Posted on 06/30/2006 6:20:04 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
The Palestinian militants have kidnapped a second Israeli soldier and have threatened to kill him unless Israel ends its military offensive in the Palestinian territories, the radical Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades announced overnight on Friday.
In a statement received by AFP in Gaza City, the armed group, loosely affiliated to Fatah Party, called for "the end of the Israeli offensive" and "the lifting of the blockade" in the territories.
"If our demands are not met, the Al-Aqsa Brigades will kill the kidnapped soldier," the statement said, without giving any details of the kidnapping.
The soldier was seized in the West Bank, the group said. They named him as Hoffmann Kfeir Samuel, aged 24, a resident of Hulul, south of Tel Aviv.
There was no immediate Israeli response to the kidnapping claim.
The group also demanded the release of Hamas ministers and deputies seized by Israeli forces following the earlier kidnapping of 19-year-old army corporal Gilad Shalit, along with the release of "all the other detained Palestinians".
The Israeli army launched a major air and ground offensive earlier this week, largely in the Gaza Strip, following the kidnapping of Shalit.
(Excerpt) Read more at english.aljazeera.net ...
They are actually trying to push the world to all out war. They believe this will usher the return of the big "Mo".
If fact, if you look at everything they do, it is not to gain tactical advantage...it is simply to incite war...they are actively trying to start Armegeddon...that is the whole purpose of their actions. Once that is understood, everything they do makes more sense...in an evil warped sort of way.
"Bush administration: STOP handcuffing Israel and let them take out the trash!"
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Ummm, I don't think anyone's listening. They're eating peanut butter and banana sandwiches and visiting Graceland. Stupid Roadmap for Peace visions dancing before their eyes...
I very much doubt they have "thousands" capable of reaching anywhere in Iraq besides maybe Basra, or other border cities. They certainly don't have "thousands" capable of reaching Israel. Even Saddam had to launch his Scuds from the western part of Iraq to be able to reach Israel. Iran has better missiles than that, but only a few tens of them, at most. Israel can shoot down a few tens, as can the US forces in Iraq. Besides, they can't launch them all at once, and once they'd launched a few, the launch sites for the rest would cease to exist It's not 1991 anymore.
Yes, I understand it is not 1991 anymore, but Iran still has stock piles of missiles pointed into Iraq. It is much the same situation as North and South Korea with artillery and missiles lined up on the boder. Hezoballah in Lebanon has nisiles and rockets pointed into Israel.
All I am saying is that this would be a full scale operation. If nuke sites had to be taken out, I do not believe israel could handle all of this on their own from warplanes. American naval vessels would be needed with long range missiles.
That is off the main subject, but it all comes together to a point. My point is that I do not believe Israel could handle all of this on their own. They are no "held on a leash by liberal George" because America doesn't rush off to war or nuke them on the spot. Its just too big of a job for them to handle solely on their own.
by the way, Baghdad is about 100 miles from Iran.
I know, but I still say they don't have "thousands" of missiles that can go that far. The missiles in Lebanon can reach northern Israel, but not Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, unless the Syrians have moved some heavier ones (back?) into the Bekka valley. The Israelis could handle a few missiles at a time, the long range type. We can handle a few at a time in Iraq. What does not exist in either place is the sort of weight of metal the N.Koreans have along the DMZ, which is tube artillery, close enough to Seoul to be a big problem. The situations are not at all comparable.
Spanish Civil War, 1936:
Colonel José Moscardó was the Nationalist commander holding the Alcázar of Toledo against Republican forces.
During the 70 day siege, Colonel Moscardos son Luis was kidnapped by the Red forces and a telephone call to him stated that his son would be shot unless he surrendered the Alcázar.
Colonel José Moscardó asked to speak to his son on the phone and his son asked his father what he should do.
Colonel José Moscardó then told his son, "Commend your soul to God and die like a patriot, shouting 'Long live Spain.' "
"That," answered his son, "I can do."
His son was shot and the Alcázar of Toledo never fell.
I think the main reason the administration won't give Israel a green light is because the U.S. is not anxious to be fighting wars on several fronts right now.
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