Israel’s Goals in Gaza?
The New York Times / Tom Friedman
16-Jan-2009 (one comment)

Israel’s counterstrategy was to use its Air Force to pummel Hezbollah and, while not directly targeting the Lebanese civilians with whom Hezbollah was intertwined, to inflict substantial property damage and collateral casualties on Lebanon at large. It was not pretty, but it was logical. Israel basically said that when dealing with a nonstate actor, Hezbollah, nested among civilians, the only long-term source of deterrence was to exact enough pain on the civilians — the families and employers of the militants — to restrain Hezbollah in the future.

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Asghar_Massombagi

Honest Tom

by Asghar_Massombagi on Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:02 PM PST

Here is Tom Friedman, a cheerleader for the Iraq war, a passionate pro-Israeli Journalist being honest about Israel’s goals in Gaza: collective punishment of the population. Here is one for all those who repeat the propaganda line that Israel doesn't mean to bomb schools and hospitals; that only if Hamas fighters gathered up somewhere in the outskirts of the Gaza city, say in an open field, and provided a clear target for the IDF's world class war machine, no Palestinian civilian would ever die . This policy of collective punishment of course is nothing but continuation of Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Friedman is pleading for education of Hamas as opposed to its eradication. Kill enough Arabs to teach them a lesson without embarrassing yourself altogether. Thanks, Tom.


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