[Turambar]

... i can understand bombing the bridges to stop the guys with the soldier, but did they really need to bomb the power station (apparently the only one in gaza)?

and buzzing the syrian guy was just a no class move.

[IceFire]

... i can understand bombing the bridges to stop the guys with the soldier, but did they really need to bomb the power station (apparently the only one in gaza)?

and buzzing the syrian guy was just a no class move.

Can't say I can justify their actions there but attacking a powerplant is a pretty good way to disrupt operations.  Its something you'd expect....over the top or not. I wouldn't say it wasn't a 'no class' move to buzz Syria either.  Lots of attacks on Israel come from Syrian borders....and Syria is in such a state as to not be able to do anything about it.  What would have been no-class is to drop weapons on Syria.  They sent a message...its communication...its not as big of a deal.

[Turambar]

sure it would disrupt their operations (although i saw a shot of the bridge, and the river was completely dry), but it also messes up the lives of almost every palestinian living in gaza.  now they don't have power, and they can't get from point a to point b.  theyre really just tossing gasoline on the flame with this one.  they coulda dealt with it so much easier.  which reminds me, the palestinian group demanded they release the women and children from the prisons.  women i can understand, but why do they have children in prisons?  what's so dangerous about them that they wouldnt release them to make the situation a little less hostile?

[Tyrian]

It's a power play.  Put a woman in jail, they can say "Do what we say or we kill her."  That's bad enough.  With children in jail, how exactly do you say no to their demands?  It's not that the children pose a threat, it's that the children can be exploited to force people to do what you want.  As long as they hold the children, they have power, when they give up the children, they lose power.  A loss of power isn't exactly what you want in a war, is it?

[Turambar]

i dunno, it just doesnt sound fitting for the 'bastion of democracy' in the middle-east.

[Rictor]

I really question the wisdom of Israel sending an army to find one man. First of all, shouldn't that be the sort of thing that Mossad is famous for? And secondly, common logic says that it takes days or weeks to find one man among millions, whereas it take about two second to pull a trigger aimed at the head of that same man. Which do you think will happen first? Hamas will execute him in a heartbeat before they let IDF troops get within a hundred meters of him.

Also, if Hamas has (grudgingly) agreed to Fatah's two-state solution, implicitly recognizing Israel, they'll use the Gaza incursions as an excuse to back off and renew their violent campaign.

Sandwich, what say you?

[IceFire]

The whole army thing I think is a front.  The new Israeli PM has to look powerful (he's seen as weak in security issues) to deal with any threats so the army thing is pretty big. But you send in the SF's to find the guy and bring him out and problem solved with extra political leverage with Israeli's and pretty big signpost to Hamas as to how things can go.

Its a pretty messed up situation.  I'm speaking largely to bring up points of discussion rather than what I really think. What I really think is that its screwed up with no real solution as long as people think what they think right now.  By people I mean all sides and in terms of large groups rather than just one person.

[WeatherOp]

Well, they say they have fired one.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2006-06-29T013909Z_01_L29258645_RTRUKOC_0_US-MIDEAST-ROCKET.xml

[Turambar]

ah, 20 warheads is a lot more believable than 20 different kinds of weapons.  as long as theyre shooting them at the army its ok by me.  fight the oppressors!