SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
With the UN calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip an article written by Gary Brecher and first published in 2012 by NSFWCORP (now part of Pando), lessons from Gaza - suggesting that Palestinian durability may beat Israel's high-tech weaponry, remains remarkably relevant today.
What's going on in Gaza is war, but not the kind any commander from the past would understand. On paper, Israel should be winning easily, because they've got the weapons, the numbers, the organization. The weapons Hamas is firing into Israel are primitive things, unguided rocket artillery, the kind that couldn't hit the ground if it wasn't for the law of gravity. On the other side, the Israelis get the best weaponry the US can give them.
But it's not that simple. Israel may win this battle, but it's lost the war already. You see that in the confusion the IDF shows about what to do. They've tried stomping hard on Gaza. In late 2008 through early 2009, "Operation Cast Lead" sent IDF troops and planes smashing into this tiny overpopulated slum. They killed 1400 Palestinians, and it didn't do much but make everybody sick to their stomachs - including even some Israelis, once they got over their initial gloating.
(Score: 1) by Techlectica on Monday July 14 2014, @05:21AM
Ha! Both sides should be so lucky. Unfortunately there appears to be no Palestinian claimant to the mantle of Nelson Mandela, (and if there was, AIPAC and Israel-friendly interests in USA media corps would make sure you never heard about them). Israeli right wing fanatics also seem to assassinate any possible P.W. Botha emulators. There might have been a chance to accomplish something lasting in the 80s after the Camp David Accords, but that was deliberately sabotaged. Shamir, Netanyahu, and Arafat are the architects of this Charlie-Foxtrot. One of these days Israel is going to be facing a loony tune who won't care that Israel has nukes (the self-styled Caliph leader of ISIL is the current best bet but it's doubtful he'll be the last), who will tap into a lot of deep-seated anger at Occidental (mainly American) intervention in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East (thanks to W), and who Russia and China will be more than happy to supply with weapons to weaken American Middle Eastern influence.
At this point the best we can hope for is that if it goes biological it won't spread too far beyond the Middle East (a faint hope at best given commercial aviation). OK the real best we can hope for is that something like Polywell will make fusion a practical replacement for oil and result in nobody caring about about the Middle East except for its inhabitants, but there's a lot of entrenched interests who prefer those funds get spent on tax breaks for multinational oil corporations and propping up the Israeli economy.