WhatFinger


The Winds of War

Operation Cast Lead—The Second Day



Israel's Operation Lead Cast is concluding its second day. While the air strikes are done with medical precision, Israel is already losing the war in the Public Diplomacy Front. The world is waking up, angrier than ever before. The constant bombardment of Israeli towns and cities, ongoing for years, has not bothered the giant: nothing but flies that were to be ignored. When Israel is finally taking action, the giant has been disturbed from its rest, soon to start roaring with anger.

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"Fighting terror is in everyone's interest, it should be a global goal. The softer we are, the stronger the terror and its reach." This is the message that should be resonating from Israel – it is a global war and should be a global effort. Is anyone listening? The window of opportunity seems to be closing. Hamas declared that while Israel can start a war, only Hamas will decide when it ends. The message resonates: Israel reacts, Hamas controls the future. The unknown keeps looming, threatening Israel: Will Hizbollah attack from the North? Will there be an attack against Israeli or Jewish targets around the world? Hamas needs a "quality operation," much like Mumbai, in which Israelis and Jews are targeted and murdered en masse. If, like in Mumbai, the kidnapped are also tortured and mutilated, it would be a bonus. In public statements, Hamas calls to kidnap a female soldier or an Air Force pilot. Israeli Arabs are demonstrating throughout the land, from Arab villages in the north, via Jerusalem to Bedouin villages in the south. The Police warns that "the Right of Protest is NOT a right to inflict harm on the innocent or damage property." The Israeli Police will use an iron fist to ensure the public order is maintained. The Police is ready, may be overwhelmed with an ever growing number of events, but will carry its mission. The Police calls the leaders and members of the Arab sector to exercise self restraint. Sunday, December 28th, 2008, the second day of war: The Israeli Air Force (IAF) continues its precision missions, targeting tunnels on the Palestinian side of Gaza, destroying more than 40 tunnels; The government authorizes to call for service 6,500 reservists, adding to the 2,000 called yesterday. The force is used to augment the current regular army; Dichter, the Public Security Minister states that "Israel will not allow a terrorist authority with military capabilities between Israel and Egypt;" Russia calls Israel to halt its operations immediately. Turkey calls Israel to stop the Holocaust. Demonstrations throughout the world spread; At Midnight Sunday, 34 political parties will submit their final lists for the upcoming February elections. Should the elections be postponed? The leaders of the different parties – PM Olmert, FM Livni, Defense Minister Barak and Opposition Leader Netanyahu all show a unified front. Political commentators constantly deal with "possibilities:" Who among them is to gain from the current activities? Should the elections be delayed? …; In increasing radii, people are not allowed to congregate: 20km - at all, 30km - up to 50, 40km - not more than 500. Schools are still out due to the Hannukah Holiday, when they are back in session, schools in a 20km radius will remain closed. Agricultural workers in a certain radius are not allowed to go out to the field so that they will not become the targets of sniper shooters; A barrage of rockets, mortar shells and missiles continues to hit Southern Israel. Their reach now extends 42kms (26 miles). The Home Front is distributing leaflets to residents in cities as far away as Beer Sheva; A new website for Emergency Preparedness has been launched; Two "COLOR RED" announcements in the Port City of Ashdod, where a major electrical generating plant for the South (including Gaza) is located; After the MFA meets with representatives of UNSCO, UNRWA, the Red Cross and WHO, the Minister of Defense authorizes the IDF to open the border crossing for a humanitarian aid transfer of 23 truck loads of food and medical equipment to Gaza; The Foreign Ministry has nominated Ambassador Gillerman, the former ambassador to the UN, in charge of communications with the Foreign Press. Speakers in all languages have been made available to the foreign press. Constant updates are sent to the Foreign Press from the Foreign Ministry. Foreign Diplomats are briefed. A public relations "blitz," a successful exercise? Israel seems to be demonstrating – to itself – that the lessons of the War (2nd War in Lebanon, Summer, 2006) have been learned and implemented. Have they really? What is the exit strategy? Will air power suffice or a ground operation be needed? What happens when the IAF runs out of air targets? When does the world community reach a critical mass to forbid Israel from continuing the military operation? Will the Israeli leadership have the determination to follow thru? Israel cannot afford another withdrawal, another defeat. If the military is not backed up by the political leadership, if its wings are restraint, we are bound to fall prey to our enemy. Thus it is crucial that the determination will not waiver, that the Israeli public will continue supporting Operation Lead Cast. The Israeli public understands. From the Northern border to south of Haifa, Israelis have felt the barrage of missiles that could not be stopped during the 2nd War of Lebanon in 2006. The residents of the South were under a constant stream of missiles for years. It is time to change the equation – from being a population under siege to responding. A rocket must have a price. It will not longer be tolerated. Questions: 1. Israel is very concerned with the humanitarian conditions of the Gazans. Hamas, on the other hand is using the same population as a human shield. a) What do the international air organizations do to lessen the impact on hundreds of thousands of Israeli residents in the South (factories are closed, kids have to stay at home, rockets are falling)? b) What happens when there is a toll of human life – women and children – due to a miss hit or Hamas rat-"warriors" acting from within homes populated with civilians? 2. The land operation has not commenced yet. Gaza is completely booby trapped, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the first Israeli soldiers (and every wave thereafter). Should Israel sacrifice the lives of its soldiers by putting a higher price on the lives of the enemy than its own? 3. Israel has shown determination during the first two days of fighting. Operation Cast Lead is attempting to change the equation that Hamas can constantly target Israeli civilian population without any reaction from Israel. Determination and externalizing the lessons of the last war are repeating the past. We look back rather than forward. Does Israel have anything new in its arsenal? 4. Neither Hamas nor Hizbollah (and definitely Iran) has shown its true nature yet. The danger is lurking – a fierce, dangerous dragon. They, too, use the same elements as before – worldwide condemnation, protests of hundreds of thousands, luring Israel to a well prepared trap, willingness to sacrifice the lives of the population without a second thought, an international media blitz of pictures of blood and body parts, the aggressor as the victim, the humanitarian crisis, the Ghaza Holocaust. They need not do anything different – all methods proved successful before, they just need to be repeated. Again, Israel is walking a very fine line – whatever Israel does is judged against it. The propensity to err is enormous. Will we see a different Israel, a different approach, the ingenuity and creativity and bold moves that characterized Israel in the past? 5. Israel's fight is not its own – it is a fight for sanity, a struggle to maintain the 21st Century way of life. In the clash of civilizations, Israel is at the forefront. What should be done to convince the world this is a fight of the Hamas Islamists, part of a greater effort of Iran to establish a Muslim Caliphate, currently already extending from Iran via Iraq to Syria and Lebanon to the shores of the Mediterranean? E-mail: aribussel@gmail.com

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