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All-out war - Israel pounds Gaza for third day; tanks on the border
The Peninsula Qatar ^ | 12/30/08

Posted on 12/29/2008 6:48:54 PM PST by Libloather

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To: sasquatch
Check my posts on this subject, furball.

L

21 posted on 12/29/2008 7:20:25 PM PST by Lurker ("America is at that awkward stage. " Claire Wolfe, call your office.)
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To: Libloather

Roll Tanks!

Flies to flypaper, baby.

Kill as many as you possibly can. You won’t get another shot soon.


22 posted on 12/29/2008 7:23:20 PM PST by Uncle Miltie (Women were treated like livestock by Mohammad, so Allah must want women treated like cows forever.)
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To: Perdogg
when does Hezbollah enter the picture?

When the Shi’a Hezbollah decide that they're willing to die in the Sunni Hamas’ fight. Which means maybe tomorrow, maybe never. Or somewhere in between.

Shi’a and Sunni mean they each regard the other as heretics, almost as bad as infidels.

23 posted on 12/29/2008 7:27:05 PM PST by Cheburashka (Liberalism: a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.)
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To: dannyprimrose1

“It is going to now get ugly. Hamas has advanced anti tank weapons. Guerilla training. Lots of fanatics. Israel would be better to just carpet bomb and be done with it.”

It will be no uglier than the casualty rate Americans took when they flattened Saddam’s armies.

It will be a turkey shoot. And Israel will be the shooters not the shot.

IDF compare very favorably with US forces.

Like Iraq, Hamas promises the mother of all battles. What they will find is that the war is just a mother.


24 posted on 12/29/2008 7:27:54 PM PST by TFMcGuire (Life is tough. It is even tougher if you are stupid--John Wayne)
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To: Uncle Miltie

Thought you might like watching these. Many more where they came from.

AC-130 Mission
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQhjaCgAS80&feature=related

Insurgents getting gunned down by Apache’s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJNQ60r86lY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETSDHyQySL8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHCchnGdtJA


25 posted on 12/29/2008 7:32:15 PM PST by eaglestar
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To: Lurker
If they send in the Merkvas they're going to lose a bunch of them to mines, traps, and RPGs

Is that anything like the 10,000 troops we were going to lose if we attacked Saddam?

26 posted on 12/29/2008 7:35:58 PM PST by Common Tator
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Comment #27 Removed by Moderator

To: Common Tator
Is that anything like the 10,000 troops we were going to lose if we attacked Saddam?

I guess you missed the outcome of that whole Lebanon dust up a couple years back.....

L

28 posted on 12/29/2008 7:39:19 PM PST by Lurker ("America is at that awkward stage. " Claire Wolfe, call your office.)
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To: Cheburashka

My mistake, I thought Hamas was shia.


29 posted on 12/29/2008 7:42:41 PM PST by Perdogg (Only the hypnotized never lie)
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To: Lurker

“They’re going in... “

‘Big mistake.’


How do you figure it’s a big mistake? Lasting results in a conflict are never accomplished without putting boots on the ground. Ground troops will flush out more terrorists who are dug in and will discover/destroy armaments, hideaways, etc.

A ground incursion is exactly the right thing to do after softening them up with aerial bombardment. The Gaza Strip ought to be turned into, and maintained as, a no man’s land.


30 posted on 12/29/2008 7:48:36 PM PST by Rembrandt
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To: Lurker
I believe that Israel has a very good idea as to the strengths and weaknesses of their closest enemies. They have good intelligence.

BTW, I agree with your tag line - awkward stage indeed.

31 posted on 12/29/2008 7:50:23 PM PST by meyer (We are all John Galt)
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To: dannyprimrose1

We actually looked to the IDF as we prepared for guerilla warfare in the streets and alleys of Iraq. They have had much experience in Jenin and other small towns. You might say this has been the type of war the Iraeli’s have been fighting year in and year out.

The problems will begin if they cannot fight with an element of freedom as was the case in Lebanon.

Israel lost 4% of her entire population in the war of Israeli Independence in 48. Far more that a few hundred.

Hamas and Hezbollah (I choose older spelling) are clowns compared to a disciplined army like the IDF.

Let me put the difference another way: If youwere idealogically neutral, would you prefer to throw you lot with Israel or with the Hamas?

And even in Lebanon where IDF hands were tied they lost few Merkavas to damage which couldn’t be repaired.

Far better to be in a Merkava than to be in position firing a sagger (if I have my nomenclature right) missile.


32 posted on 12/29/2008 7:52:22 PM PST by TFMcGuire (Life is tough. It is even tougher if you are stupid--John Wayne)
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To: Libloather

“Damn the torpedoes; Full speed ahead” quote from Union Admiral Farragut, Civil War.

Swap Palestinians for torpedoes and there is the slogan for this current war with Palestine.

GO ISRAEL GO!!

I want to see the Gaza Strip back in the hands of Israel.
Then again, I want to see the Golan Heights, West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, and East Jerusalem all back in the hands of the Israeli’s. It’s their land, they’ve lived there for 5000 years, it’s theirs for the taking and keeping.


33 posted on 12/29/2008 7:52:53 PM PST by FutureRocketMan (Protect America, it's people's liberty, Protect Israel, then protect free nations,thenspread freedom)
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To: Perdogg

Soon


34 posted on 12/29/2008 7:54:22 PM PST by FutureRocketMan (Protect America, it's people's liberty, Protect Israel, then protect free nations,thenspread freedom)
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To: Logical me

Israel should have knocked out Hezbollah in that 31 day war last year, they should never have agreed to leave the Gaza Strip, and they should destroy the non-existent country of palestine.

Palestine should not exist!!!!!! That country is an excuse used by Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as other smaller terrorist groups, to get more and more land from the Israelis and to get closer to cities like Tel Aviv. I tell ya, if America doesn’t start openly supporting and sending over supplies for Israel during these short wars, the terrorist groups are going to get very close to taking over the nation of Israel. God Help Israel.


35 posted on 12/29/2008 7:58:13 PM PST by FutureRocketMan (Protect America, it's people's liberty, Protect Israel, then protect free nations,thenspread freedom)
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Comment #36 Removed by Moderator

To: dannyprimrose1

True. Clowns is the wrong description at least wrt their ability to exact a price for Israeli suppression. and I had to review lebanon II. Saggers were little used as more modern artillery took their place. The Hezbollah also used some good tactics in focusing fire on isolated tanks.

I have great confidence in the IDF, however, if they are directed by the military and allowed to fight.


37 posted on 12/29/2008 8:15:45 PM PST by TFMcGuire (Life is tough. It is even tougher if you are stupid--John Wayne)
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To: dannyprimrose1
I think the tanks are a diversion.

The Hiz up north and Hamas both have trained to fight tanks.

I think the IDF has learned from our experience in Afganistan and to a lesser extent, Iraq.

I expect a combined arms, by-the-book counter-insurgency. Light infantry, specops and every type of aerial vehicle made. Thousands of 'em. Boots on the ground and lookin' to kill.

38 posted on 12/29/2008 8:21:12 PM PST by Mariner
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Comment #39 Removed by Moderator

To: Common Tator

Hello CT, while I’m not doubting the IDF, Hamas has been trained and equipped with roadside bombs that were developed by Iranians and used by Hezbollah in the 2006 war, especially the few hours of intense battles around WAdi Salouki.


Of 52 tanks damaged, 5 will be written off.

These are:
MK II: 2 (one destroyed by roadside bomb.)
Mk III: 1
MK IV: 2 (one destroyed by roadside bomb.)

more info here:
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/glob...127813&fid=942

Defense establishment favors Rafael tank protection system
Rafael’s system is less advanced than IMI’s Iron Fist, but it is at a more advanced stage of development.
Amnon Barzilai 29 Aug 06 17:29

52 IDF Merkava tanks were damaged during the war against Hizbullah in Lebanon. 50 tanks were hit by anti-tank missiles and two were damaged by roadside bombs, according to the Ministry of Defense Merkava tank program administration.

One lesson from the war is need to quickly provide Merkava tanks with active protection systems able to destroy incoming missiles. The Merkava tank program administration and IDF Ground Forces Command, which is responsible for weapons procurement, are monitoring two active protection systems for armored fighting vehicles: Israel Military Industries Ltd.’s (IMI) Iron Fist, and Rafael Armament Development Authority Ltd.’s Trophy.

A senior defense establishment source told “Globes”, “Although development of Iron First has made very good progress over the last two years, it is far less developed than Rafael’s Trophy system. On the other hand, the potential of IMI’s system is much greater than that of Rafael’s system.”

The Merkava tank program administration believes that, were it not for the risk of a new war, it might be better to wait for testing of Iron Fist to be completed, because it is considered more advanced. In order to create a critical mass of tanks able to deal with the threat of anti-tank missiles, one to two brigades (200 tanks) need to be equipped with active protection systems, at a cost of at least $100 million.

According to Merkava tank program administration figures, missiles penetrated 22 tanks, killing 23 crewmen. The missiles in these cases were heavy Russian-made RPG 29, Kornet E, Metis-M, and Concourse missiles, used by Hizbullah. These are tandem missiles, with a double warhead that can penetrate the Merkava’s reactive armor and steel plates 70-90 cm thick.

Tests conducted on the damaged tanks indicated that Hizbullah had full information needed to identify the Merkava’s weak spots.

18 of the damaged tanks were the most modern Merkava Mark IV. Eight of the tanks were still serviceable, despite being hit.

The Merkava tank program administration said five of the damaged tanks cannot be returned to service, including two Merkava Mark II and one Mark III. The two tanks damaged by roadside bombs were a Mark II and Mark IV, which will not be returned to operational use. The Mark IV tank was equipped with underside armor, which prevented a large number of casualties among its seven-man crew; only the one soldier was killed.

18 of the 23 crewmen killed were in five tanks hit, half of them in clashes in Wadi Salouki. The Merkava tank program administration noted that when counting the tank casualties, it should be taken into account that some of the tanks hit were carrying additional troops in addition to their four-man crews, which increased the potential casualties.
The tanks protected 90% of the soldiers they were carrying.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on August 30, 2006


40 posted on 12/29/2008 8:41:26 PM PST by JerseyHighlander
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