[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by ianch99

G'Day Seph. You have to realise that detailed military campaign tactics are not really my speciality as, I suspect, neither yours. You complain that I provide no detail however you refuse to even go near the very simple, straightforward question i.e. should Israel keep killing civilians and razing Gaza. It really is that simple. Either they should continue (your implicit position) or they should not.

I came across this article which touches on the alternate approach that could have been considered:

Transforming Counterinsurgent Strategy: Using the Topography of Intelligence


Granted this article is not discussing a direct map to the Gaza situation but it gives enough illumination into an intelligence-led, carefully considered, longer burn of a campaign. Any such approach undoubtedly requires US intelligence & surveillance assets. The use of RF/phone tapping/tracking, drone monitoring, AI-based correlation of record calls to primary assets, RF blackout during surgical ops, etc.

In parallel, you can start economic & other sanctions on countries harbouring Hamas leadership clusters and, failing all, take them out via Special Ops missions like they did with Bin Laden. Just needs a more thoughtful approach as opposed to lobbing JDAMS at civilian housing.

I think that the debate you & I are having all boils down to this.

I've explained in my previous post how Israel must (and did) prosecute this war, certainly in the early days of the retaliation. Then they told civilians to move south, presumably on the understanding that whoever is left will generally be Hamas. Or so it seems to me with a logical eye.

I don't think you should hide behind vague expressions such as just needs a more thoughtful approach (because you're no military strategist). It might be better to concede that Israel had to go in and go in hard with a method that keeps its own troops as safe as possible.

So, given that we agree Hamas must be eliminated, how should that be done in the circumstances of Gaza?