Israeli General: Let The Israeli Army Win

[bemildred]

Ashkelon, Israel — The commander of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operation in the Gaza Strip, southern regional commander, Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant, has called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to authorize expanding the operation to its third phase.

The phase would include sending large numbers of reserve troops into Gaza and taking over large portions of the territory. Mr.
Galant told the senior Israel Ministry of Defense leadership the IDF can achieve a “decisive situation” against Hamas without being forced to take Gaza in its entirety.

Expanding the operation, he told Mr. Olmert and Mr. Barak, would come at the cost of soldiers’ lives and would require extending the reservists’ terms of duty. However, it would solve southern Israel’s security problems for many years to come. 



He said the operation has created a “once in a generation” opportunity to solve the problem of Hamas.

http://thebulletin.us/articles/2009/01/12/top_stories/doc496b514712af3760569343.txt

[bemildred]

1. Olmert in Ashkelon: It's us or them

During a visit to Ashkelon, which has sustained rocket fire from Hamas since the start of Operation Cast Lead, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert hinted that the IDF Gaza offensive will continue in a particularly firm speech delivered in the town.

"If after this whole effort we discover that rockets with increasing ranges are making their way into Gaza that can reach up to 80, and even 100, kilometers, how will we see ourselves? How will our neighbors see us? Therefore, there is no question. There is no hesitation," added Olmert.

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"Will it take time? Yes, it will take time. We will continue for as much time is necessary in order to remove this threat from our heads," added Olmert, who hinted that patience in the Israeli upper echelons is wearing thin as they prepare to enter the third phase of the military operation in Gaza.

The prime minister added, "I hear from the entire Israeli people: Keep going, keep moving on condition that you reach the achievements for which you went to battle. We have many murder organizations in front of us, and in this war, what can we do? We cannot be soft. It is us or them."

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3654904,00.html

[Hardrada]

5. Re: Israel's militarist leaders: It is really US or them.

[bemildred]

2. Rice shame-faced by Bush over UN Gaza vote: Olmert

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The United States, Israel's main ally, had initially been expected to voted in line with the other 14 but Rice later became the sole abstention.

"In the night between Thursday and Friday, when the secretary of state wanted to lead the vote on a ceasefire at the Security Council, we did not want her to vote in favour," Olmert said

"I said 'get me President Bush on the phone'. They said he was in the middle of giving a speech in Philadelphia. I said I didn't care. 'I need to talk to him now'. He got off the podium and spoke to me.

"I told him the United States could not vote in favour. It cannot vote in favour of such a resolution. He immediately called the secretary of state and told her not to vote in favour."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gD-QcI_C-CrcqfSZBh6A5_e514Zw

[Zywiec]

3. Let an army win a war?

Now why would they want to do that?

:sarcasm:

[bemildred]

4. 43,000 sign petition calling for fair coverage of Gaza conflict

Pro-Israel media watchdog organization HonestReporting on Monday delivered a petition to leading media outlets demanding "fair coverage of the Gaza conflict in the mainstream press."

The petition, which was signed by more than 43,000 people, urged media outlets such as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, CNN and the BBC, not to "rely on information from Hamas - a terrorist organization - as a source of news."

"I demand that the use of images and headlines that misrepresent current events to the detriment of the State of Israel be stopped immediately," the petition went on.

In a statement released Monday, the organization's CEO Joe Hyams charged reporters with the responsibility for "this monstrous myth that Israel wants to harm the children of Gaza," stressing that Israel was "the first to stand up against pure evil."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231774431499&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[EFerrari]

6. HonestReporting's team page is still under construction

and their first endorser is Natan Sharansky, followed by neocon Gary Bauer and AIPAC board member Bob Diener.

lol

[azurnoir]

7. Could this be called the "take our word for it" petition?

Foreign correspondents should be allowed in then the major news services are depend on "Hamas" for their coverage, I thought AP Reuters ect had Palestinian journalists working for them who actually live in Gaza.
So our news is coming from Hamas sort of like the number of victims in the UN school last week came from Hamas.

[bemildred]

9. I'm mainly interested in the rhetoric.

That's why I collected it together like this. I have the feeling a crisis is coming soon now. I can think of half a dozen reasons why this "war" cannot continue long, but I think from the tone of the comments made, that the crisis is in Israeli internal politics. Certainly the banning of a formerly legitimate and often pointed to political party suggests that. Which is not to say that the "war" is not itself a real crisis, but that that is not what is driving the political yapping collected here.

[HeraldSquare212]

8. Win what?

[bemildred]

10. They still seem to be working on that part. nt