Posted on 03/03/2002 1:14:39 AM PST by Gorons
Report: IAF jets bomb Ramallah targets
Israeli Air Forces F-16 jets are bombing Palestinian Authority police headquarters in Ramallah at this hour, according to Palestinian sources.
The sources also said helicopters fired rockets at offices adjacent to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat's compound.
Elsewhere, IDF tanks shelled the PA's General Intelligence Service headquarters in the West Bank village of Salfit earlier this morning, Israel Radio reported.
There are no reports of Palestinian casualties in either strike.
The shelling and air raid come in the wake of this morning's lethal shooting attacks on a civilian convoy and soldiers at an army roadblock near Salfit, as well as another deadly shooting attack in the Gaza Strip.
Nine Israelis were killed - seven soldiers and two civilians - and at least six are wounded after Palestinians opened fire at the roadblock, close to the Samaria community of Ofra.
To read more, click here.
One Israeli was killed and four wounded, one light to moderately and three lightly, in the Gaza attack.
To read more, click here.
The Syrians loudly proclaimed to the world it was not about water, it was about territorial rights, and honor (pay no attention to the reservoir being built just over the hill) When the Syrians saw the Jews were actually willing to deal they threw in "repatriations" of having part of the shore line of the Sea of Galilee, all the while protesting loudly that they had no desire to use the shoreline access to pump the sea dry.
And the Golan "deal"? Brilliant. He magnanimously offered to not only withdraw to the 1967 lines but to withdraw to the 1948 lines. That was the poison pill. For the 1948 lines gave control of the headwaters of the Jordan river to Israel, where they belong. The 1967 lines cut Israel off from its biggest water source. That is death in the dessert. Baraks "magnanimous" offer exposed the Syrians for the scheming liars they are. The Syrians threw up their hands in disgust having lost much face and walked out. Barak bought a year as the Arab League waited with baited breath to see if the Jews could be talked into death by thirst. And the clock ticked on...
Next move was the Give away half of Jerusalem and most of the land Jordan captured during the 48 war. That one scared me. If Arafat had just said yes, he could have divided the city, cut off the main roads and build bunkers everywhere. Then he could have thrown his "Intifadda" whining about how he could not control his people, the were so angry with the lousey deal he made for only 97 percent of what they demanded.
But Arafat got greedy, sensing weakness he went for the kill, and shot himself in the foot. I think Barak was betting on the pronouncement by the doctors that Arafat has a debilitating disease, ole squatty is not long for this world and getting weaker. Squatty wants to be another Salidin, the hero to capture Jerusalem for Islam. It was not only Clintoon searching for a legacy. He moved too fast. And it bought time. Again the Arab League has been walking the tightrope seeing the weak response's and hoping that Israel would crumble under the pressure.
Meanwhile my guess is that Sharon and Barak got together and set up the temple mount thing just to expose Arafat's treaties as lies. The Jews under reacted, showing incredible restraint and the Arabs over reacted. And it is buying time. The Arab League has been seeing the Jews take it in the teeth for far longer than they could ever handle it. They underestmate the Jews, by judging by their own standards. And they fear the Jews, for they have had their hands handed to them on a platter far to many times. Even at 10 to one odds they get trashed. They are not in a hurry to commit with America breathing over their shoulder. If America will fight Iraq to save Moslems, they will fight Iraq to save Jews.
What is the time for? My guess is deployment of the THEL anti-missile laser systems and the Arrow anti-ballistic missile systems. Both were developed at double time on Baraks watch with America's help. The US gets to field Aircraft mounted ones vastly improving our homeland defence and Israel, who has far less of a budget gets to park them on the dirt and shoot. I figure because of the production delays this intifadda has been forced to drag on. Once deployed the IDF will quietly say checkmate to Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya and Egypt, all of which have threatened to mass missile Israel with chem and bio warheads in a concerted attack. And then Israel will clean the Palistinian Authority's clock.
Also keep in mind one does not win wars without air superiority in the modern theater. If a THEL can line-of-sight take out a supersonic missile, what chance does a F16 or a Mig have? The worlds most sophisticated Surface to air system is being set up as we speak. Time is almost up.
It has been a very gutsy game, taking more guts than I have. Hats off to Israel. This has been a real white knuckler. Lucky for Israel, the Arab League is a bunch of knuckleheads. They could have won with Chem and Bio, but they waited for the magic wand and lost. (At least I hope so -grin-)
This is all speculation on my part, I have nothing to do with either the American government or Israel's government so take what I say or leave it. If I am right it is too late for Arafat to change the train that is coming at him, if I am wrong, perhaps it will give ole Squatty something to sweat about.
Blessings to you and yours...
Terrorist sympathizers are aloud to rant on and on and on about "Israel this", the occupation that"...then we sometimes get a real quick blurb as an afterthought:
...."Israel says the attacks were in response to the latest suicide bombing in Jerusalem" ( or wherever )
"Coming up after this commercial break, we'll have a full twenty-minute rant from yet ANOTHER Palestinian sympathizer, so stay tuned to THIS STATION!"
Exaactly right! You've written what I've struggled to say many times recently. Thanks.
Quite true.Read 1967 and 1973.
I was going to say the same thing but you beat me to it. Bump
PeaceKeeper Missile
You've pretty much described "Hardball with Chris Matthews."
Yes, the whole family, plus a nephew.
I believe American in Israel described the ultra-Othodox Jews who were murdered and maimed as "peaceniks." I'd say this has enraged them. From the Jerusalem Post (jpost.com:
(16:00) Police rescue Arab youths from enraged mob
Police rescued three Arab youths from an enraged mob in the Shmuel Hanavi neighborhood in Jerusalem a short time ago, Yediot Aharonot's Internet site reported.
Some residents had locked the youths in their place of work. No one was wounded.
The neighborhood is located in the vicinity of last night's attack, in which nine people - including two year-old infants and a 10-year-old boy - were killed and 57 others were wounded when Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of people making their way home from synagogue in Jerusalem's Beit Yisrael neighborhood.
LOL...unfortunately, sad but true
Unfortunately, I believe you're right.
Call me discriminatory, but I value the lives of our Jewish allies more than Arab terrorists, and the Arab "civilians" who celebrate when our people are killed. And I'm not even Jewish. Simply prefer to see someone who's friendly toward my country keep living.
I'd say the equation is more like: Dead Arabs < Dead Jews.
A very shallow and simplistic religious cult, that demands loyalty to the priests, and rape and pillage for the targets of the priests as a holy thing. Just the thing to spring on a bunch of ignorant savages hanging out in the dessert as bandits. Who would have thought it would be a best seller?
That would be funny if it weren't so tragically true.
Now the schools are mandatory, the kids are taught to be bombs. Most kids classes are over at the sixth grade.
This situation is hopeless. The PA and others have no natural feelings for their own young. They have no goals or dreams for these kids (who are being popped out like rabbits) except to instruct them in how important it is to get killed trying to kill Israeli Jews. Teens to early 20's are prime suicide years for aspiring young palis. Forget higher education, honorable professions, helping others; EASY success is being a young bomb. These people despise their own children, which tells you how much they like themselves. (Although they obviously like themselves well enough to let their children do the suicides, and then they can collect the bonus money and brag to the TV cameras.)
Feh! They are beneath contempt and it is incomprehensible why the world does not visibly recoil from watching the palis boasting of their dead terrorist kids. If *martyrdom* is so wonderful, THE sure way to paradise, why the hell don't mom and pop do it? The younger kids need them? Hey, take them along too, and hit the paradise jackpot! But apparently, the older palis aren't that gullible, they just feed it to the kids while hiding behind them.
Excuse the rant, I know I'm preaching to the choir with you, and being there must make your anger and disgust all the worse.
I hate to be the one to say this but...maybe mom and pop can't afford to feed all their kids, and this is some kind of sick means of retroactive birth control.
Perhaps I'm mistaken...
I have bad news for Americans who are thoughtful enough to wonder whether we should be taking sides in this conflict. Israel is losing. Not because they are being defeated by the terrorists, but because they are defeating themselves with their own inept management of the conflict, which flip-flops between appeasement and war at every turn. Today it is war. Tomorrow Arafat will be a statesman again.
When in history has an ethnic minority been able to keep an ethnic majority under its control with weaponry and violence? Certainly, majorities can pull such a thing off against minorities (i.e., the Kurds, the Tibetans, the American Indian). But if you take together Israel and the occupied territories, the Jews are in the clear minority. They will be a minority in Israel proper before very long. Their position is clearly unsustainable, whether they have the moral high ground or not.
There is growing discontent in Israel about Sharon's handling of the war; whereas there is almost no opposition among Palestinians, even Palestinian Christians, to terrorism against Israel. Among the Palestinian population, there is a virtual limitless supply of young people willing to blow themselves up, a tactic against which all the missiles and jets in the world are going to be futile.
In the war fever engulfing the region, no one is thinking creatively. All I read here are biblical justifications for genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians. You all want to kill, kill, kill based on nothing more than religion and ethnicity, which makes you no better than your enemy. Why does no one ask fundamental questions about Israeli intolerance and exclusion for four decades and whether it has contributed to the enemy's cause?
A great American cartoonist (now dead) had a comic strip character named Pogo, who once stated "We have met the enemy and he is us." I am reminded of it as I observe both sides in this senseless conflict. Both the Palestinians and the Israelis are their own worst enemies.
America's best course is to get out of the way, maintain a posture as an honest broker in the event the sides come to their senses, or else wait and see which side self-destructs first.
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