Meanwhile on the International front....

Which also harkens back to the question what plan does Israel actually have to win?

Yes war brings death. Has since Gorn picked up a rock and threw it at UggaUgga. And oftentimes, people who are just living their lives get in the way. We have this high and mighty notion that we can prevent anyone who is not involved from dying. It is good to have that notion even if we can't live up to it. It means we actually form plans. I will take responsibility for my snarky response this morning aimed at suggesting the plan is to just kill them. The problem is Hamas are terrorists. They succeed on making Israel look like the bad guys and when they doesn't work, they launch attacks on the grand scheme isn't nation threatening, but big enough to generate a reaction. They want Israel to lose their shit because they broke Israel's nose (bad analogy, but I don't particularly have a better one to scale a terrorist action with Germany invading France. Both are bad, but one is a larger thing, if that at all helps). They want Israel to just start breaking shit so they can say "see, see we told you so! Look at all the women and children these oppressors are killing!" And the problem is not having a plan apart from sending in the army to kill all the bad guys just plays into the "see, see we told you so!"

Germany, Japan, the South all had traditional military forces that the nations or regions equipped and the people agreed to send resources to help equip them. You can defeat a force. You can't defeat an ideology. Hamas is not going to be blown up enough to go away. You can't attrition them out of existence. When they are a glorified guerrilla group, you aren't worried about the people losing the will to fight. You are just worried about recruiting (and you can do that from around the Middle East) and getting small munitions. They only stop when the people supplying the agree to stop supplying them. And Israel isn't at war with those people.

So, what is Israel's plan to eliminate command and control of Hamas while not a) actually beginning genocide or b) becoming the best terrorist recruiting tool since the Russian invasion of Afghanistan?

 

So if flattening Palestinian cities and killing whoever is within the blast radius will rid Ramallah of Hamas, why is Israel having to send troops back to North Palestine?

Could it be because such tactics make bystanders into sympathizers and sympathizers into new fighters?

The Latest | Israel says it will send more troops to Rafah, as fighting also rages in Gaza's north

 

I'm literally quoting the Pentagon's textbook here. The quote is old but the publication is current. This has been known for decades. The U.S. recently proved it in Iraq.

https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Doctrine/pubs/jp3_24.pdf

https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Doctrine/pubs/jp3_24.pdf



III-1
CHAPTER III
COUNTERINSURGENCY

b. Every insurgency is unique. Reestablishing the HN control and perceived
legitimacy requires a coherent, realistic political strategy that is focused on addressing the
opportunity, motive, and means at the root of the insurgency. Likewise, a COIN operation
or campaign to implement that strategy should be carefully aligned to the particular nature.

“In small wars, caution should be exercised, and instead of striving to generate
the maximum power with the forces available, the goal is to gain decisive results
with the least application of force. In small wars, tolerance, sympathy, and
kindness should be the keynote of our relationship with the mass of the
population. Small wars involve a wide range of activities including diplomacy,
contacts with the civil population, and warfare of the most difficult kind.”

Small Wars Manual
United States Marine Corps, 1940

 

Whoever Israel’s Westmoreland is will soon be trumpeting how many members of Hamas have been killed, oblivious to how many have been created.

Rinse, repeat.

 

The writer is correct in saying “Rockin’ in the Free World” is a relatively easy song to play and with basic chords.

That said, when I play it I’m just some schmoe in my basement or, at best, playing before a couple dozen drunks at open mic night. I’m not one of the most powerful people in the world with tons of cameras on me.

 

Let the man decompress. 95% of guitar players aren't very good.

 

"Rockin' In The Free World" is probably not a good song for the U.S. Secretary of State to perform at any time.

Kinda like if the Secretary of Defense wanted to rock out on "Born In The USA."

 

How did the other strategy of negotiating, and showing peace and love work out?

 

An eye for an eye leaves the world blind … unless the other guy really hates you, then go for it.

So if Hamas is the enemy of Israel and the enemy of Israel must be eradicated
AND
If the recruitment of Hamas happens because they are indoctrinated from childhood
AND
If the “river to the sea” breeds a clear and present danger against Israel
THEREFORE
It is justifiable to stamp out all of Hamas with lethal for
AND
Because everyone in Palestine is indoctrinated and a member of Hamas …

 

And before I get everyone hating me, I’m more commenting on the particular argument I think is absurd and the veiled references to my argument that is basically if you make evil sympathetic, people will sympathize. No matter how righteous, sympathy for the devil leads people to become his agents. And the next time bombing terrorism out of existence works will be the first time.

 

Yep, this one is different. It won’t play out like every other conflict in human history. This one has easily identifiable good guys and easily identifiable bad guys and started for no historical reason.

Look, I find both sides full of shit, but I don’t find “ to make an omelet you have to kill 100,000 people” to be a great argument for this latest military decision.