Gaza is at the centre of an unwinnable war

[bemildred]

A nice recitation of the arguments, I thought.

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On June 12 last year, for example, Hamas fired a barrage of more than 50mortar shells, Kassam and Katyusha rockets at the south. Similarly, on November 14, it bombarded towns in the Negev region. Yet in neither instance did Israel undertake a large scale military operation.

So it seems somewhat odd that 45 days before the elections, with their fortunes sagging at the polls, Ehud Barak and Tzipi Livni suddenly seem compelled to act to stop the rocket fire. With polls indicating that Labour and Kadima are headed for the opposition benches, both parties have suddenly rediscovered the need to defend the country and its citizens.

Bear in mind that Livni has been foreign affairs minister since May 2006, and Barak has served as defence minister since June 2007. During that period, thousands of rockets, mortar shells and other projectiles have been fired at the south, yet the government refrained from taking concerted action to stop it.

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Perhaps the most extraordinary truth of all needs to be spelled out: short of genocide, 21st century wars are actually militarily unwinnable. In fact the very concept of a military victory as an extension of political action is increasingly nonsensical in our age. Someone should tell Israel.

http://www.thepost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=TOM+MCGURK-qqqs=commentandanalysis-qqqid=38583-qqqx=1.asp

[bridgit]

1. Agreed, this 'war' is not winnable...it is negotiable at best...

But someone has to show up to talk and cease & desist with the Qassam rocket diplomacy imo of course

[Vegasaurus]

4. Do you think the Qassam rocket launchers will ever cease and desist? nt

[bridgit]

5. Addictive behavioral patterns are difficult to counsel until the addicted understand...

their own contributions to their own self inflicted maladies, which oft times they alone are even able to attenuate by way of moderation

[Duckhunter935]

2. There is a point

And I guess tha last rocket/morter or tunnel to possibly kidnap an Israeli soldier crossed the threshold to respond. Not thart the elections did not enter into this.

[bemildred]

3. Well, it seems to me that they need to keep the ball in the air for 4-5 weeks.

And I don't think that they (Olmert, Livni, Barak) have that much time, or money, or ammunition. (All this based on the sound assumption that this has something to do with politics.)

[azurnoir]

7. I have wondered if the Israeli governments "friend" in the WH

is packing up a "care package" for them as we write

[bemildred]

9. That question has crossed my mind.

On the other hand, I'm not convinced that anybody is really thinking that far ahead. It's like they are making it up as they go along again.

Say, Bush really delivered peace by the end of 2008, didn't he?

[azurnoir]

10. Well he delivered a POS

that would bee piece of something

[PerfectSage]

6. Someone should tell Isreal and Bush about winning on the Grand Strategic/Moral level of warfare

But that's a concept that's difficult for a psychopath to grasp.

[Kurska]

11. The entire nation of israel is psycopathic?

I know it's hyperbole, but thats one hell of a crazy claim. I mean what do you mean by that? Are israeli leaders psychopaths? Are the israeli people psychopaths? Are israeli Arabs Psychopaths?

[oberliner]

12. I think the poster meant that Bush was the psychopath nt

[PerfectSage]

13. Rofl Just the politicians are psychopaths

[Scurrilous]

8. Israel has history of failure in ground attacks

<snip>

"Israel has a long and largely unsuccessful history of sending ground forces into Palestinian and Lebanese cities. Its forces have either gotten bogged down or sustained heavy casualties, without quelling violent groups or halting attacks for good.

The most recent example is the 2006 war against Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, who fought mighty Israel to a draw. But that conflict also spawned a concept that could be applied in Gaza — an international force.

Israel launched a massive land invasion of the Gaza Strip on Saturday, but its reluctance to send infantry and armored units into Gaza this time was palpable. Ex-generals and analysts warned that an operation big enough to stop the daily rocket barrages from Gaza would require large masses of forces and result in high casualties on both sides.

Israel insists it has no intention of recapturing the Gaza Strip after pulling its army and settlements out of the territory in 2005. Such an operation would require sweeps through cities and refugee camps, house-to-house combat and mass destruction, while leaving Israel's soldiers as easy targets for grenades, mortars, booby traps and even suicide bombers.

Israel does not have the stomach for such military casualties and past experience has shown that world opinion would not allow Israel to kill and injure thousands of Palestinians in an effort to clean out Gaza down to the last militant and rocket.

That leaves the formula that has been tried in the past and failed — a limited offensive, taking control of northern Gaza, the area where militants generally fire rockets at Israel. That has halted the rocket barrages as long as the Israeli forces are there but the militants simply resume their volleys on the heels of the withdrawing soldiers."

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/01/04/news/ML-Israel-Gaza-Gamble-Analysis.php

[ProgressiveMuslim]

14. So is the point to satisfy an atavistic urge to inflict pain and have revenge?

The politicians who sheds the most blood wins?

[subsuelo]

15. Pretty much

Since day one I've been calling these attacks nothing more than bloodthirst, driven by hate and vengeance.