Horse feathers at Huffpo. Dan Rather comes up with some hasbara of his own, and, reporting on Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, claims that it saved hundreds of lives inside Gaza.
In the recent conflict, the Israeli missile defense system may have saved more Palestinian lives than Israelis. To understand my reasoning, take a step back and look at recent history. Since 2007, the Islamist group Hamas has run the densely populated sliver of territory to the south of Israel known as the Gaza Strip. Militants from the territory, in recent years, have launched hundreds of crude rockets, provided by Iran, into southern Israeli towns. In 2008, Israel responded with Operation Cast Lead — A brutal aerial bombardment and ground invasion that left more than 1,000 Palestinians dead and brought Israel widespread condemnation from abroad. November’s conflict left about 150 Palestinians dead.
How do you explain the stark difference in the death toll? One element would be Iron Dome.
Rather explains that unguided Palestinian missiles would have caused destruction inside Gaza. Yes but would Iron Dome have stopped all the missiles that Israel sent into the strip, many of which killed civilians? And what about the human rights reports after Cast Lead that showed that Israel targeted civilians, and that damaged the nation’s reputation around the world? Thanks to Max Blumenthal
You’re very gentlemanly to use the term “horse feathers”…Perhaps Dan is losing his noodles.
Read Rather’s piece over there forgot to mention it over here but Max caught it. Odd conclusions by Rather.
Phil/Annie Chris Matthews has spent the last two nights talking a bit about how he thought Obama was reaching out to Iran for negotiations and how this is a slap in the neocons face. As Joy Reid nodded her head in agreement with Chris Matthews as he was saying these things Howard Fineman looked pretty damn uncomfortable. Chris Matthews also brought up that Obama did not mention Israel at all in his inauguration speech and how his speech almost sounded like the words of a “pacifist” Monday and Tuesday night
Did the Iron dome really prevent Palestinian deaths though?
Maybe it could have, maybe not.
The only reason there was such a stark difference this time round is because of time length. Israel shot missiles into the Gaza strip for 8 days, as opposed to 22 days. In ’08-’09 offensive, they even conducted an incursion into Gaza which increased casualties.
Dan Rather would probably argue that the rapist’s handcuffs save the victim from serious physical abuse. With her handcuffed to the bed, he didn’t need to constantly beat her into submission to prevent her from harming him…I mean, from potentially harming herself.
Violence feeds on itself in both direction. Iron Dome by preventing successful missile strikes likely prevented severe Israeli retaliation for those successful strikes. Israel can hit Gaza much harder than it has but in general tries to keep the death toll semi proportionate so their actions are seen as “wars” and not “massacres”.
I think it is fair to say anything that reduces Palestinian military effectiveness as least in the short term reduces not increases Palestinian casualties.
>> Iron Dome by preventing successful missile strikes likely prevented severe Israeli retaliation for those successful strikes. Israel can hit Gaza much harder than it has but in general tries to keep the death toll semi proportionate so their actions are seen as “wars” and not “massacres”.
And since they’re not “massacres”:
- the supremacist “Jewish State” continues merrily along with its 60+ years, ON-GOING and offensive (i.e., not defensive) campaign of aggression, oppression, theft, colonization, destruction and murder; and
- hateful and immoral Zio-supremacists continue merrily to justify and excuse it.
Does Dan need to eat crow for a while so he can get back on 60 minutes? A little more prostrating to the Zionist state will put this man-goy in good graces with Moonves.
Please stop your pathetic groveling acts, Dan. Fabricating stories about the iron dome is not going to further your tarnished reputation - although that may be debatable in the mainstream american media.
When did Rather make this claim? Unless I am missing something it is not in the Huffington story or the video.
What in the world does this mean? Is Israel expected to shoot down its own missiles?
What of it? Does it somehow disprove what Rather reports? In fact, where in your entire essay is there anything that disproves Rather’s assertion that Iron Dome permitted an Israeli political decision to not conduct a ground invasion?
Ohh, I get it, Mr. Rather. They used a gun with less bullets. So that makes Israel more humane, then. Oh, OK. Got it.
Is Dan Rather really so ignorant as to believe that correlation equals causation?
Looking at some of the “missile” parts I was struck by how crude most of them are. The impact often shows no explosion because they lack a warhead. Their targets are frequently Israeli towns only a couple of miles away from the border.
How many millions are being spent to protect Israelis from what more often than not something little more than the rockets hobbyists fire anywhere else in the world?
ThorsteinVeblen2012 says: Looking at some of the “missile” parts I was struck by how crude most of them are. The impact often shows no explosion because they lack a warhead. Their targets are frequently Israeli towns only a couple of miles away from the border.
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Removing the warheads allows them to travel further, but they are often just as effective as payload weapons – as the point is to terrorize the civilian population. Which they do. And BTW, each and every one is war crime.
they are often just as effective as payload weapons
really? you mean payload weapons rarely kill people either? and if you think gazan rockets are terrorizing try imagining how terrifying it would be if they were as effective as israel’s arsenal. night and day, 99 times more blood and guts all over the place. now that’s terrifying.
looking on the brightside, no one in gaza has the weaponry to be be making targeted assassinations on a regular basis either. in contrast, with the US shoving billions a year at israel funding these high tech deadly operations, as well as israels regular bulldozer excursions wiping out palestinian homes, and 3 am child stealing raids, the degree of terror experienced by israelis, is minimal. but you’re right, it’s a war crime.
>> Removing the warheads allows them to travel further, but they are often just as effective as payload weapons – as the point is to terrorize the civilian population. Which they do. And BTW, each and every one is war crime.
Guess what else terrorizes a population and is a war crime:
- terrorism and ethnic cleansing;
- the creation of an oppressive, colonialist, expansionist and supremacist state; and
- a 60+ years, ON-GOING and offensive (i.e., not defensive) campaign of aggression, oppression, theft, colonization, destruction and murder.
Yup, that’s pretty terrorizing and (war) criminal. But since your co-collectivists are on the giving – and not the receiving – end, it’s probably just “cool” or “good fun” or “Promised Land” to you.
Man, you are a hateful and immoral piece of Zio-supremacist work.
They aren’t removing warheads, they never had them.
Many of them are simply pipes with fins and a point welded to them filled with a crude propellant and fired across the border as an act of defiance.
If the roles were reversed, Sundance would have a film about them and applaud their ingenuity.
RE: “And what about the human rights reports after Cast Lead that showed that Israel targeted civilians” ~ Weiss
SEE: “Israeli reporter admits suppressing images of ‘piles of bodies of civilians’ when Israel went ‘crazy’ in Gaza”, by Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss, 1/20/13
LINK – link to mondoweiss.net
P.S. ALSO SEE: “IDF rabbinate publication during Gaza war: We will show no mercy on the cruel”, By Amos Harel, Haaretz, 1/26/09
ENTIRE ARTICLE – link to haaretz.com
“An overview of some of the army rabbinate’s publications made available during the fighting reflects the tone of nationalist propaganda that steps blatantly into politics, sounds racist and can be interpreted as a call to challenge international law when it comes to dealing with enemy civilians. . . ”
link to youtube.com
History repeats itself
Coiling down into the future
When it’s one second to twelve
The hands touch and furrow deeper
History repeats itself
I didn’t learn, I wouldn’t listen
I couldn’t see the books were on the shelf
For my concern, I never missed ‘em
P.P.S. AND SEE: “‘You are fighting a religious war against gentiles’: What rabbis told Israeli soldiers in Gaza war”, By Mail Foreign Service, The Daily Mail, 3/20/09
ENTIRE ARTICLE – link to dailymail.co.uk
RE: “[Y]eah, any person who’s in Gaza is a terrorist’ and all the other things that they stuff our heads with, in the media” ~ member(s) of the IDF speaking sarcastically (from the above-excerpted Daily Mail article)
SEE: “Israel’s Weird Elections”, by Uri Avnery, Counterpunch, 1/04/13:
ENTIRE COMMENTARY – link to counterpunch.org