Here is a good synopsis from Strategypage.com:
January 1, 2009: Israel's attempt to halt the terrorist rocket and mortar fire, from Gaza into southern Israel, has to deal with military, and political, issues. The obvious targets, like the weapons themselves, and the men who fire them, were hit early on. But long term, there has to be a change in who runs Gaza. Even when Israel ran Gaza (before they left in August, 2005), there was terrorist violence. Hamas, and other terrorist groups, began firing the locally made Kassam rockets in late 2001. The targets were mostly Israelis inside Gaza. The Israelis pulled out of Gaza in 2005 with the understanding that the Palestinians could run the place, shut down the terrorist, and left everyone live in peace.
Click here to read more...
Friday, January 02, 2009
Thursday, January 01, 2009
the arab spin...
I hate these fuckin' people!
Is the world still going for this stuff or are most people out there (I mean in the non-Jewish world) just sick and tired of this "palestinian" bullshit at this point???
Is the world still going for this stuff or are most people out there (I mean in the non-Jewish world) just sick and tired of this "palestinian" bullshit at this point???
On The War... (that might not have been if not for the disengagement) (or, Thanks Sharon, Olmert, and Livni for that disengagement thing!)
I begin with a quote:
a skeptical prelude to further comments:
I have no trust in Olmert, Livini, or Barak. They will foul this up. I just can’t believe that the 3 of those knuckle heads working together wont fuck things up. They are still the same assholes that they have always been and people really don’t change. When it’s over we will all be wondering why they did it the way they did and hate them even more for it. I am sure of this. If I am wrong then I will be happy to be proven as such, but I think we all know the truth here. As happy as any of us might have been with some of the tough talk so far we’re all just waiting for the other shoe to drop…which it most certainly will, wreaking of the same old shit that we have been stepping in until now. All we have to tide us over is the hope that they will finally get it right...
Further comments:
I really have nothing insightful to offer here, probably the same thing everyone else is thinking right now.
During the week after that the Tadiyeh had expired there were calls from right to left for action. The center to left was most interesting. Even groups as extremely deluded as Meretz were calling for action…and that left me incredibly suspicious.
I cannot remember a single call to arms by Meretz ever. The fact that they were pushing the issue only proved to me that the left is so desperately afraid of Bibi as prime minister that they were willing to go so far as to engage the enemy in battle to out maneuver him politically by proving that the Left (primarily Kadima) can be as tough as he allegedly can be.
This was especially prudent vis-à-vis Bibi’s apparent strategy of attempting to present himself and the Likud as an similar yet somehow superior alternative to Kadima.
I was disgusted to consider that Kadima would consider what would result in another half assed attempt at war in order to score points against Bibi.
Nevertheless when the bombs first dropped I was really excited. We have been taking it for a long time and it felt great to up our stats. This is why I made Aliyah.
I was initially under the assumption that the commitment to the engagement on our side would be put to the test and fold pathetically when the time came to decide whether to commit ground troops or not. If we really want a victory on the ground in terms of intelligence, prisoners, and deterrence, we would need to commit ground forces before the air bombardment had become completely exhausted.
I also definitely figured that once the UN voted on a resolution or some country offered or tried to broker a ceasefire that Livni or Olmert could spin to their advantage then they would end the engagement stopping short of accomplishing anything truly significant and try and spin a victory here in the press, like they did in Lebanon with UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
So far though we are committing ground forces and are not accepting any ceasefire, and it seems that this operation is going to dig in deep.
In a way this really makes me wonder what would have happened in Lebanon if it were during an election period. Left always turns right during a campaign, and I think that this is probably the biggest lesson to learn here.
I am sure that Olmert wants this to be his own Operation Defensive Shield and that we can only hope that Olmert is very consumed with a real victory in the south, after the debacle in the north.
It was an especially nice Chanukah present I have to say. Even if I didnt like the people who gave it to me.
Finally, after having served during the Lebanon war, I made the decision to seriously avoid serving politically driven wars called by incompetent leadership, as I believe all of us should refuse to do. After all, we are not to act as sheep lead to the slaughter, not in the Diaspora and not here. I say this as a soldier who swore on the Tanach to protect this country and who will never cease to do so.
This time, if they call, I'll be there.
Enjoy the Frankness!
--General Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831)
"...for in such dangerous things as war, the errors which proceed from a spirit of benevolence are the worst.”
a skeptical prelude to further comments:
I have no trust in Olmert, Livini, or Barak. They will foul this up. I just can’t believe that the 3 of those knuckle heads working together wont fuck things up. They are still the same assholes that they have always been and people really don’t change. When it’s over we will all be wondering why they did it the way they did and hate them even more for it. I am sure of this. If I am wrong then I will be happy to be proven as such, but I think we all know the truth here. As happy as any of us might have been with some of the tough talk so far we’re all just waiting for the other shoe to drop…which it most certainly will, wreaking of the same old shit that we have been stepping in until now. All we have to tide us over is the hope that they will finally get it right...
Further comments:
I really have nothing insightful to offer here, probably the same thing everyone else is thinking right now.
During the week after that the Tadiyeh had expired there were calls from right to left for action. The center to left was most interesting. Even groups as extremely deluded as Meretz were calling for action…and that left me incredibly suspicious.
I cannot remember a single call to arms by Meretz ever. The fact that they were pushing the issue only proved to me that the left is so desperately afraid of Bibi as prime minister that they were willing to go so far as to engage the enemy in battle to out maneuver him politically by proving that the Left (primarily Kadima) can be as tough as he allegedly can be.
This was especially prudent vis-à-vis Bibi’s apparent strategy of attempting to present himself and the Likud as an similar yet somehow superior alternative to Kadima.
I was disgusted to consider that Kadima would consider what would result in another half assed attempt at war in order to score points against Bibi.
Nevertheless when the bombs first dropped I was really excited. We have been taking it for a long time and it felt great to up our stats. This is why I made Aliyah.
I was initially under the assumption that the commitment to the engagement on our side would be put to the test and fold pathetically when the time came to decide whether to commit ground troops or not. If we really want a victory on the ground in terms of intelligence, prisoners, and deterrence, we would need to commit ground forces before the air bombardment had become completely exhausted.
I also definitely figured that once the UN voted on a resolution or some country offered or tried to broker a ceasefire that Livni or Olmert could spin to their advantage then they would end the engagement stopping short of accomplishing anything truly significant and try and spin a victory here in the press, like they did in Lebanon with UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
So far though we are committing ground forces and are not accepting any ceasefire, and it seems that this operation is going to dig in deep.
In a way this really makes me wonder what would have happened in Lebanon if it were during an election period. Left always turns right during a campaign, and I think that this is probably the biggest lesson to learn here.
I am sure that Olmert wants this to be his own Operation Defensive Shield and that we can only hope that Olmert is very consumed with a real victory in the south, after the debacle in the north.
It was an especially nice Chanukah present I have to say. Even if I didnt like the people who gave it to me.
Finally, after having served during the Lebanon war, I made the decision to seriously avoid serving politically driven wars called by incompetent leadership, as I believe all of us should refuse to do. After all, we are not to act as sheep lead to the slaughter, not in the Diaspora and not here. I say this as a soldier who swore on the Tanach to protect this country and who will never cease to do so.
This time, if they call, I'll be there.
Enjoy the Frankness!
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