Hamas has a death wish

[toomuchtime_]

Tell me more. From what I am reading, the Home Front Command is saying the fighting will last for at least seven weeks, and Lieberman has said,



Politicians demand gov't present ... JPost - Diplomacy & Politics

For Cast Lead only 10,000 reservists were called up, but 16,000 have been called up so far this time and the cabinet has approved calling up 75,000. My impression is that the government considers Cast Lead a failure because it ended in a unilateral Israeli ceasefire and because there were, as you well know, 451 rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israel in the first 10 months of 2012. Do you have reasons for believing this operation will be over so quickly or are you just feeling discouraged because the government took so long to respond to these outrages?

Fox Newst announced 75,000 were just mobilized.

75000 is the most recent figure I heard on the BBC too.

But it appears not to be true. The cabinet has authorized the call up of as many as 75,000 reservists but only 16,000, mostly engineers, have been called up.

 

[AnjelicaT]

Fox Newst announced 75,000 were just mobilized.

75000 is the most recent figure I heard on the BBC too.

But it appears not to be true. The cabinet has authorized the call up of as many as 75,000 reservists but only 16,000, mostly engineers, have been called up.

Ah, I see. Thanks TMT.

 

[Hossfly]

Fox Newst announced 75,000 were just mobilized.

75000 is the most recent figure I heard on the BBC too.

But it appears not to be true. The cabinet has authorized the call up of as many as 75,000 reservists but only 16,000, mostly engineers, have been called up.

I revised my statement yesterday in post #13.

 

[toomuchtime_]

75000 is the most recent figure I heard on the BBC too.

But it appears not to be true. The cabinet has authorized the call up of as many as 75,000 reservists but only 16,000, mostly engineers, have been called up.

I revised my statement yesterday in post #13.

I know you did. I was just trying to clarify the situation for Angelica who apparently hadn't seen you correction.

 

[JimH52]

This reminds me of the Biblical David and Goliath....with Israel as Goliath. Doesn't Hamas understand that Israeli jets can fly unimpeded over Gaza at any moment and bomb them into oblivion? The Hamas pea shooters are hardly making it across the border. That is reality. I fear there is a hidden reason for this illogical show of aggression from Hamas. I hope that Israel does their calculations carefully.

The really wild card here is Iran. They will need to be dealt with...sooner or later. That is also a Reality.

 

[Roudy]

This reminds me of the Biblical David and Goliath....with Israel as Goliath. Doesn't Hamas understand that Israeli jets can fly unimpeded over Gaza at any moment and bomb them into oblivion? The Hamas pea shooters are hardly making it across the border. That is reality. I fear there is a hidden reason for this illogical show of aggression from Hamas. I hope that Israel does their calculations carefully.

The really wild card here is Iran. They will need to be dealt with...sooner or later. That is also a Reality.

They know Israelis are human and will avoid civilian casualties as much as possible. If the roles were reversed Gaza would have been carpet bombed into oblivion by now. No country would sit by and allow over 300 rockets to be lobbed at its citizens, in the last 4 days.

 

[Lunas]

We should all help them get to hell of jihadists

 

[martybegan]

This reminds me of the Biblical David and Goliath....with Israel as Goliath. Doesn't Hamas understand that Israeli jets can fly unimpeded over Gaza at any moment and bomb them into oblivion? The Hamas pea shooters are hardly making it across the border. That is reality. I fear there is a hidden reason for this illogical show of aggression from Hamas. I hope that Israel does their calculations carefully.

The really wild card here is Iran. They will need to be dealt with...sooner or later. That is also a Reality.

This is the paridoxical result of limited war, when there are no agreed upon rules to determine how the war ends. In ancient greece limited war was practiced. Armies did not ravage fields, or burn cities. The two armies met of a field of battle, and the battle determined the outcome of the war. The other side accepted the defeat, and then everyone went to harvest, and another fight broke out in the next few years.

What we saw after the american civil war and leading up to WWII was total war, where civilans were seen as a means of military production, and could be targeted in a round about way (aerial bombing). Actual massacring of civilians via ground forces was seen as wasteful, as your true target was the enemy armies. The losing sides fought until they couldnt anymore, because they knew the result would be total capitualtion.

What we have now is limited war, without the set rules. We try to limit the fighting (at least the more civilized side does) to military forces only, and we do not attack the means of prodcution or support itentionally. That means civilians can support a group like Hamas with little chance of repercussions. any deaths on their part are collateral, not intentional. The problem is the other side does not agree to any of the rules, nor agrees to a point where the war becomes "lost" and they simply surrender.

 

[JimH52]

This reminds me of the Biblical David and Goliath....with Israel as Goliath. Doesn't Hamas understand that Israeli jets can fly unimpeded over Gaza at any moment and bomb them into oblivion? The Hamas pea shooters are hardly making it across the border. That is reality. I fear there is a hidden reason for this illogical show of aggression from Hamas. I hope that Israel does their calculations carefully.

The really wild card here is Iran. They will need to be dealt with...sooner or later. That is also a Reality.

This is the paridoxical result of limited war, when there are no agreed upon rules to determine how the war ends. In ancient greece limited war was practiced. Armies did not ravage fields, or burn cities. The two armies met of a field of battle, and the battle determined the outcome of the war. The other side accepted the defeat, and then everyone went to harvest, and another fight broke out in the next few years.

What we saw after the american civil war and leading up to WWII was total war, where civilans were seen as a means of military production, and could be targeted in a round about way (aerial bombing). Actual massacring of civilians via ground forces was seen as wasteful, as your true target was the enemy armies. The losing sides fought until they couldnt anymore, because they knew the result would be total capitualtion.

What we have now is limited war, without the set rules. We try to limit the fighting (at least the more civilized side does) to military forces only, and we do not attack the means of prodcution or support itentionally. That means civilians can support a group like Hamas with little chance of repercussions. any deaths on their part are collateral, not intentional. The problem is the other side does not agree to any of the rules, nor agrees to a point where the war becomes "lost" and they simply surrender.

Who do the Israelis deal with? Hamas is not a recognized Government. Hamas keeps firing rockets and Israel retaliates with overwhelming power. Who suffers? The Palastenian civilians suffer and the Israeli civilians suffer. Hamas knows they are outgunned. They know they cannot compete with the Israeli firwpower, and they still lob rockets into Israel, knowing their population will suffer. A military solution is not possible.

With the results of the Arab Spring, Hamas obviously feels emboldened.