reply to post by Yissachar1
First a salute from one ex-soldier to another. You've earned my respect right there regardless of the uniform you wore.
Keep digging and doing your homework and I promise you this won't be your last epiphany. Follow the truth where it leads and remember history damns
us all. Accepting the truth about ones self or ones people takes more grit than most of us have.
As to the commando boarding of the boat, at first flush I thought that it was a horribly botched operation from either perspective. But, on second
thought I saw that everyone walked away with what they came to the party to get.
The flotilla got their headlines and Israel got to provoke and yes I do believe it was a direct provocation.
Back in January I read a piece in the Debka files about how Iran through Hizbullah has attack plans to hit Israel from three directions should Israel
attack Iran. The plan it to take cities near the Lebanon border hostage to tie down the IDF as Syrian troops move missles to positions near the Golan
Heights.
I learned long ago Debka is a mouthpiece for Mossad so I took the article with some salt. Since the time of the article some things have happened to
cause me to believe what they said. Tactically it's a good plan so long as they have the troops trained the way they need to be.
From Israel's perspective sooner is better than later to deal with this. The longer they wait the worse the attack will be.
So, from the PR angle which is the smarter thing to do. Take it on the nose publicly for shooting a few peaceniks on a supply boat to get Hizbullah to
launch an attack on Israel that Israel is prepared for. Or, should Israel begin a unilateral bombing campaign on Southern Lebanon followed up with
ground war that Israel is prepared for? Or, lastly, should Israel be cool, sit patiently and wait until Hizbullah is ready to make their move and risk
a bad surprise?
For my money the least smelly option is to do exactly what they did and hope Hizbullah takes the bait and over reacts. Think about it. If you were
making plans for war wouldn't you want the operation to happen on your schedule? Plus, if Hizbullah jumps in now imagine how soon the peaceniks will
disappear from the nightly news.
I wouldn't go so far as to call the planning an act of genius but it would be a damned smart thing to do.
Does any of the above mean that I support Israel in this. No, not at all. And to the peaceniks I'd say that if you go out looking for a fight someone
will help you find it but hell, you already knew that.
If the loons on both sides keep it up the earth will end up with a piece of glass you can see from space. Maybe several if you look at worst case.
In the end I guess I can say that I'm no friend of Israel and I can blast them for a lot of what they do but not this time. I believe there is method
to the madness on both sides and, in this case, some poor melodrama on both sides. Two acts of stupidity cancel each other out.
Considering how the Israelis and Palestinians must live day to day I marvel that every last one of them isn't suffering from some sort of psychosis
and quite possibly they are. Can you imagine what it will look like the day both sides have had all they can stand of the other. With all that pent up
hatred, rage and insanity. Egad what a mess.