Hamburg 1943 A century ago, in 1921, Italian General Giulio Douhet published “The Command of the Air” (“Il dominio dell'aria”). In the book he argued that the “morale effects” of aerial bombing could break a people's will by destroying a country's "vital centers". Douhet identified the five basic target types as: industry, transport infrastructure, communications, government and "the will of the people".
I would also add that the Russian campaign of launching missles and drones against civilian targets hasn't broken the will of the Ukrainians. You would think people would learn, but they don't.
As a matter of fact, when I made my most recent order for a kit at Halberd Models, Andrey emailed me that it would take an additional week to fill the order because his neighborhood had been hit with missiles and he apologized that the internet had been down in the area for 24 hours which delayed him getting my order and answering it. In the 21 months of the war, the folks in Ukraine who are at "the bleeding edge" of scale model creation have nearly doubled the number of kits they had available before the war. One of them has been designing his new kits when he's off duty in a bunker on the Donbas Front.
Plastic models are a very small thing, but even that small thing is not only surviving but thriving in the face of Putin's assault on Ukraine.
I don't know if anyone here is a hiker, but if you are you know how hard it is to pick your way over and across a boulder field. Even those who could travel twelve or fifteen miles of flat road or trail carrying a pack with minimum survival essentials (or a child) in twenty four hours, could not cover a quarter that over unstable rubble. Now go look at videos of the elderly, lame, injured, pregnant and those burdened with children who are trailing down the roads. In heat. Without water.
Hamas' sickening cruelty and viciousness is unforgivable, but we are making a dreadful mistake if we insist on rhetoric and direct military aid that ties us and our national honor to what fury blinded Israeli troops are about to do in Gaza.
Carriers and a presence designed to suppress initial hot headed impulses to join in are wise and defensible. Humanitarian aid and diplomatic influence toward permitting the exodus of civilians and the recovery of prisoners is wise and defensible and vital. Promising military aid at "whatever it takes" levels to a country that can already squash their neighbor, regardless of how terrible the provocation, is unnecessary... and I very much fear that when the final assessment is made we'll regret having signed our name to what bids to become a deeply shameful level of retaliation which will lessen our moral stance toward war crimes committed by Putin in Ukraine.
One of the IDF leaders was quoted today as basically saying their soldiers were told "no holds" which is absolutely inconsistent with what Biden said we expected of our allies. The current numbers are already far beyond what could be considered a measured response. The targets don't seem to show specific targeting of suspected Hamas locations with the exception of a few neighborhoods.
Biden said he understands the need to render Hamas unable to regroup (like killing the hydra) with an overwhelming attack, but one can't hold off a mad man by threatening his neighbors much less his (in many cases unwilling) servants. It is said that half of the citizens of Gaza are children.
I would willingly applaud the removal of every Hamas terrorist from the face of the earth. As would have at least some of those Palestinians limping toward the south. Maybe tomorrow they will all be either martyrs or ripe for recruitment. And Americans will all be seen as culpable for the worst of it, and Biden's cautionary statements, ignored, as feckless.
I would also add that the Russian campaign of launching missles and drones against civilian targets hasn't broken the will of the Ukrainians. You would think people would learn, but they don't.
As a matter of fact, when I made my most recent order for a kit at Halberd Models, Andrey emailed me that it would take an additional week to fill the order because his neighborhood had been hit with missiles and he apologized that the internet had been down in the area for 24 hours which delayed him getting my order and answering it. In the 21 months of the war, the folks in Ukraine who are at "the bleeding edge" of scale model creation have nearly doubled the number of kits they had available before the war. One of them has been designing his new kits when he's off duty in a bunker on the Donbas Front.
Plastic models are a very small thing, but even that small thing is not only surviving but thriving in the face of Putin's assault on Ukraine.
I don't know if anyone here is a hiker, but if you are you know how hard it is to pick your way over and across a boulder field. Even those who could travel twelve or fifteen miles of flat road or trail carrying a pack with minimum survival essentials (or a child) in twenty four hours, could not cover a quarter that over unstable rubble. Now go look at videos of the elderly, lame, injured, pregnant and those burdened with children who are trailing down the roads. In heat. Without water.
Hamas' sickening cruelty and viciousness is unforgivable, but we are making a dreadful mistake if we insist on rhetoric and direct military aid that ties us and our national honor to what fury blinded Israeli troops are about to do in Gaza.
Carriers and a presence designed to suppress initial hot headed impulses to join in are wise and defensible. Humanitarian aid and diplomatic influence toward permitting the exodus of civilians and the recovery of prisoners is wise and defensible and vital. Promising military aid at "whatever it takes" levels to a country that can already squash their neighbor, regardless of how terrible the provocation, is unnecessary... and I very much fear that when the final assessment is made we'll regret having signed our name to what bids to become a deeply shameful level of retaliation which will lessen our moral stance toward war crimes committed by Putin in Ukraine.
One of the IDF leaders was quoted today as basically saying their soldiers were told "no holds" which is absolutely inconsistent with what Biden said we expected of our allies. The current numbers are already far beyond what could be considered a measured response. The targets don't seem to show specific targeting of suspected Hamas locations with the exception of a few neighborhoods.
Biden said he understands the need to render Hamas unable to regroup (like killing the hydra) with an overwhelming attack, but one can't hold off a mad man by threatening his neighbors much less his (in many cases unwilling) servants. It is said that half of the citizens of Gaza are children.
I would willingly applaud the removal of every Hamas terrorist from the face of the earth. As would have at least some of those Palestinians limping toward the south. Maybe tomorrow they will all be either martyrs or ripe for recruitment. And Americans will all be seen as culpable for the worst of it, and Biden's cautionary statements, ignored, as feckless.
Well said.
Well done as always. The 24 hour deadline is cruel to the innocents.