Opinion from the desk of the Editor

It has been 4 weeks of carnage in the Gaza……and the narrative is that Israel has a right to defend itself so it has declared war on Hamas who is to blame for all the missiles being fired into Israel……also they say that they will keep fighting until Hamas is no longer capable of harming Israel in any way…..

I have been a student of the causes of war for many years…….and the actions taken to bring it to a quick end with victory for the good guy….whoever that be……this is where I question what Israel is really doing……

If it is truly a war on Hamas and not the Palestinian people why did it take 4 weeks to hit the Hamas leadership and their radio and TV network?  To me in any war you would take out command and control before attempting other actions…..but yet Israel waited 4 weeks…..why?

Here is the report from 29 July 2014 in an article in the Wall Street journal…….

They (Israel) damaged the home of the top Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, along with government offices and the headquarters of the Hamas broadcast outlets, Al-Aqsa TV and Al-Aqsa Radio. The Israeli military said it hit the broadcast center to silence Hamas propaganda and messages to its operatives. The TV station continued to broadcast but the radio went silent.

The bombardment hit 70 targets, the military said, including two used as Hamas command centers, four weapons storage sites hidden within mosques, a tunnel, and a Finance Ministry building. Israeli aircraft hit 10 Hamas operatives in targeted strikes, the military said.

I ask again….why would Israel wait 4 weeks of bloodshed before going after the command and control of Hamas?

There are two answers to that question…….1–Israel is inept and not the professional army that it pretends to be.  personally, I think that is NOT the reason.  2–They wanted to punish the Palestinian people….and that seems to be the most logical answer to why the 4 week delay.

Hamas had lost much of its support prior to this attack and now the longer Israel prolongs this war the more support Hamas will receive…..which will mean this will all occur again and again…….and maybe that is what Israel wants in the long term….

I do not question the right to defend….I do however question the tactics and the end game.

This is a game that need not be played.