Meanwhile, down on Sunset Strip...
I have to confess that this is the best summary of the recent unpleasentness that I have read, penned by Colonel Lior Lotan who served in the Israel Defence Forces in Gaza during the 1980s and 1990s
After a week of aerial assaults on Gaza, Israel has started the ground stage of the operation against Hamas. This is a reaction to the ground missiles being launched from Gaza towards cities in Israel, an aggression which has been continuing for eight years and which reached its peak after the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2005.
Since then an industry of arms smuggling has flourished in Gaza, enabling Hamas to go from smuggling weapons to self-production. Many of the missiles smuggled in are Iranian or Chinese-made, with a launching range of 25 miles and a significant destructive power.
The current stage of the Israeli operation gives a combat advantage to the Israeli forces over Hamas. This advantage is based largely on the fact that the Israel Defence Forces has implemented combat lessons from the second Lebanon War in 2006, but also because of several other reasons. The IDF operated inside Gaza until 2005, and is familiar with the terrain. It has also invested a great deal of time in recent years developing urban warfare tactics and specific weapons technology.
Frankly, I take a much more simplistic view: The Izzies are happy because they are dropping bombs on terrorists & the terrorists are happy because they are being ‘martyred’ in large numbers. As far as any prospect for a Middle East peace go, that’s about as good as its ever going to get.
Comments
the last paragraph nails it, if you leave out the first bit, peace in that region depends on all the mussies assuming ambient temp, thus stopping the mischief, thus we have peace, no, absolutely no other way exists. As an Iraqi arab told me "never trust an arab"!!
Posted by: Chris Edwards | January 6, 2009 1:27 AM