The Inconvenient Truth of Palestine

If they had that kind of intelligence capabilities, they would have been prepared for what happened last week. You can't launch surgical strikes if you don't know where the targets are. Even if they did, the population is so dense even surgical strikes would result in civilian casualties.

 

Maybe you meant your question rhetorically, but you asked folks here who supported terrorism.

 

That's true. But the US had intelligence failures on 9/11 too, but we did not start carpet-bombing Afghanistan on 9/12. Instead, we assessed the situation and gathered intelligence as to where Taliban targets were for a month before military action.

There is no reason why Netanyahu and his political/military apparatus can not do the same. Seems it would help spare some IDF and innocent Palestinian lives.

I stand with the Jewish and Palestinian peoples, not with Netanyahu, not with hamas.

 

Nothing humane about either, one is simply easier for some to stomach because they can pretend it’s methodical and reasoned.

 

If Al Qaeda was based in Toronto, I’m quite confident that we would not have waited months to attack after 9/11, or been quite so deliberate in our planning. That was a luxury that came from being on literally the other side of the world rather than the other side of a fence.

 

Agree. Very few large barrels don’t have a few bad apples. Unfortunately they often cause more problems than their numbers warrant. Unfortunately human nature allows good apples to be adversely influenced by bad apples, especially when staying the good apple course is a rocky road. Unfortunately, from my personal observations, human nature also leads many to covet their neighbor’s ass/ox/vineyard/Rolex/etc. and makes forgiving and repenting personally difficult. Wishing that your recognition of the positive individual moral efficacy of religion was more prevalent.

 

What about closer proximity to the target necessitates a faster response?

 

The proximity makes it a much bigger and more immediate continued threat.

There’s a lot more opportunity and ability for me to stop someone trying to get to me from another continent than there is for me to try to stop the guy down the street.

 

Not only that, we would have secured the best side of Niagra Falls.

 

Surely, sir, you will be equally as effective advocating for the unequivocal and unconditional surrender, forthwith, as you have been in advocating for Israel to act with divine restraint and not justly smiting its sworn enemies. I ask only, sir, that you advocate smartly (meaning without delay) in that direction versus the ultimately pointless course of action you have elected heretofore. I thank you, sir, for your kind attention.

 

You're welcome.

 

You think Hamas is a threat to Israel right now inside of Israel? I don't see that. I see no reason why Israel couldn't give them several days to evacuate.

 

Is this a serious question?

Yes, I tend to think that actively firing rockets into Israel as we speak and being at most four days removed from having operatives inside Israel thanks to a ground invasion into Israel likely qualifies as being a threat to Israel. As does pretty much everyone outside the Arab world.

 

You think the whole dirt bikes and bulldozers and hang gliders routine would work today? The only reason that worked last week was the element of surprise due to a catastrophic failure of Israeli intelligence. Hell, commercial flights aren’t even suspended anymore. The threat of Hamas inside of Israel lasted for a few hours last Saturday. That same threat absolutely does not exist today nor in the next several days if Israel actually wanted to give the Palestinians a realistic amount of time to evacuate. 24 hours is a joke.

 

I think there is some bloodlust at play here. Which is understandable but just own it. The 24 hours thing is an absolute joke and the UN is right for calling them out on it.

 

The idea that anyone in the world would respond to that attack with “we’re going to go to war with you in two weeks, prepare yourself accordingly” is absolutely absurd.

Hamas is actively firing rockets into Israel right this second. They’re issuing joint statements with other militant groups calling for them to “restore the glory” of martyrdom attacks. They have a long history of successfully pulling off at least minor attacks within Israel.

I’m not going to say that, because Israel has - other than last week - been pretty successful in fending off Hamas attacks, they should publicize their war plans weeks in advance to let their opponents prepare for them.

 

Maybe they are signaling a northern route but planning a move from the south.

 

But “we’re going to go to war with you in 24 hours, prepare yourself accordingly” is not absurd? The evacuation warning was absolute bullshit lip service. They are running advance damage control on a massive humanitarian shit show that's about to unfold. They have every intention of inflicting civilian casualties on a grand scale. It's ok to admit that.

 

I agree that it’s damage control, but primarily because they know, you know, I know, and the whole world knows that most people aren’t going to leave in the first place no matter how much notice Israel gives them.

But to the extent they were going to, no, I don’t think “move ten miles in the next day” is an unreasonable ask.

 

The issues between Jews and Palestinians are not religious bigotry. It is over territory. Hanas is religious bigots. It is in their charter. But they are a smaller, subset terror organization