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June 23, 2008
Israeli Factor in Iraq
Hamas terrorists in Gaza thanking Allah for
the recent Hudna
Here's an interesting article from Strategy Page that discusses the counter terrorist measures adopted by American troops from the Israeli model.
Perhaps the most vital strategic issue addressed in this analysis is that victory over terrorists can only be achieved when states abandon the notion that terrorism is a police, criminal problem—and moves effectively on the offense with aggressive military action.
The reason Hamas in Gaza have begged for a Hudna is because the Israeli Defense Forces have been eliminating their leaders and destroying terrorist cells with great efficiency. Has no one noticed that the Hamas leadership have gone to the mattresses for the past few months?
The leaders of Hamas and Hizbullah are terrified; in addition their resources have been seriously degraded.
That the Olmert-Livni-Barak government has accepted this Hudna is a sign of their ineptitude. It's no secret that the General Staff of the IDF are profoundly unhappy with the Hudna for it allows Hamas to rebuild their terrorist infrastructure, put new security measures in place, and rebuild their weapons capabilities by smuggling Iranian rockets and highly-trained Persian terrorists into Gazastan via tunnels from Egypt.
The jihadist Islamic world correctly views this Hudna as a victory for Hamas and Hizbullah. Of course the big winner is Iran, now solidifying their stranglehold on Lebanon and seeking hegemony over Gaza, thus surrounding Israel with two terrorist states who have vowed genocide against Israel and the entire Jewish people.
The recent Supreme Court decision handing Habeus Corpus to non-citizen terrorists is not just foolhardy, but deeply dangerous. In effect the court has extended the constitutional rights of an American citizen to Osama Bin Laden.
This is not how a state can effectively wage war against non-state actors.
In fact, it's a recipe for national suicide.
Barack Obama favors a return to the failed pre-9-11 policies—treating terrorism as a criminal problem.
John McCain correctly sees trans-national terrorism as a security threat that can only be defeated by an effective military.
No wonder the Islamic world is cheering Barack Obama's candidacy. They know a leaky vessel when they see one.
For political and diplomatic reasons, it's not likely that the Israelis will get the credit they deserve for the defeat of al Qaeda in Iraq. But it was Israeli concepts and tactics that helped bring IED (roadside bomb) casualties down from a high of 84 a month in May of 2007, to a low of 9 in May of 2008. While the new armored vehicles (MRAPs) and other technology (jammers and UAVs) played a role, it was the Israeli concept of going for the brains behind the bombs, that tore the heart out of the Islamic terrorist organizations in Iraq.
The armed forces of the U.S. and Israel have long worked together, to exchange tactics, techniques and technology. One of the items the Israelis shared was the tactics they developed to defeat a Palestinian suicide bombing campaign that began in 2000 (after Palestinian radicals refused to accept a recently negotiated peace deal).
The Palestinian terrorist groups still say they are going to destroy Israel. But as a practical matter, the current round of Palestinian terrorist violence is over. You can see this by the sharp decline in successful terrorist attacks, and the frequent pronouncements from the terrorists groups that they are going to behave, for a while anyway. What the terrorists really want is to avoid any more of the Israeli tactics that shot down their terrorist operations. This included going after terrorist leaders and technical specialists, and either capturing or (failing that) killing them. Raids and air attacks were made against buildings used by the terrorists, and tight security on Israelis borders were instituted. This last measure crushed the Palestinian economy, which put popular pressure on the terrorists to stop their attacks, and promise to keep it that way. The Israelis also set up an increasingly effective intelligence system inside Palestinian territories. What the Israelis did was "take the war to the enemy." This is an application of the old maxim, "the best defense is a good offense." This particular war is still going on, but the Israelis only adopted their winning tactics in 2003 and two years later the terrorists were rendered largely ineffective.
To read the complete story, please click here.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at June 23, 2008 10:34 AM
Comments
Seraphic Secret is private property, that's right, it's an extension of our home, and as such, Karen and I have instituted two Seraphic Rules and we ask commentors to act respectfully.
1. No profanity.2. No Israel bashing. We debate, we discuss, we are respectful. You know what Israel bashing is. The world is full of it. Seraphic Secret is one of the few places in the world that will not tolerate this form of anti-Semitism. That's it. Break either of these rules and you will be banned.
I favor full constitutional rights for all terrorists and suspected terrorists.
Printing the Miranda warnings on all of our cluster bombs should about cover it.
Posted by: Jake at June 23, 2008 12:26 PM
Jake:
The practical result of this foolish supreme court decision is that far fewer prisoners will be taken on the battlefields—for soldiers will be intimidated that they will end up in civil courts being sued by the ACLU and other jihadist organizations.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.seraphicpress.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at June 23, 2008 01:04 PM
Use of the courts to get what you want, even in the face of overwhelming public opinion and common sense, is becoming commonplace in America.
I think we all want the courts to be there in case there are blatant cases of Consititutional rights being destroyed. But Guantanamo, by any objective standard, is not a blatant abuse of power and is not unprecedented either.
Those who feel the courts are the better place to create law have a tremendous loathing for the American people. I have disagreed with the popular polls many times, but never have I felt that my American opponents were the victims of some kind of mob mentality.
To accuse those of us who want to crush our mortal enemies of being mob-like is disgusting. I would hope we would start to see that.
Posted by: Jake at June 23, 2008 01:16 PM
A more accurate description of the current Israeli government.....if it can be called that...
would be Olmert....Barak....Yishai....
If Shas would put the country first, instead of their own narrow interests, this failed government would have fallen months ago.
I just hope the current move to vote no confidence will make its way and will finally give Israelis the chance to correct the mistake that was the Kadima party.
Posted by: Lance at June 23, 2008 02:19 PM