nearby businesses and vehicles. Earlier, Hamas-fired rockets landed in Ashdod and Ashkelon, where two people were killed in attacks Monday.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I saw some muslim guy on TV saying how the Kassams were so primitive compared to Israeli capabilities that he didn't know what all the fuss was about.
#3
I'm not a human rights activist (praise be to Allan), but I'm pretty sure that attacks directed solely at civilian populations are considered war crimes, no matter the lameness of your equipment or excuses. If war crimes sounds a little harsh this early in the morning, then let's just call it attempted mass murder.
#4
According to the way the MSM is spinning this thing, it's only a war crime if the US or Isreal creates a civilian casualty with collateral damage.
Of course most of these knuckle dragging morons in the Islamofascist/Terrorist school of thought don't wear freaking uniforms so what's with reporting "civilian" casualties in the reports on this dust up?
When's the last time any of the "major" networks or Al-Jazerra West (CNN) even used the word terrorist to describe these nut jobs?
Isreal has a right to blast these monsters because they deliberately target soft targets such as schools, hospitals and residential areas.
Posted by: James Carville ||
12/31/2008 11:31 Comments ||
Top||
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Hamas expressed its great disappointment with the Arab League Wednesday, after its emergency session on the Israeli offensive in Gaza resulted only in a call on the UN Security Council to urge a ceasefire in the Strip. 
The IAF continued its assault on Gaza terrorist targets on Wednesday afternoon, bombing a Gaza City 
Ma'an -- Hamas' website, the Palestinian Information Center, posted an article accusing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of preparing to take control of the Gaza Strip after Israel topples Hamas. 
The Chinese Foreign Ministry says China will offer $1 million in cash to the Palestinians for emergency humanitarian aid. Ministry spokesman Qin Gang says in a Tuesday statement that China urges all sides to "immediately halt armed conflict" and adopt measures to relieve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. No other details were given in the statement.
Egypt's president struck back against critics throughout the region and said he would not fully open the crossing into the Gaza Strip unless the Palestinian Authority was in control of the border to preserve Palestinian unity. 
IAF aircraft on Tuesday evening were bombing smuggling tunnels along the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt. Earlier, Al Jazeera reported that Egypt had closed the border crossing at Rafah for fear of an impending Israeli air strike. 
Ma'an -- The Israeli army is prepared to launch a ground invasion that is expected to last several weeks, announced Deputy to the Israeli Defense Minister Matan Vilnai Tuesday. 
Palestinian terrorists on Tuesday night fired at least two rockets at Beersheba, adding some 250,000 residents of the largest city in the Negev into the ever-widening range of the rockets attacks. There were no reports of casualties in the attack but one of the rockets landed in a kindergarten, causing damage. Rescue forces were searching for the impact site of another rocket. 
