If you search “IDF had no plan for responding to a Hamas attack of October 7’s magnitude”, the first deployment was 7:43am, a little over an hour, not 7 hours later. Driving from Jerusalem to Gaza might take 2 hours for a car in perfect conditions, but longer for a tank, counting calling up the crew, preparation time, lower speed, and driving under missile fire.
why did Israel army take so long to respond: 1/ It was a Jewish holiday when many people, including reservists, were traveling or partying, 2/ they had moved forces to the West Bank because there had been an uptick in Palestinian terrorist acts there, and they expected something during the holidays, 3/ Netanyahu’s legal issues were a national distraction, and 4/ to hold a political coalition to remain in power, Netanyahu replaced some top military officers with party members with no military experience.
> I can’t see the difference between that and what you said just there about Hamas. It’s the same mind-set.
It is a bad mindset, and the difference is that the US isn’t doing it (which is why the thread that you read said that the US needs to re-instigate the draft, etc. instead of saying that the US is …). The US right campaigns on increasing military funding and on increasing military presence (using the military to suppress demonstrations, using the military on the border, invading Mexico, etc.). Hamas is an example what happens when right wing fascists, particularly religious-based right wing fascists get into power. The US is facing that now with Trump, who claims to be a savior, and our current House speaker, who claims that God wants him to be a ‘New Moses’.As for Russia, Russia has made no secret that after it takes over Ukraine, it will continue to other reclaim other former USSR countries, some of which we have mutual defense treaties with through NATO. Giving Ukraine what it wants could help prevent a situation where we are obligated to send soldiers to fight in Europe.As for Vietnam, I was there on vacation three years ago. The war was a mess, and I had expected in general that Vietnamese would hate Americans (except for the money that tourists spend), but people in the south were on average positive about the US role in the war and mostly sorry that they lost because even so many years after unification, the communist government puts most government spending in the former north, leaving the infrastructure in the former south in bad condition, and corrupt government officials require businesses to pay protection money.
> That means there are at least 6,600 confirmed civilian child deaths. Is that an acceptable number?> By the way, teenage soldiers are still children. Child soldiers are victims too.
I agree that it is not acceptable. Hamas shouldn’t have started the war by invading Israel on Oct 7. Hamas shouldn’t have built their military infrastructure in civilian areas, depending on using civilians as human shields. Hamas shouldn’t have broken the Oct 7 cease fire or the cease fire tied to the hostage exchange. Hamas shouldn’t have refused the cease fire brokered by Qatar and Egypt two weeks ago. Hamas shouldn’t have refused the recent ICC decision to return the hostages. Hamas shouldn’t continue firing hundreds of missiles per day at civilian targets in Israel. The Palestinian Authority shouldn’t have a ‘pay for slay’ fund designed to encourage parents with no money to pressure their children to get themselves killed. Hamas and UNRWA shouldn’t have been teaching children to hate Israel so deeply that they willingly become martyrs.
I think that the Saudis don’t like getting their hands dirty, for example, they funded ISIS but they didn’t allow ISIS to make a mess inside Saudi Arabia. Similarly, they have been trying to contain the Houthis but they haven’t used their full military strength against them, either because they don’t have a good end game or because they want to avoid direct confrontation with Iran. The Houthis might have an inflated opinion of their military strength if they think that they have been enduring the full strength of Saudi Arabia. As you said, the Houthis will probably come to regret their attacks.
85,000 children dead in Yemen but no one marches in the street because no Jews, no news, and the 10,000 number for Gaza is an exaggeration. Hamas is a terrorist organization that pulls numbers out of a hat. The only way the 10,000 could be accurate is if they are counting their teenage soldiers as children.
The US and UK bombed Houthi military sites used for firing missiles at international shipping traffic in the Red Sea.The lesson here is don’t fire missiles at international shipping traffic.
Fugazzeta is a cheese-stuffed pizza from Argentina that’s topped with caramelized onions.