We saw the other day how a quantity of radioactive material "vanished from an Iraqi research facility. While not fissionable....it can't be used for a nuclear device..it is absolutely perfect for a dirty weapon.
What the terrorists lack is a viable, and reliable delivery system. They can't just stick it on the end of one of Hamas' missiles...even if the device worked..which itself is highly unlikely...as the Hamas rockets are unguided..even if they survived Israel's "Iron Dome"..there is no probability they would hit a viable target.
But Hamas does possess the perfect, low tech, WMD delivery system..the tunnel network.
Imagine a terrorist suicide squad ( dressed in IDF uniforms)..emerging from a tunnel in a populated area..and releasing a chemical or biological weapon..or dispersing radioactive material.
Think of the deaths, and even worse..of the impact it would make on the civilian population.
The fact that Israel acted right now to take down the tunnel network makes one wonder if they feared an imminent attack...if they had some indication that the terrorists were planning something.
And given that Obama has once again caved to Iran...postponing any "resolution" about their nuclear program unlit AFTER the mid terms...one also wonders if this means that an Israeli strike..similar to the Osirik raid in 1981 that destroyed Saddam's nuclear site..is imminent.
That’s only one reason. A big one, but yet only one. Is there a reason to leave them intact?
Israel doesn’t need a reason to destroy any tunnel it finds that it didn’t know anything about. The only reason ANY Palestinian would need a tunnel for is TERRORISM. Nuke each hole. It’s the only way to be sure.
One way to obtain a few IDF uniforms (for ferrying a bus loaded with WMD or an ambulance) is to snatch IDF soldiers then process their uniforms for terrorist use. It has been done again and again, tot he point that once a military maneuver is launched special ID is required for all facing the enemy. BTW, the tunnels are excellent means to pop up and snatch IDF or just hostages.
I think they just want to stop Hamas from smuggling anything (or anyone) in or out of the Gaza Strip, and destroying the tunnels is the key to doing that.
I suspect that the tunnels hold lots of rockets and other munitions.
The conflicts between Hamas and Israel remind of “Groundhog Day”. Hamas usually starts the conflict and then Israel responds. When Hamas starts to run low on Rockets they agree to some kind of U.S. Sponsored Cease Fire with the assistance of some Arab countries. Then everybody retreats to their previous positions and all is quiet for sevral months or perhaps a year and then it starts all over again and this cycle has repeated itself many times over the last 2 decades. At some point in time, Israel is going to have to kill all the Hamas Militants,their government and military leaders and cut off all supply of arms if this cycle is going to end. The U.S. needs to quit reigning in Israel and help them finish the job.
Do they need a reason to destroy them other than they belong to Hamas and they stretch from Gaza into Israel?
There is a factor I simply don’t comprehend about the border tunnels both in Israel and the US southern border:
In WWI both sides were able to detect tunneling quite easily with the tech at the time. Today, it can easily be done remotely.
While I’d understand if it weren’t discussed publicly by the Israelis, I’m half wondering if they know where ALL of the tunnels are and, as you assert, may have had tangible intel on which to act.
On the other, it’s patently obvious the will to act to detect & interdict the US southern border tunnels is lacking...on any level. Or, perhaps, this ‘bum rush’ to the border is a symptom that their detection is better than publicly discussed (the idea that this ‘crisis’ is engineered in part by the cartels to facilitate their drug smuggling).
Very interesting, nonetheless.
Why fall for the left’s WMD fetish?
The tunnel are:
1. unauthorized border intrusions.
2. the work product of sworn enemies of Israel.
3. not permitted or inspected by the local authoritis.
Any one of those 3 points are reason enough to destroy the tunnels. Heck even the Obama administration destroys tunnels from Mexico into the US.
The Israelis could use a simple system to get rid of tunnels quickly—similar to systems long used in the US to get rid of moles and gophers.
In the US, gaseous propane (heavier than air) is sprayed into a hold, then an igniter is inserted into the hole and !pop!, not only are the moles and gophers killed, but the walls and ceilings of the tunnels collapse.
A decidedly low tech way of doing this in Hamas tunnels would be to rig a heavy truck with a horizontal propane tank, with its nozzle pointing down into a wide hose going into a tunnel entrance, and a medium quick release valve. (It cannot fully release all at once, or it would lift the truck off the ground.)
And then pitch in a hand grenade.
In World War II, the US Marines did a similar trick by rolling 55 gallon drums full of gasoline into Japanese tunnels, followed by a grenade, but that was as much oxygen stealing fire as it was explosion.
In this case, just a three step process. Park the truck, run the hose in, turn on the propane, move the truck away, and toss in the grenade. Very quick and cost efficient.
The only modification it might need would be if it is suspected that large amounts of explosives are in the tunnels. When you want to insure that everything in the tunnel is burned to a crisp, not just buried, you would use a thermobaric weapon. It would be much the same as the propane, but burn much hotter and longer.