IDF troops in the Gaza Strip on Saturday targeted Hamas operative Amir Mansi, a senior member of Izzadin Kassam, the group's military wing.
The implication is that Hamas has a peace loving political wing that seeks a mutually beneficial relationship with Israel. In truth, the political wing is probably made up of the smarter guys from the military wing who have a thing about getting shot.
Having a military wing means never having to say you are sorry.
What a great concept. You send in your guys to shoot rockets, strap bombs on their backs or whatever and when bad things happen. Boom. Instant deniability. For, you see, it was our militant wing. And for all good people in the political wing, we just can't control those darn military wing guys.
Yassir Arafat used that militant wing vs political wing game with the PLO movement to great effect for years. I remember the IRA had the same setup. In any case, it's a game played by organizations that don't want total war, but don't want total peace either
It's like it never happened.
Hamas has been sending out their militant wing to shoot something like 3000 rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip during this most recent Egyptian negotiated "cease fire." And peace is assured as long as Israel doesn't shoot back. In fact the constant barrage of rockets became a boring daily event and the media stopped reporting on them, unless there was a body count. It was only when the Israelis started making noise that Hamas was about to get punished, that the world took notice of this again. Obama famously said, "...if someone was shooting rockets into the apartment where my daughters were sleeping...you bet I would shoot back..."
And so Israel has finally responded. Responded against people who don't wear uniforms. Shoot rockets from hospital roofs and school yards and religious sites. Predictably the media starts their "Israel is overreacting" reporting within days because everyone knows these rockets are coming from the "militants" and not the innocent civilians of Gaza.
All kids play this game of proportional retaliation.
When a younger brother tweaks a big brother on the ear after being dominated on the Play Station, he is playing the same game. Little brothers know that big brothers get in trouble for hitting little brothers. Big brothers know that too. But little brothers hate getting beat all the time. So they do the equivalent of firing a few rockets into big brothers' territory.
Eventually big brother hits the little brother, who then runs screaming to mom. Dad is forced to intervene. No matter the punishment, it was worth it to the little brother because it's his only way to release his frustration.
Is it any wonder newspapers are dying?
The media will spend weeks finding out if Sarah Palin was really pregnant two years ago, while a ploy designed by 8 year olds is beyond their comprehension. And once again "world opinion" and editorial pages are insisting that Israel back off. One more time. So we can have a "cease fire" that now seems defined as Israel not shooting back.
This cycle is going to end in one of two ways. Little brother is going to mature and find other things to occupy him or there will be total war.
The question is, what could individuals do with their militant wings? Not pay taxes? Steal? Cheat on their spouses? What about those camera speed traps? We could say, I wasn't driving that day, it was my militant wing. That guy refuses to slow down and your ticket is a total overreaction to me...the law abiding political wing of me.
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