Retaliation
In a reminder that not "all the world*" is celebrating this time of year, Israel has attacked Gaza, killing scores - possibly as many as 195.
The Israeli Air Force on Saturday launched a massive attack on Hamas targets throughout Gaza in retaliation for the recent heavy rocket fire from the area, hitting mostly security headquarters, training compounds and weapons storage facilities, the Israeli military and witnesses said. Dr. Muawiya Hassanein, the head of emergency services at the Gaza Ministry of Health, said that at least 195 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli air strikes.Of late, the words "asymmetric response" have been thrown about, usually condemned, and usually in reference to Russia's reactions to Georgian aggression and NATO expansion. But this is the dictionary illustration (my emphasis):
On Wednesday alone, more than 60 rockets and mortars were fired, some reaching further than previously. While the rockets are meant to be deadly, and several houses and a factory were hit, sowing widespread panic, no Israelis were killed or seriously injured in the recent attacks.And nothing is going to change.
For its part, Israel said the strikes would not only continue, but that they would be intensified.In a statement issued immediately after the raid, the Israeli military warned that “This operation will be continued, expanded and intensified as much as will be required.”This is the face of Israel's "retalition":
At Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, scores of dead bodies were laid out in front of the morgue waiting for family members to identify them. Many were dismembered.Shouldn't Hamas stop firing rockets? Shouldn't Israel stop treating Gaza like a giant camp?
Inside the hospital, relatives carried a five-month old baby who had suffered a serious head wound from shrapnel. Overwhelmed, the hospital staff seemed unable to offer help.
At the Gaza City police station, at least 15 traffic police who had been training in a courtyard were killed on the spot.
Tamer Kahrouf, 24, a civilian who had been working on a construction site in Jabaliya, north of Gaza City, said he saw his two brothers and uncle killed before his eyes when the Israeli planes bombed a security post nearby. Mr. Kharouf was wounded and bleeding from the head.
* You know, it's not even all the Christians in the world... for the Eastern Churches, Christmas isn't until Jan 6...
Labels: GWOT
3 Comments:
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At 4:21 PM, December 27, 2008
Unknown had this to say...
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At 8:52 PM, December 27, 2008
The Ridger, FCD had this to say...
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At 1:19 AM, December 28, 2008
Unknown had this to say...
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<-- Older Post ^ Home Newer Post -->People in Israel do die from rocket fire. An Israeli was killed and some were seriously injured from rocket fire today and yesterday. The fact that the rockets usually miss takes nothing away from the fact that for all purposes a neighboring entity has declared war on Israel, and the Israeli government had to respond.
It's a horrible situation, and I will gladly put much of the blame on Bush's policy, including his insistence on the elections that brought Hamas to power, but to imply that the Israeli government has simply decided to go on a Christmas rampage is to ignore the facts, including Hamas' recent declaration that the cease-fire with Israel was over.
It is a horrible situation, but Israel makes it worse by turning Gaza into a giant prison camp, controlling power, food, medicine, and all other commodities in and out.
Saying you're for democracy "as long as someone we like" is elected doesn't really work.
That was Bush's mistake. He (or his advisers) only thought about the idea of Democracy as the ultimate Good, maybe because of that silly notion that democracies don't go to war (because of the even sillier idea that democracies are ruled by the people). It seems that Bush's flow chart never included a "What if Hamas wins and cancels all the advancements toward a resolution?" plan. I'm not saying Palestinians weren't ready for Democracy, only that the conditions in Israel and Palestine created a situation where democratic elections at the wrong time created an even bigger disaster.
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