The IDF Targets the Hamas Ratlines. 
What brought us to this present chaos in Gaza and Sinai was the Israeli decision under Ariel Sharon unilaterally to withdraw the Israeli farmers from Gaza in 2005 and turn over the whole
of the southern Gaza to Hamas. Aaron Klein and I reported live on air from Sderot right outside Gaza, from Gush Katif inside Gaza, and from Ashkelon north of Gaza in August 2005 as the farmers were about to be dishomed. It was clear at the time that once the IDF was out of Gaza that the gangsters were going to create an armed camp and, using tunnel rats, bring in the weapons and ordnance needed to remake Gaza into a battleground. When the IDF evacuated that fall, it dismantled the defenses along the Philadelphi route (above from before 2006) that marked the no man's land on the border with Sinai, dividing Rafak in Gaza from Rafak in Sinai. Rafak (the gray ruins above) was Stalingrad lite in those days, and it has not changed. Since then, Hamas has increased and made deeper the number of tunnels from Sinai to Gaza (below). Egypt has not stopped the smuggling traffic. The Quartet abandoned policing the border in 2006. In sum, what the IDF is attacking now in Gaza is entirely a result of bad decisions made by Israel, Egypt, the Quartet, the United States. Gaza was abandoned to the creatures to build a rogue state in miniature. Tehran pushed its agents, money and weapons into the rogue to build an island redoubt on Israel's flank that also threatens Cairo. There were many, many who said in 2005 that unilateral withdrawal from Gaza would lead to worse days ahead. Since then, we have watched the Hizballah War with Tehran weapons and ops in the summer of 2006, which started as an action in Gaza to recover the abducted soldier Gilead Shalit, and we have watched the IAF attack on the still unexplained nuke sites in eastern Syria built by Tehran money and ops. And now the Hamas War with Tehran weapons and ops. Concession, balance, appeasement, withdrawal, compromise, retreat are not sane policies when facing an enemy that is determined to dominate Israel and the region. The near future? Tehran is quiet. Too quiet? Bush is quiet? Too quiet? Obama is a mystery. The IDF deploys in the open. Will it cross the fence?
When will we learn... If a war/fight is inevitable it's most humane to overwhelm with violent force to such a degree that the enemy is defeated physically and mentally. Boot to the throat of thy enemy, lifted as behavior warrants. Peace through strength. Peaceful co-existance through respect, tollerance and commerce. This idea that an enemy can be vanquished in a nice/neat PC sorta way is WAY more inhumane.
I look forward to the comments of my fellow J B fans, who are way smarter than I am. Happy New Year all, and God Bless.
The reason we’ve made so many miscalculations is because we’ve lost the language. In our zeal to create our secular humanistic illusion, we’ve willfully abandoned the tools required to face down a determined enemy. It has blown us off course, leaving us exposed and confused as to the nature of the real world where bloody men kill for thrill; where the ideology of psychopathic domination and enslavement knows no bounds. We’ve written virtual tomes, listing forbidden words. “Evil” for instance, has been struck from the lexicon and been replaced with “quirky”. We look at Ahmed Yousef, for instance, and call him “quirky” (by the way, we love his beard). We look at Ahmadinejad, and call him “misguided”. We’ve (mis)read too much Jung and are too arrogant to understand that all the jargon in the world cannot compensate for the simple common sense of calling a spade a spade.
Has 9/11 awoken us from our delusional slumber party? Apparently not. It was just a Wilhelm Busch inspired prank by a bunch of straight-up boys bent on having their 15 minutes of fame (sadly, post-mortem) on the world stage. Shame on us for letting our guard down. If they had lived, we could have made them realize the error of their ways by having them sit in a circle around a campfire on some secluded beach (in Hawaii), singing while the moon hangs blood red just above the water, thereby allowing them a transcendent moment in which to experience an epiphany. There was no need to respond the way we did. In fact, that was the real crime, and we will absolutely hold those responsible to account.
In the meantime, the threat grows ever more virulent, engulfing the entire globe. Yet we persist in our foolish policy of concession and appeasement while at the same time shortening the leash on our own populations …by jettisoning forbidden words and word combinations.
“Islamic terrorist”, for instance, is out - as is “Christmas”; Rush, Sean, Savage (and soon perhaps, Batchelor as well). Maybe we’ll even abandon our cars and (don’t forget) “capitalism”. That should do the trick and bring us in line with the butchers of decent men and women who just happened not to have had their education in one of the Saudi’s madrassahs. Maybe we’ll abandon our ability to wage war. That will teach them - and maybe, just maybe we’ll escape the butcher’s knife clawing at our entrails.
Some thoughts on the military situation:
---The IDF counterfire effort is failing---the rockets keep landing.
---They are apparently not either taking out the launchers before they shoot or keeping the rockets from reaching the launchers.
---Killing civilians is an IO nightmare: it might play in Israel before the elections but is a stone loser anywhere else.
---If Hamas is getting 28 mile ranges, these aren't the Kasam rockets. BM 21 (Grad) with Chinese ammo?
---Does not seem to be the good Iranian stuff Hezbollah had in 2006 though.
---Couple of questions prior to a launching a ground war:
*Does Hamas have Explosively Formed Penetrators ("EFPs")?
*Does Hamas have access to TTPs from Iraq on effective employment of the SVD-9 sniper rifles?
*How much access does Hamas have to TTPs from Fallujah and the Chechens on how to fight in cities, if any?
Endstate: the Israelis probably stick their finger in a buzz saw with a ground attack. Why would any country want to put ground troops into one of the most densely populated urban areas on earth?
My sense is Israel has chosen their time very carefully: between US administrations where Bush can accede and support with nothing to lose and OB not wanting to tip his hand and the Israelis know he 1) won't and 2) it would carry no official weight. In fact, this is a great way to test and setup OB. If he criticizes Israel, they know to move forward before he takes office; if he suuports, great and he is committed for now and probably the future. If he remains silent, they can claim tacit approval.
In addition, Iran and other oily guys are a bit poorer these days and perhaps not want to contribute. other hands--ME action always lifts oil prices. My guess is the oily world would love to have Hamas and Palestinians wiped off the map. they've always been the rabble cousins of no practical use except as a rhetorical strike on US and a way to keep 'the street" engaged.
The Palestinians are a dysfunctional race-they've never reality had a homeland despite their claims, they've been on the UN dole forever and now must suffer the plight of those who elect terrorists. Hamas is not an occupying army, they are the Gazans duely elected reps and now they pay the price.
I belive Israel intend to crush the Hamas organization while they've got a chance. It is good politics nationally, a time of distraction internationally, they've got a causus beli (rocket launches), an honorable concession violated (leaving Gaza).
One more thing--this notion that the effort is failing bec rockets still arrive is silly and cartoonish. It is a favorite statement on NPR (National Palestinian Radio) as proof of ineptitude or misjudgement by Israel. these things are cheap, hidden in residential basements and garages, fires from courtyards and playgrounds. that is probably the last part of Hamas to fall.
My hope: make the friggin Palestians rue the day they threw in with a bunch of thugs. Join the human race or be ground to dust! and screw cease-fires--get real.