Posted on 01/03/2009 8:51:24 PM PST by bruinbirdman
The large-scale Israeli offensive in Gaza has sent Hamas leaders and operatives physically under the ground. They are nowhere to be seen. None of them have appeared in public or in the media apart from a recorded speech by Hamas government chief Ismael Haniya. Prominent Hamas leader Nizar Rayan, who chose to remain on ground level, was killed Thursday by an Israeli missile attack on his house.
Supplies go into a tunnel in Gaza
For Israelis and Palestinians the whereabouts of Hamas leaders is no secret at all. For almost three years, Hamas was busy digging and building an extensive network of tunnels under the cities of Gaza and Rafah for military purposes, leaving smuggling tunnels across the border with Egypt for private entrepreneurs who pay lucrative taxes to Hamas.
Hamas has even taken the tunnels far away from Gaza to Hebron in the West Bank where Israeli authorities destroyed a one hundred-metre-long tunnel last November.
Ayemen Taha, a junior Hamas activist told the AFP news agency this week that
"communication between our people and the leadership has never been interrupted anywhere in Gaza, we are ready for any land attack on Gaza." He was apparently referring to the fact that the Hamas leaders are in the safe tunnels under Gaza City. According to the Israeli press these tunnels are well supplied, protected and equipped with efficient control and command centers.
Inspiration from Lebanon Hamas was inspired by the effective use of tunnels by the Lebanese Hezbollah against the Israeli attack in the summer of 2006. Tunnels were used by Hamas earlier against its Palestinian rival Fatah in the power struggle in Gaza in 2007. Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority who currently resides in Ramallah on the West Bank, earlier complained that
(Excerpt) Read more at radionetherlands.nl ...
If I was GWB, that’s the attitude I’d take to Americans as well. Again, if I was GWB, before I left office I would take to the airwaves and address America saying: ‘America, you are spoiled, selfish and immature, and if you don’t get your act together, and quickly, you are going to lose your country.’
I am not a great fan of the president, but the level of hate and vitriol that he has had to endure is just ridiculous. It is an embarassment to us all. But then I guess leftists don’t have the same embarassment gene that the rest of us possess.
That's what's coming, surf's up dudes.
BTW, Iranians are experts in digging tunnels. There may be some Iranians in Gaza, wouldn’t that be interesting to see them captured. Might happen.
You know Israel could just start to decide that those holes in the ground are perfect dumps for their surplus bleach and ammonia supplies.
OOPS .... did they dump those together? So sad.
Yep, what you said. And oh yeah, for all that digging they could have struck oil by now and not be ..ahhh..”impoverished refugees”.
Flamethrowers make *GOOD* tunnel clearing devices. So do incediary and fragmentation RPGs.
But a fuel-air bomb tossed into a tunnels entrance is even more impressive.
:-P
You mean thermobaric?
While attempting to clear a slow-draining pipe in my garage washbasin, I accidentally poured both separately in the drain. They're the main ingredients in 2 different drain cleaners; which is why you shouldn't use more than 1 type! When clouds of gas started pouring out, I quickly opened the water faucets, then the garage door and evacuated my family from the house. Scared the crap out of me and stunk up the neighborhood for a few minutes.
I think it would be a bit illegal for Israel to do this! I like the sea water treatment better, maybe throw in a bunch of sudsy detergent to clean those filthy rats (the 2-legged variety).
Time to send in Carl Spackler!
Longer lasting tech, hog manure! In Iowa we’ve got so much extra of the stuff our state is shaped in honor of its producers. We could flood every tunnel in Gaza and Lebanon and have plenty left for Damascus and Tehran. We’d happily send it just for shipping costs. Alas we’re well inland so it may be cheaper to acquire and ship it from #2, North Carolina. Just convert some of those empty returning oil tankers into full oink tankers and soon the neighborhood will be much improved.
Not hiding from fear, playing it smart. Vietnamese, Chinese, Russians, Germans, Romanians, Japanese, (etc) in fact MOST militaries have used the underground to survive during conflict. Heck the USA made miles of underground bases to survive conflict! During the revolutionary war our army had underground "forts". Food, powder, weapons, sleeping quarters, all underground. There is still one that was shown on the history channel. Russia right now still has HUGE underground bases and tunnels. Do you think we have less?
So Hamas is not being stupid or chicken. But mostly they will likely survive. As history has shown it is VERY difficult to root them out. Islamics are just a horrible death cult, but Hamas is not necessarily being stupid or cowardly. Just imitating all the other successful and occasionally unsuccessful armies in history around the world.
As we saw in Afghanistan, you can get your enemy when he goes underground, but you need to be smarter and need lots of the right weaponry. Unless Israel has not learned from all of history, they probably know this too. In the last conflict Hezbollah survived and inflicted casualties on the Israeli's due to their tunnels. The IDF probably learned and hopefully has made contingencies to deal with the tunnels in this conflict.
The next few days should show if they are able to wrap this up. If not it means the wrong side learned from the last conflict. Oh, and carpet bombing Gaza will probably do very little to get the leaders. During Vietnam we carpet bombed nearly all of Vietnam (north and south) and Cambodia. Same in Germany during WWII! Basically it has been found and seen (on TV no less) it was a waste of explosives and steel and we did little to harm them.
Until the IDF goes in and gets them, or seals them in (ALL ENTRANCES AND EXITS, or drives them out, or deep bunker busters them (very hard to do accurately), little will happen to end their miserable, evil lives. It didn't cause major degradation to the VC’s capabilities. Remember, one article said there are tunnels to Egypt to escape, and unless they got a branch of the tunnel before it reaches Egypt, some have already escaped.
As much as I hate to tell you all, Hamas did not build the tunnels just to hide, but also like every other army around the world, to have a chance to fight another day. The IDF’s determination and smarts will show if they are able to get them despite the tunnels. I have some hope because if I remember, here on FR the was a post that the Israeli's had asked us for earth peneatrators. Hopefully we gave them some or more likely the the technology to make their own.
In any event it will probably NOT be fully effective or quick.
The Islamists constantly letting their alligator mouth overload their hummingbird asses.
True - Armies use the underground/bunkers/etc for protection..
However - these SAME Armies also spend time above ground in a combative confrontation with their enemy...
We really haven't seen much of that from the Islamists...
Army on Army - man to man...
Because they know they'll get their asses kicked - so they devise a type warfare that requires Human shields, kidnapping, terror strikes, suicide bombers, killing unarmed civilians, etc......
Then - WE - the “civilized by stupid” world, refuse to fight these bastards in a manner that would negate their strategy...
We should show THEIR civilians no more consideration than they show their own.....
We destroyed German cities, Japanese cities — and killed a lot of “innocent civilians” in the process. But the wars ended in victory and in a LOT LESS TIME than this phony war is taking....
Jihad should NOT be fought by their terms and to their strengths...
We should fight their weaknesses and to our strength..
The only fair fight is the one you win....
It sucks to lose.
Only if they think they have a chance to win. Think about it, the VC, and only on their terms and ground out lasted us.
Yes there were tons of reasons we lost, but the VC, like Hamas with Israel understood our weakness was our pressure from the weak in society focused through the press.
That is what Hamas is doing. They don't need to fight as in a pissing contest, that is stupid militarily for them.
As I said they are being smart. They know weakies like the UN, and soon our own Dem President will give them a win. A win to them could be just gaining public opinion if the kidnap another IDF trooper. Or better yet, blow up a truck full of IDF troops. A real prize would be if they know out and Israeli tank. But the prime thing now is to survive so they can do it next week too.
Small win, but they will take it. They are not picky what type of win, any type will be fine, if they move one step forward... or survive this battle that would be a win too. They have patience, unlike their enemies (they think).
They don't want to make the statement they are a world class army, just to win what they want. NO army force of that size would want to push any further than they need to get their "win". So it is now smart for them to try a fixed peice battle, at least not against a technologically superior army.
That is just naive, bordering on out stupid to think so.
yitbos
[May their tes!]K!@s be doorknockers on the gates of Hell.]
Those cowards have rat tes!]K!@s and run to their holes like rats when confronted. They don’t have tes!]K!@s for doorknockers.
Unbearable? To whom?
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