Israel launches aerial assaults on Gaza

[Plane]

There is some illusion of smallness and weakness reguaring Isreal, and some illusion of greatness and strength of Isreals opponants.

The whole picture isn't in just comparing the land areas or population amounts.

Isreal has a lot of force multiplyer , Iran has a lot of fragility.
Egypt has a huge population and a lot of unemployment .
Syria is burning down , Lebanon is less than half recovered from having been burnt down.

There is too much ignorance to go around for anyone to expect any kind of happy ending, but I don't expect Isreal to loose the fight outrright even if all of the anti-Isreal forces were to get co-ordinated.

That fight would be awful , I think it worthwile to put it off another year , every year .

[BSB]

"There is some illusion of smallness and weakness reguaring Isreal, and some illusion of greatness and strength of Isreals opponents"

It's just the opposite. There is some illusion of greatness regarding Israel and some illusion of smallness and weakness regarding its opponents.

That's the whole point of pointing out the smell of napalm in the morning scene. Because of our military strength we were seen as the one with greatness, and the VC and NVA were seen as small and weak. But what happened? Who won?

Israel's "greatness" is an illusion.  They can only hope for momentary victories and then they're right back in the toilet.

BSB 

[Plane]

So far all they have is a long string of momentary victorys.

Do you support the assertion that Isreal will only loose once?

[BSB]

"So far all they have is a long string of momentary victorys"

Ever heard of Lebanon?

BSB

This is all too predicable.

[Plane]

"So far all they have is a long string of momentary victorys"

Ever heard of Lebanon?

BSB

This is all too predicable.

Yes Lebanon lost that one.

Over and over.

What did Isreal loose there?

I can imagine better and worse choices and outcomes, but would choosing to not be active or involved have been better for Isreal?

[sirs]

Since no one is serious about ending the conflict, & instead ranting around with non-starters, war is inevitable.  And unfortunately for the Palestinians, both modern history & the U.S. are on Israel's side

[Plane]

Since no one is serious about ending the conflict, & instead ranting around with non-starters, war is inevitable.  And unfortunately for the Palestinians, both modern history & the U.S. are on Israel's side

The value of another year of peace needs to be weighed with the cost of a war sooner rather than later.

Who really wants war to be inevitable?

[sirs]

I sure don't.................but, I'm not seeing any serious efforts otherwise. Xo did take a stab, to his credit

[Xavier_Onassis]

If Israel invades Gaza again, they will temporarily end the rockets,but they will have to repeat the whole thing again. Each time, the rockets will be more deadly, each time, the resentment against Israel will increase in the entire Arab world. Egypt has a border with Gaza, and Mubarak is gone. There are no permanent solutions in the latest phase of this war.

Eventually, Israel will be outnumbered. It could take 50 years or more, but in the end, Israel loses. Smart Israelis know this and favor a settlement. Netanyahu will not live so long that he sees the end, but it is coming, anyway.

The key element is the Arab population of Israel, that has been ignored by everyone,but could be ideal mediators.

There is a peaceful and harmonious solution possible, just as there was in Ulster (Northern Ireland).

[sirs]

There is a peaceful and harmonious solution possible, just as there was in Ulster (Northern Ireland).

Not until it's been made clear that there's no right of return nor any land for peace, as a supposed "solution".  Only those alternatives outside of those 2 non-starters are viable.....at least for the sake of Israel's existance

[Xavier_Onassis]

The return of stolen land for peace and financial compensation in exchange for the right of return are essential to any peace process.

Israel must pay for what it has stolen and the pain and suffering that it has caused.

[Plane]

The rockets are getting longer ranged and heavyer whether Isreal fights or not, on that score the more Isreal fights the better because they can disrupt the rockets and save a few lives every day they fight.

Taking over Gaza has a lot of advantages in that respect , but would make them responsible for law enforcement over the misery of survivors, so the cost is steep.

As the rockets grow the cost of not invading Gaza grows and adds weight to the scales that balance one cost against the other.

What do Gazans get for being the launchpad for Iranian ire?

Each one of these rockets is an official declaration of war on the part of Iran , and seems so far to have cost Iran nothing.

What if Irans population centers were included on the target list?

It would be ugly and cruel , and perfectly fair.

[sirs]

The return of stolen land for peace and financial compensation in exchange for the right of return are essential to any peace process.

Not going to happen until there's an extended time demonstrated by the Palestinians of their adoption of the right of Israel to remain, right where they are, with no more terrorist attacks and killing.  I've said 4 years.  After that, then Israel would be obliged to turn over lands, NOT stolen, but aquired in the defense of their very existence

They've tried the land for peace approach.  It didn't and still doesn't work, since there are no provisions that keep terrorists from attacking Israel, with lands closer to their populated regions.  That's why land for peace is a non-starter

[Xavier_Onassis]

The land for peace is the West Bank, dummy.That was stolen long after independence.

You are the epitome of ignorance on this.

[sirs]

And again with the insults.  It's like.....in your DNA.  IIRC Gaza was taken in defense of Israel, when Egypt, Jordan, and Syria attacked them, so no, it was not stolen.  You would be......drum roll......wrong