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The War of Ideas in the Middle East
If one wishes to reprise Iran's repression/brutality/ freedom, in contrast to Israel
one needs only to compare the status of Iranian Jews, which constitute a population of 75,000 to the status of Israeli Christians/Palestinians in Israel:
Jews are protected in the constitution of Iran (I believe Israel not only has no
constitution but has/does actively resist the creation of such a document) and have
a reserved seat in Parliament.
One, in reprising the effects of bombing Iran, should also consider that Iran is
home to the second largest Jewish population in the Middle East and that these
people are not actively choosing to emigrate to Israel although they are not
prevented from doing so.
And when Netanyahu unilaterally bombs Iran, spreads radioactive debris throughout the middle east and drags the US into yet another middle eastern war
to placate Israel's existential fears (while devestating the US economy), we can truly call it Eric Cantor's War, an event in which according to these accolades, he would take great pride.
It's far, far more than teeth grinding, when one realizes that while MEK terrorists are being trained in the US, collaboratively with Israel, the Department of Justice
was prosecuting the Holy Land Foundation (also the Occupied Land Fund) as a
terrorist foundation for the transmission of funds (for hospitals, schools, etc)
to Gaza, the Occupied Territories and Jordan. I believe that there was commentary that allegedly several of prosecution witnesses were Israelis
testifying under assumed identities. Although the appeal was lost, would this be
an appropriate time for a review of this situation?
Given Netanyahu and Barack's obsession with bombing Iran and their intense
push for Israel's hegemonic interests, making Israel a wedge issue in this election
cycle would appear problematic in this country which faces considerable economic instability, sky high unemployment, massive debt and which is all too weary of middle eastern wars undertaken in service of the existential security needs of another country, not our own.
News reports from France, as well as Sarkozy's comments would indicate that
the same assassin of the rabbi and his children, also in an earlier, similar action,
murdered French Muslim paratroopers. Perhaps this is the rationale for Mme.
Ashton's appropriately inclusive remarks.
You are right. For the US to enter this war, it would have to institute a national draft owing to the deleterious effects of Rumsfeld's stop loss policies, extensions of duty and too frequent rotations. While the American public might ignore the accurate and chilling prognostications above, a draft wherein us youth die for Israeli hegemonic aspirations and existential fears would bring the average american to instant rage, particularly in concert with bankrupting this all to indebted country.
Herewith the less than official foreign policy statement on Israeli relations with
its neighbors, including Iran as posted by Rachel Abrams, board member with
William Crystal of the Emergency Committee for Israel on her Bad Rachel blog:
Gnash Your Teeth, O Israel, and Rend Your Clothes
Tear your hair, mourn your dead, heal your wounded, and root out the bloody savages who shoot guns, mortars, and rockets at unarmed men and women going about their daily lives, and slit the throats of children and infants in their cribs.
And when you’re done with that, wrest back the Sinai from the hands of the Egyptians, who have lost the capacity, on account of the chaotic loss of capacity they’re calling “Spring”—or is it an intentional, a malign, unwillingness? Who’s to say? No “expert” expert enough—to prevent acts of terror committed against you from across that magnificent Mosaic landscape you handed over to them back in the mists of time and “Peace.”
And when you’re done with that, put the inhabitants of Arab-occupied Judea and Samaria—and their European defenders with their borne-in-the-blood anti-Semitism, and their sob-sister anti-Zionist American champions—on notice: They may go to the UN, get themselves declared a State, make Ramallah their capital—if Hamas will let them—and carry on pretending they are a noble people poised to create a civilized nation. But you know what they’re really after is the sight of your blood irrigating their olive groves, and you will never let that happen.
And when you’re done with that, send the rest of the world a message: Ha am im haGolan—the nation is with the Golan (and the Golan is part of the nation)—and you won’t be passing it along to Hizballah or Lebanon or Bashar Assad or whoever follows him in the Syrian sea of misery any time in the foreseeable future.
And when you’re done with that, turn your tear-stained faces toward the butchers of Iran.
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Posted by Rachel Abrams at 5:47 PM
0 comments
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2011
Unbelievable. This man is in a sterile hospital setting - and he has not been permitted any opportunity - for over 55 days - to shower, to change clothes, nor to attend to personal self care. I would interpret this as that he is chained to a bed, lying in his own filth. Of course one would not open an IV line - the risk for infection would be exceptional.
Is this the usual and customary standard of care in Israel for palestinian prisoners? Do the Israeli medical professionals who are responsible for his care make any, even the least comment? This represents the judicial system (remembering that he has been viewed by several judges) of the only democracy in the Middle East?
I agree with the above respondent. Excising comment on 9/11 is problematic
insofar as the event, and the issues surrounding US response to the event form
a crucial context for discussions of current issues such as the Israeli/US relationship,
the potential impending attack on Iran, the erosion of civil rights here, the US
inability (or willingness) to establish constraints on Israel domestic/foreign
policy, the rise of Islamophobia. Such a ruling encourages review of current events in the immediate as opposed to looking at long building patterns of behavior. I do
believe that US press/blogosphere have been rightly critized (and this site has
appropriately been doing some of that criticism) for not attending to key components of the larger context which place events/responses in a different light than would
otherwise be the case. I would suggest rethinking this ban - many people who
are not otherwise conspiracy theorists have grave doubts about 9/11 explanations,
and this group has been growing. Review of online opinions would suggest that
these people are also concerned that 9/11 was a key turning point in the US
as regards the aforementioned policies. If I am banned from this site for writing
this comment, so be it.
An important fact that was not mentioned in this interview, nor in the press outside
the middle east is Netanyahu and Lieberman's push for closer ties, trade and alliances with China, stating that the West is "irrelevent." Supposedly, they are
pushing for Chinese influence on Israel/Palestine/Middle East issues. Could a worst
case scenario be made for Israel dragging the US/UK into an economically and politically devestating war, which jeopardizes all US interests and then Netanyahu/Lieberman walking away from the carnage (after expelling the Palestinians and expropriating additional territory) to establish a "special relationship" with China.
You omitted +972 which has an excellent article by Yossi Gurvitz.
Is this not incitement? In a country wherein the political rhetoric during the last
election cycle was "over the top," and wherein in the 60's experienced a series of
political assassinations which have never been fully explained - John F. Kennedy,
Robert Kennedy as well as of black political leaders - Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers, and Malcolm X, this call for Mossad/Israel to assassinate a sitting black
president needs to be taken very seriously. Given the context, it should not be
possible to "walk back" this seemingly serious proposal.
Eric Cantor is far more vulnerable in this election. He has a strong, opposition
candidate. The 7th district has many households wherein the breadwinner is
stationed at one of the 27 military bases in Va, important since the election will be a referendum on Israeli foreign opolicy, notably our joining with them to bomb Iran. Not only is Cantor vulnerable for is social policies, his Young Guns superPac - affiliating with Paul Ryan but also his wife's former affiliation with Goldman Sachs and now with the secretive Alternative Investment Management LLC. (Note
Cantor torpoedoed the Congressional insider trading bill). His situation is ripe for
a thorough journalistic investigation altough it will be hard to get this through the
mainstream media since over 10% of the Cantor family financial holdings are in Media General -on which Mrs. Cantor sits on the board- this company owns 18 television network affiliated stations, 23 newspapers and 3 major digital media
advert/portal services. Alex Kane are you listening?
Is it not the case that we would have a fuller sense of Iranian production had
George W. Bush et. al. not outed Valerie Plame whose intelligence responsibility
was Iran? Was it the case that much of that intelligence network "collapsed" with her identification in our national media? Is this relevent to current discussions
- since we have sanctioned Iranian oil and banks on the basis of: "No one has a full
sense of the Iranian production plan there." I would add sanctions which have
the capacity to seriously erode any economic gains made in the past two to three
years. Will these sanctions, if agreed to by European countries, sink their already
weak banks thereby further weakening our own banking system? (I believe Mary
Shapiro this morning has requested that US banks disclose their holdings in European banks owing to concerns regarding their status.)
Given the issues in the 2000 election, the numerous concerns raised in 2004
regarding manipulation at the level of vote tallying, this issue of Elron Voxeo needs to move to the mainstream or at least have an investigative review since it possibly
foreshadows behavior that can become even more troubling as this country
moves through the election cycle. Also, since Netanyahu has made Israel's interests
a major wedge issue in this election, the issue of votes being tallied by a company owned by a foreign national with a major stake in the outcome is worrisome. Particularly, since tracking monies from foreign nation states to Super Pacs is now impossible with the Citizens United ruling.
I am surprised that non of the back channel comment regarding the votes
being tallied in an undisclosed location (other than the usual GOP headquarters) were
discussed as well as questions being raised as to whether Elron Voxeo were counting these votes in Iowa as they have done in the 2004 election. Answers to these concerns which address issues of transparency and bias would be important?
Actually, Israel in stating that it will build a wall on the Jordanian border as
well as on the Lebanese border (incorporating Shebaa farms) has prempted
any possiblity of a two state solution if one looks at the geography. If there
is a Palestinian state, it will be - in the tradition of Gaza - entombed by Israel,
with all avenues of ingress and exgress totally controlled by Israel as is now
the case. Again, a defacto unilateral establishment of Israel's borders, essentially
eliminating or encapsulating the West Bank. Could one anticipate that in the
case of an Iranian war that Palestinians of the West Bank are not only designated
as terrorists but also as " fifth column" belligerents, thereby legalizing the same
treatment as Gazans in Cast Lead with the added option of legalizing settler
"military" options against them?
I would agree with Mr. Blankfort. When one considers that CSP has
or had,depending upon the individual, US Senators (Inhoufe for example),
neocons who are active in the current election cycle - Feith, Abrams -
officers from high in the military and Department of Defense, this becomes a timely and important post since it links mainstream conservatives. "Israel firsters" and politicos with unbashedly racist and inciting videos which if produced in the US and presented on mainstream media channels would be immediately actionable. I think its important to see all of these videos in one place, as they reflect the ethos of Ms. Glick, her Center for Security Policy (CSP) associates, present and past, and obviously some aspect of the current Likud government. Will these videos be presented to the American public at some point during this election cycle so citizens of this country can personally evaluate the purposes to which their hard earned tax dollars are being directed and whether or not they reflect the democratic values enshrined in our constitution and Bill of Rights? Might they find the presentation of their US President in Al Jolson style blackface objectionable? racist? intended to incite hate?
Herewith Iran's responses to sanctions and the weaponry (pictured)
available - a far, far more formidable challenge than Iraq:
link to zerohedge.com
Does AIPAC ignore the fact that several Israeli and US players are quietly,
indirectly doing business with Iran? Are sanctions envisioned for these companies
or are there differing/flexible criteria as to who is sanctioned? All of this at a time,
when Israel is looking to ramp up trade with China, who will be all too willing
to scoop any Iranian oil.
Who represents all the soon to be unemployed when energy costs go through
the ceiling and US products are no longer competitive in export markets? Who
represents the people of the US when this precipitates an ongoing depression
at a time when our debt load is such that we have no resources to counter act
sky rocketing lack of demand and poverty? Does the US have to be pushed over
the cliff in order for Congress to give a least a small priority to the needs of the
citizens who elected them?
We cannot afford social security, medicare, medicaid, education, vocational training
or health care for our exisitng war veterans or other social services but we can - again - run up a multrillion dollar debt in war with Iran (which is opposed by many high level Israeli military commanders, present and retired). Perhaps this bill
could be informally submitted for a national (albeit informal) plebiscite on-line,
both in the US and in Israel to identify whether AIPAC really speaks for the
US citizen or the Israeli citizen. Such data might well create some understanding
among congressmen and senators of the orientation and interests of their constituents as well as give the Obama administration support for a more considered
foreign policy from the White House.
Actually, it all comes together with ALEC, the American Legislative
Executive Council which started the Atlantic Bridges US (the political, not
the health care Atlantic Bridges) which is the US sister organization to the
Atlantic Bridges UK. While BICOM was a big funder of Atlantic Bridges,
the relationship between AIPAC/ ALEC/Atlantic Bridges is slightly more
subtle with ALEC having many overlapping donors (e.g. Koch Brothers, et.
al.) with AIPAC as well as overlapping politicos, such as prominent ALEC
alumni Eric Cantor. Both Atlantic Bridges websites are down. Information
about ALEC, listing governing structures, board members, current state
and federal politician members and alumni can be obtained at the website
ALECexposed which makes for fascinating reading. To take a phrase from
Matt Taibbi, is ALEC and its network of relationships the US' own political
vampire squid?
With the Werrity/Fox scandal revealing that Mossad thought Werrity
was Fox' chief of staff, meetings with multiple disaffected Iranian
expats seeking to unseat Ahminedajad and the mullahs - all of which
contravened British foreign policy and with British outrage at the
situation - is this the reason Kristol needs to charge Obama with
leading the invasion of Iran? It certainly won't be Britain or any of the
European countries.
This is correct. Netanyahu holds the ultimate card - if Obama or anyone
in his administration puts the brakes on him, he has to simply bomb Iran.
The sequellae to this action have been well-spelled out: The Straits of
Hormuz close, oil prices go through the ceiling and the US economy
immediately tanks and drops even further as all of the Eurozone economies
fall even lower, with massive international bank failures, currency
devaluations and intense social unrest. Our enemies such as Russia and
China can be expected to escape unscathed, and massively profit from
the situation (Think of our major private assests being held by the Chinese
through their sovreign wealth fund). The human toll in poverty, famine,
disease and death would be unimaginable. Is this the reason that Gates
bitterly refers to Israel as an ungrateful ally?
Nothing will bury this nascent movement for social justice more effectively than the Democratic party.
This reflects considerable political naivete. This country faces a national
election in a year. In these post Citizen United times, we can expect
millions, if not billions of dollars of untraceable, non transparent
money to be thrown into the presidential race. The Occupy protestors
represent only small fraction of the discouraged, disposessed and
financially fragile in this country for whom social justice is simply
a pipe dream. These persons are neither the bastions nor the base of
the Republican party. The Young Guns such as Cantor and Ryan, with
their Wall Street super pacs would like nothing better than an
independent liberal candidate in the tradition of Ralph Nader to split
the popular, populist vote to guarantee the election of that pillar of
compassionate consevatism, Rick Perry or his ilk. Those that do not learn from history, live to repeat it.
history live to repeat it.
This comment by Shingo is correct. These settlers are defending an
economic life style - with housing, health insurance, education and leisure
amenities - which they could never afford should they be returned to
an Israel within '67 boundaries. That soldiers, border police, as well
immigrants (many of whom openly admit they could not - ever- attain
a similar standard of living in their countries of origin.) comprise much
of the settler movement should be no surprise, since they can be easily
motivated to operate as a paramilitary arm to Israel's other, many
military groups and operations.
Great post. However, the author might want to juxtapose this commentary
with the Saudi's strong comments that failure to support Palestinians in their attempt to attain statehood status at the UN (even though it will accomplish little on the ground) will in fact jeopardize our alliance with the Saudi's and throughout the middle east. When oil rises to $200 a barrel and when the price for a gallon of gas is $12.50 a gallon, when the economy dissolves owing to heightened fuel costs, when we face a severe depression in the face of massive deficit (something Roosevelt was not saddled with),
one can only anticipate severe blowback on the part of the public who already are shown in repeated polls to support a more even handed approach to middle eastern policy. This prediction only becomes far worse in a situation wherein our "shadow" state department" headed by Netanyahu, Lieberman, Barack, AIPC and their Republican co enablers, who have clearly high jacked US foreign policy in the middle east, lead us into a foolhardy war in Iran, a war for which we lack both financial and military resources to address even before energy costs blow through the ceiling.
Can someone provide a list of the 30 co-sponsors of this bill. Also
background information on the coordination of this bill with
AIPAC and conservative think tanks as well as information on
whether this proposal was floated by the 81 congress persons who
visited Israel this summer? There is a back channel story on the
concurrent presentation of these bills in the Knesset and in Congress
at exactly the same time that needs to be researched and presented.
And the context of Obama'sspeech was a political situation wherein the already paranoid Israel had been essentially evicted from three embassies - Turkey, Jordan and Egypt. Wherein Syria is in revolution, Libya is
moving rapidly toward a more - hopefully- democratic government. Israel
is more isolated in the middle east than it has been for a long time - all of
which problems are attributed to Netanyahu's impolitic diplomacy. A
plausible consideration for Obama was not only the issue of a Palestinian
state but whether his actions/speeches in response to this situation would
prematurely escalate the fall of Netanyahu's government. While the West
assumes that he would reformulate his coalition with Kadima, I would
submit it is far more likely - at this time - that the ambitious Lieberman would cobble together a majority (including the ever malleable Ehud Barack) to move Israel in the direction of essentially a strong Murabak-
style dictator who holds his power through affiliation with the generals.
Given the very unusual electoral process in Israel, this is more than possible. Such a government would virtually guarantee an annexation of the
West Bank, the annihilation of Gaza as well as military advances toward
Iran. Meanwhile - the Labor party is reviving and rebuilding and reaching
out to Kadima. The people of Israel who protested the economic conditions
are moving as rapidly to the left as the settlers are moving to the right.
Why not give the situation a tincture of time, allowing the popular movement to take root and strengthen - particularly with a prime minister
whose major talent is for repeatedly and consistently destroying own political position, nationally and internationally.
The issue represented by this phenomenon is significant. Israeli citizens,
holding dual, US citizenship ( as a back up in case their extreme rightist
policies create serious, military threats to Israel) reaching into American
politics to insure virtually unlimited financial support to Israel, total impunity as regards moral or international law, as well as an ill-considered mid east foreign policy which is diametrically opposed to US interests. No other foreign power has this "special" relationship. These citizens pay no taxes, hold no allegiance to this country and, particuarly, hold no allegiance to Obama as a result of his ethnic heritage - see Carolyn Glick/Latima production of Obama in blackface as well as Gabrielle Shalev comments on the Obamas and the "black elite", all of whom attended Harvard, in War in Context. It is clear that these israelis, many of whom are either settlers or share their political orientation, intend to ally with the monied interests of the Kochs, Mellon Scaife, etc in order to definitively impact the next presidential election. Given the Supreme Courts slap down of the campaign funding transparency laws, they can do so, leaving few if any footprints. Since their interests do not align with ours, since their loyalities are only to themselves and since their political philosophy is win at any cost, could they - under cover of "ambiguous" PACS ally with other countries who might also wish to control the outcome of our elections for their own purposes?
Also - consider that Netanyahu is also underscoring and amplifying
the perception that not only national but local politics are directed/
manipulated on the basis of what's good for Israel, not the US. Also the perception that Israel can reach into a local election and through funding, organized "boiler room calling" and propoganda strongly influence the outcome. This behavior coupled with lawfare (or threatened lawfare) against food co-ops (e.g. Olympia, Wash., Sacramento), art galleries (e.g. Oakland), educational institutions (e.g. Dr. William Robinson, UC Santa Barbara) makes clear the pressures brought to bear not only in US politics but also in everyday life. Some opine that the Israeli doctrine of disproportunate force is applied in these arenas as well as well as on the battlefields with Lebanon and Gaza.
Such pressures bring home to the common person in the street, that his/her elected representatives, his/her town, his/her education, his/her grocery store and his/her leisure activities can be negatively affected. At some point in all of this, irrespective of the silence of the mainstream media, these common people will "wise up" and cease voting against his interests. Is this one of the reasons that powerful Republican PACs are intensively pursuing vote caging?
This letter is overshadowed by Representative Joe Walsh's recently
introduced bill, which mirrors the bill introduced by Danny Danon in
the Knesset, to offer the US fullest support for Israeli annexation of
the West Bank. There are at least 30 other representatives who have
signed on.
This comment in 9.14 Haaretz, makes it past the censors: A Jewish
authority has taken shape in the West Bank and its goal is to replace the
state as a sovreign authority.... An I believe that these same settlers have
also been recently armed and trained by the IDF. Is severe political
change coming to Israel? How does Avigdor Lieberman, settlement resident, embed in this equation?
Cast Lead - from the eyes of the children of Gaza. Thanks for posting
this and the link to the MECA site.
My suggestion is that MECA scan the pictures, make slides and e-mail
them to Phil so they can be posted on this website and then linked by
all who would wish to post them at alternate sites. It is also the case
that the program book for the show has alreadybeen printed and
selected information from the book could be included. Children from
all over the world could be invited to share their responses and art -
making this a global event, as opposed to simply SF.
Since all of the above have most recently been to israel, escorted in some
cases by danny danon - what have they promised regarding the West
Bank and Gaza. Do they all follow Huckabee's dictum, "The Palestinians
need to go somewhere else?" Is this why Netanyahu can feel so confident
in humiliating Obama? Do these politicos represent a more potent
shadow foreign policy than that practiced by our elected officials. Is this
whence comes the confidence that gaza must be retaken and the west
bank annexed?
With the exception of Mike Huckabee, we hear great praise for Israel from
Bachman, Pawlenty et. al. but no real information on their position
regarding setting boundaries for Israel, although they assent to their
support for Israel as a Jewish state. Is the unspoken corollary, voiced
by Mr. Huckabee that the Palestianians need to be moved out of all of
Israel into a "Muslin" country? Given that Israel is the first stop in a
foreign land for most presidential candidates (as well as Eric Cantor's
meeting with Netanyhu here), what promises have been made to Prime
Minister Netanyhu and others? If the tacit promise were all of Judea and
Samaria or virtually all of Judea and Samaria with all the natural resources,
would it not be the case that Jewish donors would be more willing to fund
Republicans? Would this knowledge significantly pressure Obama's
foreign policy toward Israel?
The $ 3 000 000 000 000 is nothing compared to the 4500
dead soldiers and over 100,000 who sustained grievous physical
and mental casualties. We should all remember that the post
combat suicide rate from this war is higher than any other. These
lives represented - in many ways - the brightest, the best and
the most patriotic of our youth. We should also reflect on the
levels of medical, psychological and vocational assistance which they have not received - all while the federal government was
bailing out investment and commerical banks (think Goldman
Sacks; JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America) too big to fail.
We are all the "we" but we should wonder, particularly after the
Citizens United decision, if we are not losing control of the democratic political process.
The additional salacious pictures tweeted by Representative Weiner
- if posted by an individual with lessor power than a Congressional
Representative - could well be considered the grooming behavior
of a sexual predator, particularly the original picture sent to a
political admirer with whom he had no sexting relationship. Inquiring
minds would follow the path of his behavior and perhaps predict
that what is known today about Rep Weiner's sexual and risk taking
behaviors would suggest that what is public knowledge at this time
represents only the tip of the iceberg ( and one which is most probably
being intensively excavated by Breitbart and company). At a time
when this country is facing economic devestation, two disastrous wars
and exceptional levels of political volatility, Anthony Weiner represents
a vector that the Democratic party cannot afford.
Anthony Weiner is a pathological liar and possibly a sociopath. A rereading
his comments prior to admitting his involvement would suggests considerable inappropriate humor in his verbal play on words - all at the
expense of his victim, Genette Cordova, whose privacy was seriously
violated by his failure to immediately acknowlege his responsibility for
the lewd pictures. At the end of the day one would wonder if this man
is a closet misogynist ?
Actually, if one considers Danny Danon's recent op ed in the New York
Times, Israel's Likud party's proposal goes something like this:
Making Israel whole by unilaterally annexing Judea and Samaria
(the West Bank) while at the same time recovering Gaza. Given
current policies of land theft, unilaterally appropriating property as
"closed military" zones and continuing bullying, harassment by
unchecked settlers and military as well as defacto incarceration of
Palestinians in village ghettoes - the end result would be a brutally
apartheid country, but MK Danon feels that this would soon blow over
and that Israel has stood up to such criticism in the past with no lasting
negative consequences to Israel. This is a plan to create a "whole Israel"
without a Palestine or any basic human rights for Palestinians. How generous.
General Adnan Al Damiri, the official spokesman for the Palestinian security apparatus, said in an official statement that shots came from a tower on Al Mutawar Mountain overlooking Joseph's Tomb. Israeli police identified the dead man as Ben-Yosef Livnat, an occupied Jerusalem resident in his mid-20s.
From the Gulf News 4.24.11
This escalation has been long planned, simply an extension of
Cast Lead I,. From the Jerusalem Post 9.5.10:
"Ahead of Operation Cast Lead against Hamas in Gaza two winters ago, the IDF drew up a day-byday schedule of action – detailing the areas to concentrate forces and the specific targets to be hit. Divided into phases, the planned onslaught, if implemented in full, would have seen the IDF reconquer the Gaza Strip, ending Hamas’s rule and putting Israel fully back in charge of the area it had left in 2005, vowing never to return.
The campaign had been structured so that the approval of the political leadership was required in order to move from one major phase to the next. In briefings in the early days of the operation, senior IDF officials made plain that the army was acting precisely as planned in that daily schedule. As the operation intensified and time passed, however, it became clear that the IDF was being hamstrung by the politicians, who were dithering over whether to expand the campaign – to move on to the next major phase."
Does this also address the issue of "accidental errors" in targeting
civilians? I believe General Galant also has stated that "In war there
are no civilians."
This is abolutely correct. Cast Lead II fufills the IDF goal to "clean
out Gaza" - the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza having occurred prior to the knowledge of the gas fields. The current scenario of Gaza leaders
offering a truce and cease fire with Israel becoming increasingly
lethal, incursive and provative (so that a ceasefire becomes politically
untenable) is eerily parallel to the situation prior to Cast Lead I. The
motives are economic. Also, consider the strategic and economic importance of a deep water port in Gaza in combination with light rail and air transport, especially if a free Palestine were to develop economic
free trade zones throughout the middle east.
Its important to remember that these are not, according to AlJazeera
Wikileaks documents but "appear" to be from the Palestinian side. How
convenient that as the Palestinian's move the place their plight before
the Security Council the PA is discredited. Who benefits? Would Mossad
have the motivation and capability to facilitate such leaks under a false
flag. Would the Israeli ruling quartet of Bibi, Barak, Galant and Lieberman
have the political will for such an act. What steps would Israel find necessary to take to support their "security" in the situation of the ascent
of Hamas or a less pliant/more militant government in the West Bank?
One cannot consider this situation without also considering the current
instability in Lebanon, particularly in the light of Nasrallah's suggestion
that Hariri was assasinated by Israel.