My thoughts on this conflict- A look at the tactics that were chosen

[NJmaverick]

Fist let me say that I think Israel are guilty of some major wrong doings by expanding their borders, beyond those assigned to them by the UN.

That said:

I Can't defend Hamas, as they clearly initiated this. However I don't think Israel's response, has been that smart. Hamas had been losing support of the Palestinian people. They ran the risk of becoming irrelevant. Hamas knew the best way to make themselves relevant and revive their sagging support was to goad Israel into attacking them. Israel's strong response along with the boast of tearing down Hamas brick by brick, played right into Hamas' hands, in my opinion.

You know there are times during medieval warfare when a mounted knights armor made him nearly impervious, to the weapons of the day. It was strong enough to deflect the blows of most weapons and stop most arrows. Yet if you got the knight dismounted a long sharp dagger could be used to stab the knight through the gaps in his protection.

If you think of the civilian population as Hamas' armor, you can liken the current attack as raining down sword and mace blows on that armor. You end up making lots of noise and expending a great deal of energy to only dent and scratch the armor. All the while the knight (Hamas) is safe inside.

In the past Israel has had targeted attacks on the leadership of the enemy. They used surgical strikes and hit teams to take out the top people in an organization. They would then target their replacements and so on. Considering the relative ineffectiveness of the Hamas rocket attacks (the poor man's artillery) they had the time to use this style of response. I liken this to the dagger attack on the dismounted night. Instead of trying to go through the amour you attack the gaps in it and get to the body. If Israel had gone with the carefully targeted Hamas leadership attack, Hamas would have had a strong incentive to stop their attacks. Plus this style of attack doesn't gain Hamas the support and recognition it craves.

Had they used that response, I think they would have been more effective in stopping the rocket attacks as well as not hurting their standing with the rest of the world.

[Cary]

1. I don't know whether this was a good or bad move by Israel.

I think we will have to wait and see.

I seriously doubt that Gazan Palestinians would do away with Hamas. Anything is possible, but there is no precedent that I know of that would lead me to believe that these people are ready to negotiate peace.