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High-Tech 1, Low-Tech 0
Americans have what the Irish scholar Theo Farrell has called a technology fetish in our strategic culture. As someone who has spent most of my life fighting in and studying low-intensity conflict, by contrast, I like to poke holes in this particular fetish, noting the way in which poorly equipped rebels have given technologically superior Western militaries fits in the nuclear age.
I thus very rarely trumpet the news of the advent of a piece of technology as any kind of bid deal. That having been said, the big news out of Israel and the Palestinian Territories today is the successful interception of a short-range rocket by Israel's "Iron Dome" system.
In the 2006 war (.pdf), Hizballah fired an average of somewhere between 150 and 180 short-range rockets into Israel each day. (They managed to fire 250 rockets, in fact, on the very last day of the conflict.) Violent non-state actors in the region have used low-tech, short-range rockets to achieve a kind of deterrent effect with Israel. "As the bombardment of civilians is tiresome for our people," noted Hassan Nasrallah in an interview with as-Safir in 1993, "it is tiresome for others as well, and they can‘t handle it as well as we can."
If Israel can take away the ability of violent non-state actors to harrass and intimidate its populace through these rockets, though, that has the potential to be a strategic game-changer in the region. I'll be watching events in Israel with interest -- though not with as much interest, I would guess, as the boys in the Dahiyeh.
Update: Noah Pollak points out that Iron Dome knocks down $100 rockets at a cost of $50,000 a shot. He says this is unsustainable, but he probably doesn't want to know how much money we Americans have spent trying to counter low-tech IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan...
Update II: In semi-related news, Avigdor Lieberman having to ask for French help right now is hilarious. Unless you're, you know, an Israeli diplomat in Côte d'Ivoire.
I haven't read up on it
I haven't read up on it extensively, but to what extent is Iron Dome symbolic? I'm talking volume and cost-benefit. Because there doesn't seem to be any shortage of rockets.
Obviously the system is in its infancy, but I can't envision a circumstance where a meaningful fraction of rockets can be stopped at any cost.
Dont think its gonna work..
Dont think its gonna work.. It seems a bit expensive and also how many places are they going to put this Iron Dome system?
From the low-tech camp: this
From the low-tech camp: this makes for a pretty bloody effective cost-attrition tool for the low techs. Never been so fun launching a homemade rocket before as when you know you trigger a 600k+ expensive system, and get a lot of the oppos running. For Hamas or IJ, it really doesnt matter where the missile hits or if it gets shot down in any military sense anyways. so on a cost/efficiency scale.... nah.
But its a breakthrough for the Empire, true.
Hezbollah currently has about
Hezbollah currently has about 40,000 rockets and missiles. Roughly, then, it'd cost about $2 billion or about 1/7 of Israel's current annual military expenditures, to completely protect Israel in the case of a war.
Of course, that price tag is quite contrived. On one hand, Israel would be able to destroy many of these projectiles before they ever launch. On the other, Iron Dome is not 100% effective and therefore it may require more than one $50,000 shot to knock down a rocket. In addition, Iron Dome does not have the capacity to shoot down such a high volume of projectiles.
But instead of getting lost in the numbers, it's important to remember the point of Iron Dome is not to protect Israel completely or cost-effectively. Rather, it provides Israel the peace of mind that the balance of terror in the region has shifted in its favor. The IDF no longer needs to rely solely upon offensive capability and coercive threat to counter Hezbollah's arsenal.
This could both bring Israel out of its recent bunker mentality. Or it could allow Israel to act more aggressively. That's up to the Israelis to decide.
Americans have what the Irish
Americans have what the Irish scholar Theo Farrell has called a technology fetish in our strategic culture.
That's because we're good at it. We're good at designing technical systems and advanced weaponry, in areas ranging from aircraft to intelligence collection.
Noah Pollak points out that Iron Dome knocks down $100 rockets at a cost of $50,000 a shot. He says this is unsustainable, but he probably doesn't want to know how much money we Americans have spent trying to counter low-tech IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan...
That's probably still worth it to the Israelis, particularly if Hamas and Hezbollah start getting rockets that might potentially hit Tel Aviv.
Besides, those rockets aren't particularly accurate. A large number of them wildly miss.
I'm going to give you the
I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and just assume that, as you were eagerly Googling Hezbollah rocket counts, you simply forgot to mention the 2006 Israeli devastation of Lebanon, in which the IDF killed over 1,180 people (about a third of whom were children), wounded over 4,050, and displaced about 970,000 others as direct result of the more than 7,000 air attacks by the Israeli Air Force and an additional 2,500 bombardments by the Israeli Navy in the short span of a month. The assault, with its utter contempt for international humanitarian law and willful commission of war crimes, also deliberately targeted the civilian infrastructure of Lebanon, destroying or severely damaging airports, seaports, water and sewage treatment plants, electrical facilities, power plants, fuel depots, over 200,000 meters of road, 120 bridges, 900 commercial enterprises and factories, and over 30,000 residential properties, offices and shops (including 15,000 civilian homes, houses, and apartments). Israel bombed a milk farm and grain silos. Two government hospitals were completely destroyed, while three others were severely damaged.
Furthermore, Israel repeatedly violates Lebanese airspace - on an almost daily basis - with fighter jets and drones. These actions contravene UNSC Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Israeli assault on Lebanon. The Israeli violations began less than a month after Res. 1701 was implemented.
Since then, the Lebanese government has submitted documentation to the UN proving that Israel has breached the provisions of the resolution on more than 7,000 occasions by violating Lebanon’s airspace, territorial waters, and border.
But why mention all this when the agenda is to tout Israeli military technology? Facts like this just sorta get in the way, I suppose. Real justice would be to provide Lebanese and Palestinian civilians with an Iron Dome system. They're the ones who are really in danger from missile, mortar, white phosphorous, and cluster bomb attacks.
And, oh yeah, when does a democratically-elected representative party within a country's government stop being a "non-state actor"? Just wondering.
Isn't the point of this to
Isn't the point of this to stop rocket fire from Gaza? The Israelis know they'll face a barrage of rockets and now possibly even missiles if they fight Hezbollah again, that's what their air force is for; but I thought the Iron Dome was primarily meant to stop Hamas/IJ fire. You could play the cost game all day too, I don't think it matters in the short term. Think of how much money it costs the US or Israeli governments to train their infantry units compared to how much it costs for the Taliban or Islamic Jihad to train theirs.
Re the Update: Can't help but
Re the Update: Can't help but think you're playing devil's advocate, here. Our anti-IED efforts actually seem to disrupt a meaningful number of IEDs (or so DOD says), while this seems like the IDF's way of saying "we're doing something about it, really!"
And the most ridiculous aspect: How many of the rockets the IDF will intercept were headed for the dirt, anyway? The rockets are a campaign meant to inspire terror in the public without necessarily being very effective in causing damage. In the very same way, Iron Dome is meant to inspire confidence in the public without being effective whatsoever at stopping rockets. So this is a really ridiculous way for the IDF to spend US support dollars, don't you think?
I'm going to give you the
I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and just assume that, as you were eagerly Googling Hezbollah rocket counts, you simply forgot to mention the 2006 Israeli devastation of Lebanon, in which the IDF killed over 1,180 people (about a third of whom were children), wounded over 4,050, and displaced about 970,000 others as direct result of the more than 7,000 air attacks by the Israeli Air Force and an additional 2,500 bombardments by the Israeli Navy in the short span of a month. The assault, with its utter contempt for international humanitarian law and willful commission of war crimes, also deliberately targeted the civilian infrastructure of Lebanon, destroying or severely damaging airports, seaports, water and sewage treatment plants, electrical facilities, power plants, fuel depots, over 200,000 meters of road, 120 bridges, 900 commercial enterprises and factories, and over 30,000 residential properties, offices and shops (including 15,000 civilian homes, houses, and apartments). Israel bombed a milk farm and grain silos. Two government hospitals were completely destroyed, while three others were severely damaged.
Furthermore, Israel repeatedly violates Lebanese airspace - on an almost daily basis - with fighter jets and drones. These actions contravene UNSC Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Israeli assault on Lebanon. The Israeli violations began less than a month after Res. 1701 was implemented.
Since then, the Lebanese government has submitted documentation to the UN proving that Israel has breached the provisions of the resolution on more than 7,000 occasions by violating Lebanon’s airspace, territorial waters, and border.
But why mention all this when the agenda is to tout Israeli military technology? Facts like this just sorta get in the way, I suppose. Real justice would be to provide Lebanese and Palestinian civilians with an Iron Dome system. They're the ones who are really in danger from missile, mortar, white phosphorous, and cluster bomb attacks.
And, oh yeah, when does a democratically-elected representative party within a country's government stop being a "non-state actor"? Just wondering.
What would it take for AM not
What would it take for AM not to include phrases like, "As someone who has (a) spent a lot of time in the middle East; (b) fought in Iraq and Afghanistan...." Seriously, man, just post the info. Leave yourself (for once) out of it.
@Nima, What is it about the
@Nima,
What is it about the ME that they want to kill people and suffer no consequences? Be Happy Hizbollah hasn't been stupid enough to attack the American Homeland. Lebanon has been at a nearly constant state of war with Israel since 1948. Perhaps you know that in the first War - 1948 - Lebanon actually invaded Israel with 2200 troops?
At present either you can't control your own country or you are allowing it to be used as a base for attacks. That lifts the mantle of innocence. Enough with the passive-aggressive nonsense. You want to do violence, it will be done back to you if the other party (which could destroy you entirely with ease) can do so, and they can.
As to all the International Law and UN resolutions, etc...no one who matters really cares. It's a farce in any case.
You want peace, practice it. And at a certain point it's quite possible Little Satan and perhaps Great Satan will lose patience with provocation. Then it's over.
@elf "What is it about the ME
@elf "What is it about the ME that they want to kill people and suffer no consequences?"
Welcome, folks, to another round of "statements about the Mid-East conflict that are equally applicable to both the person delivering them and the person they are addressed to." It's a shitty game, I'll warn you.
"deterrent effect" I'd argue
"deterrent effect"
I'd argue that Israel has taken the prospect of rocket and missile attacks into consideration. I'd be more skeptical of a claim that Israel has been deterred by the prospect of rocket and missile attacks. Nor do I think those who possess rockets and missiles, in turn, think that *they* have deterred Israel.
Abu M, you like to say you harp on epistemology. Maybe I'm wrong. I'm not sure what type of evidence I'm working off of, or what evidence I *could* work off of in some magical world. But then again, what type of evidence are you working off of, and what type evidence could *you* work off of in some magical world.
Incidentally, I've read relatively little by Theo Farrell, and like what I've read. And I've read relatively little of others who've written of strategic culture (e.g., AI Johnston, "Cultural Realism"). That said, I'm always skeptical of cultural determinism. I think Fareed Zakaria said it best (rarely a phrase I think, say or right) in a Foreign Policy essay on "Asian values:" cultures are ambiguous; one sees what one wants. That having been said, I'm sure I lapse into sloppy cultural determinism all the time, and actually, upon a moment's reflection while composing this paragraph, can think I've done so one time today.
ADTS
Nima, how do you feel about
Nima, how do you feel about what the US did to Germany in World War II? Hypocrite.
At least Lebanon actually attacked Israel. USG started its war on Germany (well before Pearl Harbor) with two orders of magnitude less cause, and did two orders of magnitude more damage. Have you ever had a problem with this? Of course not, which makes you a hypocrite. But heck, at least you're not alone in it.
Isn't this the same type of
Isn't this the same type of thing as the ICBM system, which I understood is what protects the US from missile attack? Why shouldn't it work? More to the point, eliminating the harm of attacks must have a consequence, even if it's not as bloody as anticipated by the sons of Cthulhu among you.
Military aid to Israel from the US is at $3 billion per annum (a minimum one feels sure); they can afford this much better than the cost of kinetic action - those machine gunnings etc.
And I feel much better about paying for defense rather than recurrent acts of aggression.
Not that military violence is the only source of lethal aggression threatening the region. I await the day I read of a call for security of Palestinians and Israelis. What we get always get instead is "Security for Israel".
That's not good enough.
An ICBM is an
An ICBM is an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile - designed to fly across the world - usually carrying multiple nuclear warheads. Israel doesn't need that range to hit any of it's enemies, with the exception of Foggy Bottom. It's also an offensive weapon, it defends by deterrence - that deterrence being nuclear terror. Which is where the new Balance of Power in the Middle East is headed, and not just Israel visa Iran.
The weapon system under discussion here is defensive and designed to shoot down incoming rockets. It gives them an edge in particular if it's effective - it doesn't have to be near 100%. It would mean for Hizb rockets and Iran's investment in them - other than psychological- was wasted. Just as SDI threatened to render the USSR's investment in ICBM's the equivalent of cavalry charging machine guns. We shall see.
The level of belligerence is
The level of belligerence is really startling; asked to cooperate, Israel's leaders respond with complaints of isolation and threats of retaliation at any loss of support. It would not be so distressing if Israel had not always demonstrated a willingness to wage destruction on those so unfortunate as to be neighbors.
Lieberman's reference to bans against Muslim cultural symbols rang in my ears as a progress report on Israel's stated plan to change international law. I do find a resurgence of xenophobia worthy cheering, not in the least.
It was helpful, though, to have him acknowledge that de-legitimization of Islam is one of Israel's goals.
>It would not be so
>It would not be so distressing if Israel had not always demonstrated a willingness to wage destruction on those so unfortunate as to be neighbors.
How long has it been since Israel has attacked Egypt or Jordan? For that matter, Saudi is a neighbor, yet...Perhaps there are other factors besides geographical proximity that Israel uses when deciding whom to attack. Maybe when the Israeli generals are pawing at their maps with their Jew claws, yarmulkes demonically perched between their sweaty Jew horns, they use factors like "who's been launching missiles at our cities lately" do pick out their next innocent victim.
> It seems a bit expensive and also how many places are they going to put this Iron Dome system?
Israel is tiny. The amount of places that the rockets come in from is fairly small, as well. It's not like they're defending the Northern US from the dreaded Canadian Liberation Front here.
As far as $50K vs several hundred dollars-not the point. First of all, the price tag of an interceptor will fall as more are cranked out. Second, you need to compare the price not with a Kassam, but with the cost of life insurance payouts, medical treatment, psychological counseling, rebuilding homes and the opportunity cost of disrupted business that the Kassam would inflict if successful.
>It was helpful, though, to
>It was helpful, though, to have him acknowledge that de-legitimization of Islam is one of Israel's goals.
Yes, I have noticed how the Israelis have been using their dirty Jew magic to trick Muslims into making, marketing and buying hostage snuff porn en masse, hijacking airplanes and flying them into our buildings, setting their women and kids on fire, engaging in mass inbreeding and issuing deranged statements for Al Azhar University.
It all reminds me of my friend, whose fondest wish was to have the power to shit other people's pants. As usual, the Hebes are two steps ahead.
People who find use for the
People who find use for the canard that there is no distinction between Jews and Israel signal the end to the conversation.
Enjoy yourself.
How long has it been since
That made me laugh out loud. Good show.
Wow:
Wow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n-y24SzbCY
Protest to expel Africans from South Tel Aviv and all of Israel - April 6, 2011 and why stop there, "there are millions in Europe".
Just like in America? Is this happening in the United States also? Oh, right but that's Mexicans.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/wor
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12997181
>People who find use for the
>People who find use for the canard that there is no distinction between Jews and Israel signal the end to the conversation.
I understand that this is the conversational equivalent of tapping out. Still, I'm going to answer, being a cantankerous bastard. Though it is true that there are Druze and Muslim officers serving in the IDF, Israel is by nature a Jewish state. Jews have no state besides Israel, and ALL of Israel's issues with its neighbors stem from its Jewish nature; if it was the Emirate of Palestine, nobody would give two shits how many Muslims they killed. Certainly not you, Mr. "I'm an antiZionist, not an antisemite, and don't mind Jews as long as they're not trying to get their own country."
Nothing comparable to Hama, Black October, the Yemen Civil War, Darfur or any of the atrocities committed by practically every Middle Eastern Muslim state against Muslim civilians has taken place under Israeli occupation. You expect me to believe that the protests against Israel's conduct are driven by anything other than antisemitism or accomodationist pseudorealpolitik, and ignore the silence that ensues over the conduct of Muslim states?
B - Say, wasn't it you that
B - Say, wasn't it you that left the last steaming pile of bigotry here?
Slinging sh*t is better than no argument at all, huh?
Israel is a political state
Israel is a political state that includes a 20% populations that is not Jewish; many people who identify as Jews do not identify with Israel. It is a more than a canard to equate 'Israel' with 'Jew'; it is quintessentially anti-semitic to essentialize all Jews as being the same in relation to Israel.
Had a very interesting
Had a very interesting conversation with an IDF vet last night. Its not like youre a screaming anti8-semite to point out that the last 10 years have desensitized large parts of the country. Lieberman and his ilk (check out Caroline Glick) see themselves in a war just as much with Obama as with the pals. Sad but true.
Fnord, And what happened the
Fnord,
And what happened the last 10 years to de-sensitize them? Hundreds killed in suicide bombing attacks? Many thousands of rockets and shells? Endless provocation? Europe returning to it's norm: Anti-Semitism? The failure of any action, offer, withdrawal from hard won land to bring anything but more terror? The International Left..er.. Community making clear they don't have the right of self defense, or to exist? The Goldstone Report [ooops we spoke too soon].
They better get less sensitive. The Sinai front is about to re-open, Jordon may fall, and a nuclear arms race in the region - the Persians will soon have them so the Arabs will as well- and the Big Friend is in the hands of a absentee landlord who doesn't like them and is the plaything of hysterical women who henpeck him to war. One of which Three Sisters wants the US to invade and establish a Palestine Protectorate (Power).
They're on their own essentially. However if they rally they've faced much longer odds.
Is the sense that you suffer
Is the sense that you suffer universal persecution so addictive that you can suffer withdrawals?
Symptoms include: Mania, hyperdefensiveness, immunity to disgust at one's government's actions, illusions of time travel to the first half of the last century.
A few remarks ... 1) From
A few remarks ...
1) From what I''ve read, Irondome only fires if the computer comes to the conclusion that the incoming rocket is aimed at settled areas.
2) Yes, it can be overwhelmed by a big salvo of rockets. But consider the politcal implications:
So far, Israel was temped to shoot back whenever Hamas etc send one or two rockets over the fence. Now, they can ignore all these small events. If , otoh, Hamas sends over 100 rockets at the same time, this makes Israel look a whole lot better in the eyes of the world when it fires back -
a) with respect to "proportionality", a term loved by all NGOs.
b) with respect to the fact that Hamas won't be able to claim successfully that the attack was done by a small splintergroup they can't control.
So yes, I think it's worth it ...
@Positroll 1) "Settled
@Positroll
1) "Settled areas" mean there's still a very good chance the rocket was destined for the dirt. They're unguided, and highly inaccurate.
2) We just know that it hit one rocket. We don't know how many rockets they've tried to hit. Thus the evidence that this is effective even against one rocket, even if you know the rocket's origin and target, is slim.
The program might have a net benefit to relations, but I have trouble believing that it is cost effective, even when you factor in the political aspect.
We Israelis help the French
We Israelis help the French quite enough in the former USSR. Since this African hellhole is their own mess, it's only proper they'll take some responsibility for the security of our diplomats there. Can't say I appeciate the irony.
The commentary re: Israel and
The commentary re: Israel and its 'warlike' behaviour towards its neighbors is laughable, and uninformed. These sort of posts really do bring out the worst forms of cretins.
Regarding Andrew Exum's post and the effectiveness of the system, here are some key points that were not discussed.
#1 the Rafael-developed ballistic interceptor is roughly $20,000, not 50.
#2 the system is designed to intercept only rockets that are falling towards a populated area, cities like Beer Sheva, Ashkelon, Ashdod,etc, rockets falling into open spaces or desert are ignored
#3 its only been 2-3 days of deployment, but the system shows stellar success, yesterday Hamas terrorists shot 2 rockets towards Beer Sheva, both were intercepted, 3rd rocket fell into open field. No injuries or deaths. Today, intercepts on another 2 rockets that were falling into cities.
#4 when talking about calculated cost of each interceptor, take into account the added cost of a Qassam rocket hitting a city, that includes civilian deaths, physical and psychological injury, destruction of business and property, air alarms and first aid response as well as general stoppage of civilian life to seek shelter from incoming projectiles. The costs can climb into millions, nevermind the cost of human life. If you can stop all that for 20K USD, that is a very good deal.
Offcourse the ideal solution is to eliminate the source of rocket fire, as any sane nation-state would by now. But Israel is forced to play by different set of rules.
"Of course the ideal solution
"Of course the ideal solution is to eliminate the source of rocket fire, as any sane nation-state would by now. But Israel is forced to play by different set of rules."
Only if you keep agreeing. You'll still have plenty of trade possibilities outside Europe. And if the UN complains threaten to show them the door in area you do or can control. That shuts down their aid/NGO Bu$ine$$ - which is what it is - let's see how quick the STFU if they are shown the door.
The UN may have had to do with Israel's birth - although the Israeli's themselves, the Brits, and the USSR had more to do with it - but it has quite outlived any utility for Israel in particular, and America in general. Make it clear they are dispensable - even the Euro's admit it's corrupt (they know about such things) and riddled with kleptomaniac tyrannies as members. It's day has come - or it will hasten your end days.
Pull the trigger. The American people won't miss them, certainly NYC won't.
Abu Muqawama, apologies if
Abu Muqawama, apologies if someone has already posted this or something similar, but I didn't read all the comments. A Palestinian Facebook group in Gaza just posted this note, the translation is mine:
"عاجل : اغلب الانفجارات التى تحدث فى شمال قطاع غزة ناتجه عن فشل صواريخ القبه الحديديه فى التصدى لصواريخ المقاومة
Breaking: Most of the explosions happening in the north of the Gaza strip are the result of the failure of Iron Dome missiles to challenge the missiles of the resistance."
Seems like if Iron Dome is sending up a bunch of missiles to try and hit one from Gaza, that in such a small area you're gonna get a lot of 'strays' that have a good chance of hitting civilians. No?
Visitor on April 8, 2011 -
Visitor on April 8, 2011 - 2:41pm: Oh, duh. My bad, running the brain in comic book mode rather than full, living color: missiles come to the ground.
There sure are a lot of other places looking like Palestine now.
Interesting times.
#1 a Palestinian group in
#1 a Palestinian group in Gaza has good reasons to lie when posting on FB, no? Hamas routinely lies about its attacks and IDF counter-attacks, including using inflated body counts and blatant lies regarding its targeting of Israeli civilians. I would take anythign such group says about this technology with a pound of salt.
#2 I-Dome does not send up a bunch of interceptors, it will only launch an interceptor if its computer determines the Hamas rocket to fall in a designated city area, otherwise I-Dome lets the rocket fall to the ground w/o spending an interceptor.
this technology is not an end-all to defensive problems. The only real solution to stopping rocket fire and war crimes by Hamas is a full-on ground invasion and complete destruction of their infrastructure and weapon labs
There are 30-50 cases of casus belli each day, you can find them all in Israeli fields and cities.
if they fight Hezbollah again
That's World War III, isn't it, Mateo? We've moved on in the timeline that made such great cinema content last century,
1941? I'll have to go check.
So what are our defenses from missile attack? I don't recall having heard much about the technical/hard ware defenses in place for the U.S. since 9/11. My previous recollection of public knowledge about our defensive capabilities was that it was fairly detailed, and generally well-known.
I do not support armed hostilities against Hizbollah or any other group identified. Last week, someone alledged to be, a terrorist was arrested by Israeli forces rather than being murdered; a number of other Palestinians were murdered for reasons variously reported as lawful under the force of law. Lawful, that is, because Israel occupies Palestine under military rule.
However, arrest by commonly accepted custom, means investigation, evidence and a trial.
That seems at least worthy of consideration media attention.
I've long been an advocate of
I've long been an advocate of a similar system to Iron Dome - I call it Iron Shaft. In a sentence, Iron Shaft is randomized automatic counterbattery fire. It's just like your normal counterbattery artillery, except that (a) the target coordinates are randomized to simulate pipe-rocket accuracy, and (b) it fires automatically without human intervention.
In plain English, the effect of Iron Shaft is that Hamas rockets bounce off an imaginary shell over Israel, turn into artillery shells and fall back on Gaza. Of course, the real rocket continues and falls on Israel. So our horned, sneering Jews can install Iron Dome as well, for extra protection. However, Iron Shaft is both much cheaper and much more effective. What's a Jew not to like?
My magic 8-ball tells me that if Iron Shaft is installed next Monday, the result will be absolute and durable peace by Thursday at the latest. The "tire-burning baboons" aren't actually baboons - nor are they as crazy as they like to pretend.
Pull the trigger. The
Pull the trigger. The American people won't miss them, certainly NYC won't.
Indeed. Also, in case you need it spelled out in large print: the trigger is here. Come on, Jews! You can be the first truly independent country of the 21st century.
You need to (a) withdraw from the UN, (b) sever diplomatic relations with the US and cut off the NGOs, (c) do anything else needed to establish energy, economic, military and diplomatic sovereignty. If "international public opinion" still matters to you, you haven't gone far enough.
Wow! Can you get away with all this? You'll need a real leader, like Feiglin. But yes, you can. You can take us, Jews! Can't you see what a bunch of pussies we've become? And the only reason the Arabs are, or ever have been, dangerous to you, is because we or our client states egg them on. If you can tell Washington to fsck off and make it stick, the whole Middle East will be lining up to inhale your shaft. Go Jews! Yid Power!
Mencius Moldbug April 8, 2011
That bridge? Sold!
predictably, kooky
predictably, kooky suggestions from kooky posters.
Iron Shaft...right. Your personal sex life and anti-missile technology should be kept separately. The 'Jew' label is simply non-applicable when 20-25% of your population is non-Jewish.
It is quintessentially
if I may quote myself:
A little fun: Israel is the Anti-Semitic state.
(Oh, that's your Q'uarn? Sh*tty thing to do to a book, dude.)
Moldbug- Counterbattery
Moldbug-
Counterbattery against the vicinity of insurgent indirect fire points of origin actually works IRL without all the high-tech stuff-I won't get into details, but let's just say that the insurgents' neighbors do not take kindly to incoming mortar rounds, and take measures ASAP.
The tire-burning baboons are, in fact, baboons-they set their wives and kids on fire as a common disciplinary measure. See the medical literature coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan via MEDDACs.
After a decade of fighting, they can't even figure out how to aim a rifle using iron sights, and according to anecdotal evidence, a significant percentage of SVBIEDs are activated prematurely via a bro-hug goodbye.
Thank God for all that, too-imagine if today's reflective-belt wearing, powerpoint-crippled officers, who need a safety briefing and a helmet to take a dump were faced with a non-simian insurgency. It would be worse than Vietnam.
But even baboons have a well-developed sense of self-preservation and respond predictably to incentives and disincentives.
> it is quintessentially
> it is quintessentially anti-semitic to essentialize all Jews as being the same in relation to Israel.
When I contemplate the kind of thought process that produces such sentences, my head begins to ache. "Quintessentially"..."essentialize"-good God, man, isn't reality complex enough without muddying the waters with this kind of bad language?
If what you're attempting to say is that there are Jews who'd prefer Israel cease to exist, well, duh. From Finkelstein to Satmar. On the other hand, this doesn't make Israel any less the Jewish state.
Anti-missile? Au contraire,
Anti-missile? Au contraire, mon frere. I'm pro-missile, and so is my design. Fight missiles with missiles! And it's really useless to pretend there isn't something sexual about any ballistic projectile.
Alas, however, I'm only 50% Jewish. So I only have one horn (on the right). Yes, this means I can only service one shiksa at a time, at least with the top of my head. And there's nowhere to tie the left side of my yarmulke, so I have to tape it down on windy days.
Israel literally receives US
Israel literally receives US federal funding. I want it withdrawn, reduced, diminished. I do not support nationalistic policies that discriminate, for example, on the basis of race, religion, sex, physical capability.
Israel is open about it's dependence upon just such categories as fundamental to it's laws, from which all sectors of society are affected.
There are well-finananced interest groups very active within the US desirous of molding policy to increase prosperity for their alliance. In so far as the consequences of their success are to increase danger of attacks upon the US, I think those interests require restraint in pursuing their aims through the communal strength of the United States.
These words may have no more purpose than be here, now. But I feel the need to say them.
I protest support of Israel, militarily, financially, personnally. In like fashion, I protest the recurrent lethal aggressions by which profitability is wreaped from public policy.
Which kind of means I am no longer a Democrat, something I hate to have happen. But I am not a Zionist; the present Democratic Party is.
Intentionally randomizing it
Intentionally randomizing it shows you're serious about mutual assured destruction. Or at least, mutual assured missiles. Collateral damage has its tactical virtues, but it's intentional damage that sends the real strategic message. Or better yet, don't be random - just set the coordinates to the middle of Gaza City. Again, instant peace.
Ever trained a cat with a squirt bottle? The cat needs to be convinced that whenever it jumps on a counter, it gets squirted by some automatic force of nature. If it learns instead that it's squirted by its owner, it will game the owner. The great thing about this technique is that it works across the Great Chain of Being - cats, baboons, homo erectus, all the way up into full-on sapiens. But you need to get the human element out of the loop as far as possible, because even cats have an instinct for psychological warfare.
I should note that hominids, whatever the precise subspecies, have inhabited this sensitive ecological area for over 50,000 years. However, there is no record of them either burning tires or performing martyrdom operations until well into the UN era. Even under the British they were relatively restrained as compared to Hamas, and the Ottomans had almost no trouble at all, beyond a little casual banditry, in caging the Arab's simian instincts. Perhaps the question Israel should ask is: what would Murad II do? Because all the great empires go a little bit native...
Speaking of Ottomans, what's
Speaking of Ottomans, what's really cool right now is all this violence in Deraa. No one who's read T.E. Lawrence, or even just watched the movie, can hear that city's name without a little smirk about the Turk. A century later, Anglo-American foreign policy is still taking it in the tail... in Deraa! By Allah, it's beautiful.
Funny you should mention
Funny you should mention cats. The only really cool ones I've met were the illegal pets of American troops in Iraq. Totally chill, zero psychological warfare, nothing but purring affection and camel spider extermination services. It's like they knew that puking in some sleep-deprived Joe's boots would result in a 9mm to the face, while good behavior would continue to be rewarded with canned tuna. No squirt bottles required.
We have no shortage of baboons of our own here in the US. Ask any urban paramedic about sock burns. Or check out Devil's Night in Detroit. Thankfully, a Twitter revolution has yet to empower our neohominids.
Finally, what do you think about GEN McCrystal? I've put the question to Abu Muqawama at the TED speech thread-basically, why is it that Paul Aussaresses can afford to be brutally honest, while GEN McCrystal continues to blow smoke up our asses even after his career is over?
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